Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

  Leonard Peacock is a kid on the outside looking in.  He has no family, his father is a one-hit wonder musician who took off and headed down to South America, and his mother is a flaky fashion designer who has better things to do than to raise a son.  He has no friends except for his Bogart obsessed, elderly neighbor Walt; Lauren, a home schooled super Christian he barely knows; and Mr. Silverman, a teacher at his school with whom he shares a genuine connection.  This kid is on the edge, and he's about to jump.
  The book opens on Leonard's birthday, and along with the presents he intends to give his "friends", all of whom he's betting won't even know it's his birthday, he's packing his grandfather's P-38 pistol with every intention of shooting his ex-best friend and then himself.
  Author Matthew Quick is the same man that brought us Silver Linings Playbook, and there's no doubt that the book is well written.  Though readers know Leonard's intention for the day, the reader is slowly exposed to the reasons for why this happening.  The way in which the book is written is different, for fiction anyway.  There are multiple footnotes within the text that further explain people and experiences.  I found it a little off putting, but it wasn't terrible.  This book is worth reading.  It's dramatic, timely, and heartbreaking.