Cringe edited by Sarah Brown

So, in various parts of the country, they do this thing called Cringe. The brainchild of Sarah Brown, essentially people dig out their old diaries from childhood and read the most embarrassing parts in front of lots of people. This book is a compilation of some of those pieces.

It’s pretty funny. And it’s funny because it’s true. Maybe we didn’t keep diaries, but we all at least thought some of the things that go on up on that stage or in this book. Cringe is an apt name.

What’s also true is what Ms. Brown says in the afterword:

“If there’s one thing that this experience has taught me, it’s that I have zero patience for teenagers. When I was a teenager myself, I always thought I’d be one of those cool adults who Understood and Listened, but now I realize that my reaction to any current angst is Please, go form your personality somewhere far away from me.“

The book has fantastic art direction, with beautiful collages of teenage angst mementos.

What’s (unintentionally?) funny is that each piece has some commentary by the “grown-up” version of the person who wrote the original pieces. I expect that some of the commentary, when read after these authors leave their twenties, will be just as cringe-worthy as the original pieces.

It’s a good reality check for a parent of a future teen, and a current elementary school kid. Right now, even smaller matters have even greater significance than the teenage angst over relationships and school… it’s good to keep that in mind.

Also, it’s good to keep in mind that I’ll likely be reading excerpts from LiveJournal at Cringe 2014.