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John is both the protagonist and one of the narrators of the story, alternating chapters with his friend Lorraine Jensen. John is a high school sophomore with a penchant for troublemaking, rule-breaking, and lying. His disrespect for all forms of authority, such as parents, teachers, and rules, expresses itself in his curse-laden language and his destructive habits and choices. John claims to idealize being “individualistic.” He wants to be an actor instead of following in the footsteps of his father and older brother in the financial markets, but he takes no actions to pursue these goals. In his daily habits, John appears messy and unkempt, indicating his disregard for his appearance. He also cuts class, drinks and smokes too much, and seems ready to manipulate anyone who crosses his path. Among a loose group of high school kids, all of whom are outsiders, John’s good looks, arrogance, creativity, and ability to lie turn him into a leader.

John’s life changes when he meets Mr. Pignati. While their acquaintance is the result of a grift, John quickly comes to enjoy spending time with the older man. Mr. Pignati’s appeal is partly due to John’s self-interest and partly due to his loneliness and lack of relationship with his own parents. Mr. Pignati not only buys John treats and presents, but he also listens to John, treats him as an equal, and encourages the choices he makes, even the crazy ones. By contrast, John hardly speaks to his own parents, and when they do interact, their conversation is filled with disapproval and criticism.

To the onlooker—and even to his closest friend Lorraine—John appears to act in a destructive manner because he doesn’t care about anything. The truth, as revealed by John at the end of the novel, is that his apathy and deceit hide his existential fears: of growing up to be a disinterested adult like his parents, of dying alone and friendless like Mr. Pignati, and of no longer thinking deeply about the world around him. By the end of the novel, however, John has finally moved to a place of acceptance of responsibility for his own life.

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