"A Catcher in the Rye for the New Generation"—raw, hilarious, and achingly real.

★ BOOKLIFE REVIEWS EDITOR'S PICK ★ KIRKUS REVIEWS "GET IT" ★ READERS' FAVORITE FIVE-STARS ★ WINNER 2025 FIREBIRD AWARD

Promising Young Man is a poignant yet surprisingly funny work of contemporary Midwestern-American literary fiction about a disaffected teenager's extraordinary mind and his struggle to find his place in our confusing world. Praised for its distinctive, un-sugar-coated narrative voice and vivid, lyrical prose, this witty intergenerational coming-of-age story is a powerful exploration of belonging, societal expectations, and loss of innocence.

Meet Oscar: the witty, defiant anti-hero you can't stop rooting for. He's brilliantly ADHD, beautiful in that melancholy-18-year-old boy way, and absolutely not ready for the real world.

Meet Grammy: his wingman. She's late-70s, unapologetic, and done with everyone's B.S.

Oscar Danielsson would rather hide in his room than face high school graduation. Between his spectacular mistakes, self-medicating for his ADHD, and an overwhelming case of existential dread, getting out of bed feels as hard as getting into Northwestern. His only real friend? His aging spaniel, Enzo. His biggest fear? Everyone finding out he's not nearly as promising as they expect. And then, after one mistake too many, everything goes sideways.

A scrape with the law he can barely remember mysteriously launches Oscar on a bumpy cross-country road trip with an unlikely chaperone: his late-70s, free-wheeling Grammy who's secretly tired of playing by the rules. Leaving behind the girl he's falling for ("adorkable" Bette), his beloved dog, and all his comforting vices, Oscar discovers that even a journey based on a lie can lead to the most honest destination.

"Axel's writing crackles with energy and hard-won insight, capturing Oscar's inner monologue in a way that feels both authentic and deeply relatable." — BookLife Reviews (Editor's Pick)

"Oscar is breathtakingly real and appealing, wrestling with his feeling of being 'defective' while staring down a future that feels empty and volatile. His grandmother serves as a rollicking, entertaining counterbalance." — The BookLife Prize

"Books like Promising Young Man should be on school curricula." — Readers' Favorite (Five Stars)

"Bittersweet and revelatory... a deft portrait that sidesteps stereotypes with sensitivity and skill." — Kirkus Reviews ("Get it")

"I love this book." — Jill Wine-Banks, MSNBC, The Watergate Girl

"Axel writes with absolutely compelling flow and energy." — Emmy Award-winner Chris Canaan

"candid" "absorbing" "truly enjoyable" — Sarah C. Maza, Member American Academy of Arts & Sciences; Professor of History Emerita Northwestern University

"A damn good read." — Dr. David George, Ph.D., Professor of Modern Languages Emeritus, Lake Forest College

A modern Holden Caulfield meets Harold and Maude—with an ADHD twist.

Dark humor ✓ Road trip adventure ✓ Intergenerational friendship ✓ ADHD representation done right ✓

Perfect for readers of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, All the Bright Places, It's Kind of a Funny Story, The Spectacular Now, and Check Mates, as well as anyone — in high school, college, or deep in their career — who's ever felt like a square peg in a round world. Oscar will melt, break, and then repair your heart.

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