Customer Reviews

College 101 : The Book Your College Does Not Want You To Read

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was expecting more real advice from a book titled "College 101". The book is funny but it doesn't give any information to a student just starting out in college. All it does is "expose" the dark sides of college, like we don't already know it's a racket. For good or bad though, most people need a college degree to get the job/lifestyle they want so they've got to pay the piper eventually. If he could tell me how to gain admission into and graduate from Harvard for under $40,000 then that would be something!

The funniest thing about this book however is that the author has become that which he seems to hate most. He is someone making a huge amount of money selling books to college students!

College 101 is one of the most *accurate* and humorous descriptions of college life I've ever read. The brochures the colleges send you are full of emptyheaded models, and euphemized portrayals of 'Residence Hall Life'. This book is a *necessity* for prospective college students and their parents.

It was about time that someone took a George-Carlinesque swipe at the college industry—that hallowed institution of higher learning, which, like so many other human institutions, [...]. The author of the review entitled “Seems like the dining hall was serving sour grapes!” got it all wrong! It appears that the only purpose of that review was to absolve and exculpate college bookstore monopolies from Mr. Stevens’ “demoralizing” look at reality. Guy Stevens’ shrewd and savvy observations, served up with wonderfully caustic sarcasm and a clever tongue-in-cheek rebel style, provides us with a refreshing counterbalance to the pious platitudes so many politicians and educators babble nowadays about the nobility of the academic pursuit. The author reveals the true nature—and sometimes horror—of the social underbelly of everyday college-campus life. This is an indispensable book for any college-bound high school senior. Pompous professors, avaricious bookstore owners, callous guidance counselors, and other self-serving inhabitants of our institutions of higher learning beware: This guy Guy is on to your tricks! A great buy for no more than the cost of three cafeteria meals and a bag of sour grapes.

I purchased this book actually for my grandchild who was starting there first year of college. I read it myself first then gave it to him as a gift .The book has a lot of humor and tells of experiences that others have had during there college life. My grandchild was quite nervous starting out in college so I though this book might lighten the mood for him and that it gave advice of what to bring for dorm rooms and so on. I thought it was a great book for anyone starting out with there first year of college or later on. Very Well Done!!!

This book seems rather amateurish. It contains many rants from the perspective of someone who sounds bitter and resentful about a less-than-perfect college experience. A good amount of the information is of a personal experience nature, and may not be widely applicable to other students. The author seems to have few or no credentials beyond having once been a college student himself (from what I could tell from the book). He freely discusses his pitfalls, goof-ups, bad decisions, and negative experiences--would you want advice from this guy? His writing style is furthermore contentious and angry, and mostly unpolished. He talks about exposing the dirty little secrets of college, but really there is nothing new here--and much of the malice he talks about is exaggerated. For example, no one forces you to buy books at the college bookstore. It's not a monopoly--it's just a convenience. You can't find college textbooks at your local shopping mall, so the bookstore exists to allow you to buy all your books in one place. His perspective seems to be heavily biased by his own experiences (and perhaps a bit of paranoia), and he hasn't discussed issues from more realistic viewpoints. Students would be better served with balanced information, such as knowing that the bookstore is convenient but that high operating costs (of switching over entire inventory several times a year) make alternatives attractive. I would be concerned that students reading this book will get an unrealistically negative impression of the college experience, and they might go to college expecting (and looking for) deception and malice, which might be demoralizing. I'd say students need a more encouraging resource than this. To be fair, the author does have some worthwhile things to say, but I think most of the truly useful information could be more easily learned from any random college student over a cup of coffee--and you won't get the same bitter aftertaste. Maybe more aggressive editing and/or a collaborator would have smoothed over the rough edges in the writing.

I also wasn't impressed by the quality of the book itself. It has a "rough around the edges" look and feel to it that I can't quite explain. But just look at the cover art--it looks like a pre-production mockup

I read the book and throroughly enjoyed it. It has man funny anecdotes and good tips for college. It reminded me of my own college days and will remind me again when I send my own kids off to college. I'm sure my kids will be well prepared because I have this book in hand.

While my ivy league days are fading to a haze now, this book brings up all of the old joys and pains of college life. The years may pass but it appears dorm life stays the same. This is a must read for any freshman in college and a great trip down memory lane for any graduate. Bravo!