History Literature / KillTimeOrDieTrying

The print version is [[ScrewedByTheNetwork currently not available outside of South Africa]], but an e-book release of Part I is expected around September 2012, with Part II to follow shortly.

** Also, Evan having 'a fist like a brick' is mentioned more often than Evan himself actually appears in the book.

* ZanyScheme: Examples include a scheme to steal urine for a pregnancy test and a campaign to swing a student council election in favour of the candidate willing to give the club a club-room. The war-cry of WARP lampshades this trope: 'Bad idea?' *dramatic pose* 'How bad?'.

** Melvyn rarely has any idea what is going on around him.

** Douw attempts to pick up women at a bar while wearing a replica DragonBallZ scouter.

** Melvyn [[InformedAttribute allegedly]] has one of these out of sheer surprise whenever anything he says turns out to have been intelligent.

** In Part II, the group have one collectively in their war-cry: 'Bad idea? How bad?'.

** Kyle. Ordered around and exploited by the main characters and, more so, Nathan, almost to the point of abuse.
** Also Ari, whose phone number Nathan gives out instead of his own in order to avoid people hassling him (see RunningGag below), and whose real name was used without his permission.

* BrickJoke: Kyle's data-capture job in Senate House

* TheAce: Douw is a mild example, being just generally cooler and more capable than the other main characters of Part I. He's one of very few central characters to not repeat a year at university. Interestingly, he's more of a TagAlongKid in Part II.

Written with an obvious fondness for the subject matter and the characters, which is to be expected considering the authors were members of WARP and were themselves present for most of the events of the book.

The first part, ‘The New Normal’ follows Jodi, a naive and nerdy freshman at the University of Witwatersrand, who is initially lost amongst the bureaucratic indifference of a large university, and finds a second home in the club-room of WARP. On his arrival at WARP, Jodi is (permanently) renamed to Brad by an older club-member, and initially acts as a passive observer to the antics of WARP, which turns out to be anything but a stereotypical group of timid nerds.

The print version is [[ScrewedByTheNetwork currently not available outside of South Africa]], but an e-book release of Part I is expected around September 2012, with Part II to follow shortly.

* ApatheticTeacher: Professor Proust instructs his class to read one hundred pages of any textbook for homework, and then dismisses them.

* ButtMonkey:
** Kyle. Ordered around and exploited by the main characters and, more so, Nathan, almost to the point of abuse.

* CatchPhrase:
** Gregg responds to anything strange by saying 'Normal', in deadpan.

* CloudCuckooLander:

** Douw attempts to pick up women at a bar while wearing a replica DragonBallZ scouter.

* HeroicBSOD:

* LimitedSocialCircle: And how. Most WARP members have few, if any, friends outside the club.

* RunningGag: Several, but most notable is Nathan giving people Ari's number instead of his own, which culminates when Nathan is in a potentially very messy situation after hooking up with a girl he shouldn't have. Nathan says to Brad the next day 'I think Ari is going to get some really awkward messages today'. WordOfGod: this really did happen, and Ari did indeed get an extremely personal message from a complete stranger.

** After losing at Guitar Hero, Brad announces that [[ThePrincessBride he is not left handed]], and switches hands in between songs. He is left-handed after all, so HilarityEnsues.

-->'''Dylan:''' A true [[{{Warhammer40000}} Necron]] never dies, even when he is killed!

* WorldOfSnark: Part II offers a constant stream of sarcasm and abuse. Part I has elements of this.

* HeelRealization: Douw has one after cheating on Kerry.

** Kerry seems to be the only person to genuinely care about Nathan's well-being, and in return is treated terribly.

* BoisterousBruiser: Evan. After knocking out the main character, show-boats and high-fives the other WARP members who came to watch.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Part II has a darker tone and less upbeat story than Part I. The fact that its title is ''The How and Why of Hating Everyone'' should be a dead give-away that this is going to be the case.

* OnceASeason: Each new academic year is heralded by some asking 'Who failed what, and how bad?'

* ComedicSociopath: Nathan in both parts, most of the main cast in Part II are somewhere between this and VitriolicBestBuds.

* ASimplePlan: Several over the course of the book. This is the fallback option when no-one can be bothered to come up with an elaborate scheme, or when things are really serious.

* TheAce: Douw is a mild example, being just generally cooler and more capable than the other main characters of Part I. Interestingly, he's more of a TagAlongKid in Part II.

* ThePlan: Elaborate schemes are a pastime of WARP. Perhaps the most insane is a scheme to steal a girl's urine for a pregnancy test. [[spoiler: WordOfGod says that in real life, this plan didn't work]].
-->'''Nathan:''' Try everything you can think of. When something happens, take credit.
* Slasher Smile:

** The entire club-room will try this to freak out new members when they turn up for the first time.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Part II has a darker tone and less upbeat story than Part I. The fact that it's title is ''The How and Why of Hating Everyone'' should be a dead give-away that this is going to be the case.