Tramps Like Us by Kristen Buckley (2007, Hardcover)

 From inside the cover:
A hilarious memoir about growing up in the wilds of suburban New Jersey.

In this funny, offbeat coming-of-age memoir, Kristen Buckley takes us on an emotional odyssey through the eerie netherlands of New Jersey, where perverted gym teachers are as big a threat as local mobsters, and timbale-playing orangutans wield the power to shape the future. 

Set adrift after her parent's sudden divorce at the age of six, Buckley's quite suburban existence explodes into a chaotic mess of fractured family relations, overflowing septic tanks, and the worst rat infestation in New Jersey history.  But even as her world falls apart, Buckley never loses her sense of humor, or the armor of her vivid imagination. 

Wickedly irreverent, this New Jersey native takes us on a fun-filled, yet poignant, ride through a series of catastrophic detours she calls childhood.  Leading a cast of wacky characters--including her brilliantly wry mother, laconic stepfather, a trio of Korean orphans, two Jewish stepsisters, and one pot-smoking runaway--Buckley emerges as a thoroughly unforgettable young heroine, who, like so many of us, is just looking for a place to call home. 

About the author:
Kristen Buckley finally escaped from New Jersey to attend the Manhattan School of Music before dropping out to pursue an actual career in music.  After years of playing two-bit juke joints, Buckley decided the starving artist life was not for her and enrolled in college.  Her mother was overjoyed.  Alas, college only lasted a semester before the film business lured her away.  No pay, awful hours, how could she say no?  She worked her way up the production ladder, eventually making the leap to screenwriter.  Her produced movies include How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days, and 101 Dalmations.  Also a novelist, Buckley's first book, The Parker Grey Show, came out in 2003 to critical acclaim.  She currently resides in Los Anglees, but she still pines for her beloved New York City. 

"The ultimate New Jersey escape memoir.  Hilarious, pignant, and appropriately trashy!" -- Simon Doonan, New York Observer