The Basic Eight

A satire of teenage life follows cynical soon-to-graduate Flannery Culp on a raucous journey through high school in the 1990s, covering SATs, college applications, friends, boyfriends, tabloid journalism, and TV talk shows.

"Dazzlingly funny...covertly lyrical, and absolutely without parental supervision, The Basic Eight manages to be amoral and humane simultaneously." --Mark O'Donnell, author of Let Nothing You Dismay and Getting Over Homer

"Imagine being young, messed up, and too smart for your own good. Flannery Culp is all three. I followed her adventures with admiration and envy because Daniel Handler is one of the sharpest, funniest, and best writers around." --Kit Reed, author of Weird Women, Wired Women

"Flannery Culp is Holden Caulfield in drag, forty-five years later." --Peter Lefcourt, author of The Woody and Abbreviating Ernie

"If you can resist Daniel Handler's hell-raising powers, fair warning: A wicked young century starts here--without you." --Lois Gould, author of Mommy Dressing and Medusa's Gift

"A funny, unique novel that single- handedly returns high-school revenge fantasies to their rightful owners." --Joanna Torrey, author of Hungry

"Like no other book, The Basic Eight demands to be read twice. Do." --Stephin Merritt, lead singer of the Magnetic Fields