College Girl [Hardcover]

Patricia Weitz (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 26, 2008

“A raw and resonant debut novel” (Megan McCafferty) and a vivid portrait of life on a modern college campus.

College senior Natalie Bloom is beautiful and ambitious, but also painfully insecure. At twenty, she’s still a virgin, never even having had a boyfriend. At school, Natalie hides out most weekends in the library—until she meets Patrick, her fantasy (she thinks) of a cultured, intellectual Prince Charming. But the more time they spend together, the more Patrick brings out her worst insecurities. And before Natalie’s ready, she winds up losing her virginity— and her sense of direction, as her emotional responses take a dangerously self-destructive turn. Soon it’ll take only the most extreme measures to reclaim her sense of self, her confidence, and her ambition.

Insightful, moving, and achingly self-aware, College Girl is an intensely real portrait of a character whose insecurities are recognizable to us all, and of a time of life that changes everything.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Weitz takes a weak stab at a collegiate version of Prep in this disappointing me-too. Beautiful but virginal Natalie Bloom, a student at the University of Connecticut, has traded her working-class past for a spot at the bourgeois party school. While she maintains good grades, she is less successful in the social scene—a menacing environment where horny frat boys lurk in dark corners and couples easily betray each other—until she meets Patrick in, naturally, the library. Though Natalie insists she's shy, her dialogue with men is snappy and direct, and she and Patrick move toward dating in a series of dull getting-to-know-you conversations. When the relationship turns sexual, Natalie finds herself doubtful about his intentions, but she soldiers on until a weakly developed subplot about her brother's suicide somehow brings her to her senses. Without a comprehensible or urgent plot, the novel relies on its characters, but bland Natalie is surrounded by equally forgettable, interchangeable supporting personalities. When Natalie finally does find her happy ending, the reader won't really care. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Natalie Bloom, the first girl in her family of six older brothers to attend (or even want to attend) college, has finally transferred to a big university halfway through her junior year. She's spent a couple of years proving herself at a community college, developing an addiction to earning A's after having been labeled a slacker for most of her life (she is, after all, one of those Blooms). She studies Russian history because history comes easily to her—she memorizes facts and she's fascinated by other people's lives. When she meets Patrick one night (studying in the library, of course), she embarks on a journey of self-discovery; while not your typical coming-of-age, Natalie's relationship with Patrick leads her to stark revelations. This debut novel unwraps an intriguing downward spiral, deftly portraying social and psychological implications of college life. Natalie's need to come to terms with her history, slowly revealed throughout, is well worth the read. Recommended for all fiction collections. [The author is married to filmmaker Paul Weitz (The Golden Compass; About a Boy).—Ed.]—Julie Kane, Sweet Briar Coll. Lib., VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover; 1ST edition (December 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594488533
• ISBN-13: 978-1594488535
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.1 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #746,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Trigger Warning February 4, 2009

By Kellie M. Powell

Format:Hardcover

Stop me if you've heard this story before: A beautiful, young, over-achieving student from a poor family feels out of place at her fancy East Coast college. She's embarrassed by her background, her appearance, and her lack of sexual experience. She meets a boy. He pressures her for sex. Her grades suffer. She becomes depressed, she hates herself, she engages in self-destructive behavior. Finally, she loses her virginity, and hates herself more than ever. Times are hard for a while, but eventually she gets together with the "nice guy," who's been in the background all along. This pretty much fixes everything, and she slowly grows comfortable in her own skin.

If this synopsis reminds you of I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe, you're not alone. One big difference is that College Girl is told in the first person, which only makes the protagonist's whining more prominent--and more annoying. It's hard to feel any sympathy for Natalie Bloom; she's self-absorbed and judgmental, and constantly sabotaging herself. In some ways, this is realistic and relatable; most college students have probably experienced the embarrassment of infatuation, dating, and awkward sex. Readers will cringe at Natalie's poor choices and constant humiliation.

While reading, I couldn't help thinking Natalie might have benefited from taking a Women's Studies course. Perhaps instead of throwing around words like "slut" and "whore" and buying into the idea of sex as a form of "leverage" in relationships, she could have stood up for herself a lot sooner. Instead, she keeps quiet about unwanted sexual attention from her roommate's boyfriend, and caves to her own "boyfriend" when he pressures her into performing oral sex despite her protests.

