Has anyone read I am Charlotte Simons?

Question

Has anyone read I am Charlotte Simons by Tom Wolfe? Is it worth reading?

Answer 1

I read it with mixed reactions. I thought he did a good job depicting the privileged students on the college campus versus those with a more modest background. I thought the scenes with the sororities/fraternities were accurate. He made Charlotte believable enough that I could appreciate her angst throughout the book. I swear I knew some of those "misfits" he uses to present the opposing viewpoint of college life. Having lived in Appalachia for many years I thought the parents were totally believable and her fear of discussing things with her mom were realistic and to be expected.

In his Forward or Acknowledgements (I forget which) he credits young relatives and their friends with background information on language and lifestyles. I know the "f" word is tossed around casually today, but for me it was more than a little overdone. I'm sure it's a generational thing, but I started skipping passages because of the overuse.

Would I recommend it? With reservations--if you can find something better, read that first and then come back to this. I'll just leave it that it was interesting.