Teenage Wasteland

“Teenage Wasteland” is both the title of the story and an allusion to a line out of The Who’s 1971 song “Baba O’Riley.” The meaning of that particular line is in dispute, but the song’s appearance as Donny and other teens socialize under Cal’s basketball net implies that Cal’s vision of free teens throwing off the restrictions of adult authority is unlikely to yield happiness for the teens. The title of the song appears just over halfway through the story, coming at a pivotal moment when Daisy realizes that Cal’s interventions are not preparing Donny to lead a successful life as Daisy defines it.

Tyler describes Donny as “excited and jittery” (Paragraph 61) during this scene, so the song might also be an oblique reference to drinking or drug use by Donny. The Coble family home, school, and Cal’s place are all wastelands because the adults who control these spaces have no vision of the reality of life for people who are Donny’s age.

A basketball court is traditionally a space in which a group of people collaborate to accomplish a central purpose (winning a game). In “Teenage Wasteland,” most of the teens do not bother to play basketball on the court, but it is where they experience a sense of belonging.