Even the "nice guy" in the novel, Jack, doesn't take no for an answer:

"...I squeezed my eyes shut, hard, and lay my head back on the pillow. Tears started to fall as my pants slipped over my hips, followed by my underwear. 'Stop,' I said. He didn't stop. 'Please?' I begged. He kept going, and after a minute, I relented..."

The truly disappointing thing is that Natalie is actually grateful to Jack for not respecting her wishes. This kind of "I said no, but I really meant yes" rationalization is an incredibly irresponsible message. Ultimately, College Girl is a thoroughly depressing book. It may, in fact, be a realistic depiction of a young woman's first romance -- which may be the most depressing part of all.

[...]

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars "College Girl" lacks creativity September 26, 2009

By J. Bledsoe

Format:Hardcover

For any girl who has sought self-confidence in the arms of a boy, who has lost sight of her own identity in the face of love, who has struggled to balance ambition with a romantic relationship, "College Girl" is (at least at first) the story of her life.

Undergoing a constant inner battle, Natalie Bloom is an intelligent, yet self-conscious 20-year-old girl. And, at age 20, she has yet to bloom. The novel tells the story of her journey to womanhood, including typical trials scattered along the road.

The novel begins strongly. The reader is interested in a girl who spends all her free time in the library. There is hope that the Russian history major will be able to branch out and overcome her social insecurity. With Natalie's sole focus on academic work, she has little need for good looks. At the beginning of the narrative, Natalie admits her physical attractiveness and is unable to ignore the obvious approval voiced by many a male passerby. She discounts all appeals to her good looks, feeling undeserving of genuine interest because of her working-class roots and her meagerly educated family.

The youngest of eight, Natalie is the epitome of Freudian dysfunction. Natalie is the product of her parents' inability to express love and her brothers' constant needling. Upon her return home for winter break, readers witness the gravity of her brothers' demeaning jokes. As amateur psychologists, readers draw the conclusion that Natalie has become the fragile, timid young woman she is because of her childhood.

Her propensity for mental instability (attributed to a family disposition to such) is amplified when she becomes obsessed with her "first love." From the beginning, she pushes him away, feeling undeserving as a result of her perception of his elevated social and intellectual position. Despite his growing dislike and obvious emotional apathy, Natalie continues to give her body to him. She tries to convince herself that he will one day love her in the way that she loves him.

Natalie's downward, self-destructive spiral at first translates as sympathy from the reader. But as Natalie forfeits her virginity, her intellectual curiosity and even her hair, the reader herself may echo the main character's depression. Natalie seems so absolutely committed to her own unhappiness that it is irritating. One of her dorm mates even tells her, "You were cooler when you just studied. Now you walk around like a scared dog. People can smell your fear."

Natalie does escape from her own prison, but by that time the reader has already given up on the possibility of Natalie standing up for herself. Her "happy ending" seems to come too late in the story to matter. Readers may be reassured by Natalie's self discovery, but one would hope that she could have reached such a conclusion in a shorter, or at least less painful, way.

In Patricia Weitz's first novel, she employs a voice to which many college girls can connect. The book is interspersed with references to drunken hookups, literature and drugs, all of which are prominent features of many college experiences. Weitz has created an accurate portrayal of the insecurities that pervade the lives of so many twenty-something women. However, what "College Girl" achieves in accuracy, it lacks in creativity.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Fairly gripping dysfunctional romance May 28, 2010

By S. Word

Format:Hardcover

The heroine's first boyfriend was so well-drawn -- convincingly attractive, intelligent, charming, and heartless -- that I couldn't put the book down until she was done with him. But the book seemed overly long, and I had trouble believing that the protagonist's circumstances could be as dire as represented. Were all five of her brothers utter clods? Were all the women in her dorm sexually promiscuous? Would a college professor speak so unprofessionally to a student? Etc. Actually I think even the horrible boyfriend would have been nice enough to pay for her hamburger at McDonald's; he drove a Saab, for goodness sake.

Also, the protagonist herself seemed less convincing and less appealing as the book wore on. This girl must have had some moxie and curiosity to be able to get into college and earn A's in her coursework...but all of that goes out the window as soon as her bad love affair begins. She ends up looking like an intellectual zero. I left the book not understanding why she was interested in Russia or even what kind of a person she was.

This wasn't a bad read, just not the kind of book I would read twice.