Wolfe strikes again, showing us the nasty side of university life--the problem being, there doesn't seem to be a NON-nasty side of this university, the fictional Dupont with its brainless and pampered jocks, its cocky and vulgar fraternity princes, its oversexed and catty rich witches, its PC professors. Poor Charlotte Simmons, the sweet and highly intelligent bumpkin from North Carolina, is clearly out of her depth in this den of iniquity, and disaster (and lots of black comedy, in the Wolfe style) ensues. Charlotte does find some intellectual stimulation along the way, and even one decent professor who appreciates her (even though he gives her a D after a bout of post-deflowering depression takes her mind off her studies).

Wolfe presents life 'as is' so the book is FULL of profanity and obscenity, so much so I wanted to shower after finishing a few chapters. He points out that the language of college kids today is F*** Patois, plus plenty of S*** Patois as well, making it apparent that the 'cool' kids can't speak a sentence without some variation of the F or S words. Her lack of obscenity makes Charlotte stand out--and makes her a desirable prey for Hoyt, the predatory fraternity stud who makes and discards Charlotte in a chapter that is genuinly painful to read. Funny, but this near-pornographic episode is about as UNerotic as can be, which I think Wolfe intended. Charlotte losing her virginity to this creepy Casanova is presented as a genuine tragedy.

Most of the characters are well drawn. The dorky Adam, still a virgin his senior year, is kind of sweetly pathetic. Charlotte's preppy, snotty roommate is someone you'd seriously want to slap, and we applaud Charlotte for not pushing this witch out a window. The episode of Beverly's wealthy parents dining with Charlotte's blue-collar family at the Sizzlin' Skillet is great fun. Charlotte herself is interesting--sweet, smart, and believable, not too goody-goody, though her naivete about men (and about the snotty fraternity crowd) is hard to fathom. Even people in Appalachia watch TV, don't they? Professor Quat is amusing--sickeningly PC and ultra-liberal, but his taking a stand for academic integrity (and making the jocks toe the academic line) is admirable. The imperious, overpaid Coach Roth is an abomination, a great excuse for shutting down college athletics.

As in all his books, Wolfe includes some useful sociological data, such as the overlooked fact that college sports are actually a drain on school finances, not a boon to them.

Wolfe writes good novels but never seems to end them well. The ending of this one is happy in the sense that the (relatively) good characters get what they deserve, ditto for the baddies like Hoyt, though personally I don't think the basketball jock Jojo deserved to be let off so easily at the end. Charlotte deserves better than this egotistical airhead.

Recommended: Yes