At 26, Fall Out Boy mastermind Pete Wentz has written two books, picked a public feud with ‘80s revivers the Killers, had naked photos of himself spread across the Internet, sold three million albums and attempted suicide by way of overdosing on anxiety medication in a Best Buy parking lot. He’s not the normalest of boys.

“I don’t think people get me,” Wentz admits. “I’m much more comfortable with a book or behind a pen on a Friday night than going out. I think that can be troubling because whatever problems or flaws I have, I can only deal with them by writing about them and I can’t have conversations with people about them. I think that’s why I don’t have a lot of close relationships with people. I feel more comfortable writing to three million people than I do have an intimate conversation with someone that I’m close to. I really wish that there was somebody that did get me, just for the record.”

Wentz says the massive amount of media attention the band’s quirky brand of emo pop has attracted hasn’t helped the legions of troubled teens, who see him as a tattooed, MySpace saviour, understand what’s going on under his over-analyzed, misunderstood mind. In fact, as a professed narcissistic, self-pitying, anxiety-ridden, morose soul, Wentz, who does daily therapy even while on the road, finds the attention troubling because he doesn’t feel worthy.

“When I see myself on the cover of magazines, I always feel worse,” he explains with an unconvincing half-laugh. “I think people tend to see me as a pretty narcissistic person, like I’m licking my reflection off a TV screen. I’m bothered when I see myself on the front of a magazine! I think they’re terrible looking.”

So, imagine Wentz’s disdain when stolen nude photos of him wearing just a five o’clock shadow and smile hit the Internet in March, becoming the second most-searched item on Yahoo the day after their release.

“I was like, ‘Honestly, I don’t want to do this any more.’ I called our manager up and told him I didn’t want to be in this band anymore,” Wentz recounts. “I kind of collected myself and I went on the website and saw our fans were being really cool about it, posting pictures of themselves and they had some really funny comments.”

Wentz quickly got over the nudie shots, laughing at himself and coming to terms with the fact that he can’t ask for people to hang on his every word and crave everything he puts out and expect nobody will take it that extra, indecent step.

“People in bands and in public places that expect [people not to pry] don’t know what they’re talking about,” he explains. “They say ‘I didn’t sign up for this,’ but I think the minute you’re asking people to drink the Kool-Aid with you, then you are.”

Still, the unrequited love dolled out by the scream-full by fans hasn’t brought Wentz out of his self-imposed isolation.

“There’s certain compliments they will say, and I think I’m not really worthy of that. That can be troublesome,” Wentz confides. “I’ll be sitting in a meet and greet and someone will say ‘I love you, Pete!’ and I’m just sitting there, thinking that everyone I’ve ever truly loved is dead or in the spine of a book on a shelf somewhere.”

As depressing as that sounds, Wentz’s love for all things literary has made a huge mark on the band’s music and he often takes inspiration from the dead letters of his mythical motivators for lyrics. He’s also written The Boy With the Thorn in His Side, a story based on the nightmares he suffered as a child, and is getting ready to publish his 200-page novel, Rainy Day Kids, later this summer.

“It’s easier to love books than people,” he explains. “A book never lets you down. A book never betrays you.”

The band is currently in the studio, working on the fallow-up to their smash release, From Under the Cork Tree, which saw singles “Dance, Dance” and “Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down” fire up the charts. Wentz says fans can expect to hear a natural progression on their new-age brand of musical scholarism and he’s also planning to use the release as a chance to hit back at some of the band’s critics.

“Certain musicians have said things that we haven’t responded to in the past year, so this is our chance to call people out,” he explains, likely referring to groups like the Killers, who Fall Out Boy has exchanged barbs with in the media. “There’s also some love songs on this record and there’s definitely never been Fall Out Boy love songs before.”

Although Wentz says he “already knows Fall Out Boy can write a record that’s going to sell three million copies,” he is still nervous about returning to record in the city of Angels where all his past demons live. While recording From Under the Cork Tree there, Wentz fell into a deep depression brought on by the anxiety of living up to the expectations and his unyielding self-doubt, which came to ahead when he downed a handful of pills and had to have his stomach pumped.

“Moving back to Los Angeles and going back to that place in our head, that makes me feel weird,” he admits. “I hope that same thing doesn’t happen again. I feel like I’m in a better place, but, you know what? I think if I was in a worse place, I’d probably say that I’m in a better place because I’m doing an interview.”

Maybe the next album will help the folks at home understand Wentz a little better or maybe he doesn’t want them to or maybe he’s just dying to tell you anything you want to hear ‘cause that’s just who he is this week.

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