Nihilism In The Great Gatsby

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Originally published in 1987, From Rockaway follows Timmy, Chowderhead, Peg, and Alex, best friends from Rockaway, New York – a city on the Atlantic edge of New York City. They like to spend time together drinking, smoking weed, and talking about sex – until Alex gets her ticket out of “Rotaway”: a college scholarship to a “rich kids” school in New England. While Alex explores the strange new world of college life, her friends take jobs as lifeguards or perform menial labor at the local deli. When Alex returns the following summer, these new tensions explode at a beach party. While the book has its dark comedic moments, the pages are full of the ennui and nihilism of young adults with nowhere to go.

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