“The logistics of a high school election are no laughing matter. At the same time you’re educating your students about democracy, you’re working to safeguard the process against fraud. It’s sad but true: given half a chance, most kids will cheat to win. They’re a lot like adults in this respec...
Due stelle e mezzo.Sono un po’ delusa. Dopo aver letto ”Intrigo scolastico” credevo di aver capito quali fossero i punti forti di questo autore: l’arguzia, l’ironia, la caratterizzazione precisa dei personaggi, la sua capacità di dipingere realisticamente eppure con fantasia e trovate originali g...
Very good snap shot of life in college... and life in the 80's. Excellent smooth and quick writing style, but nothing epic.Amazon.com:Having penned Election, a great novel of high-school manners, Tom Perrotta gives us Joe College, a great novel about college mores. In 1982, one Yale junior strugg...
So, I started a pretty thorough review of this book, but lost it to the ghosts of the internet. So, I'll do a briefer version. I just don't have the energy to bitch and moan about books any more.Despite the wicked words I'm going to use, I actually enjoyed Perrotta's book. It was a fun, trashy...
I picked this up a couple of years ago while browsing at NYC's Strand Book Store. I recognized the author’s name but had never heard of the book before and it looked intriguing. (Plus it was deeply discounted.) I wasn't disappointed.This is Perrotta’s first book – he’d go on to write acclaimed no...
This week I read the "New York Times Bestseller," The Abstinence Teacher, by Tom Perrotta. While not liking the book is one thing, hating it is another. I hated this book! I'm actually angry about it and it has been nearly a week since I pushed myself through it in two days. Two days is plenty of...
Unlike Mrs. Kerner—the scoutmaster's wife and leader of our rival den—she didn't own an official uniform, nor did she attempt to educate us in the finer points of scouting, stuff like knot-tying, fire-building, and secret handshakes. She considered herself a glorified babysitter and pretty much l...
Fulfilling a campaign pledge, he’d opted for a hands-on style of governing, making himself available to meet with constituents on a first-come, first-served basis for an hour every day. This was partly a matter of good politics, and partly a coping strategy. Kevin was a social animal: He liked ha...
Mrs. Friedlin refused to leave until she heard from Max, while Mr. Friedlin insisted on forging ahead without him, partly on principle, but mainly as a courtesy to Ted, Sang, and me. He scoffed at our assurances that we’d be just as happy ordering a couple of pizzas. “Forget pizza,” he said. “You...
Scotto, who likes to get an early start on her yardwork. She’s out there every morning in her bathrobe and slippers, cleaning up the leaves that fell overnight. She doesn’t bother with a rake; she just bends over, plucks them off the ground one by one until she has a handful, then straightens up ...