Customer Reviews

Sex, Money, Good Grades, and Other Things You Won't Get in College

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I received an advance copy of this book. Be forewarned not to read this on a plane like I did! People get nervous these days when there is a person laughing out loud to himself. Anyone that remembers what it's like to be 18 and full of vinegar will love this! You will often say " I knew someone exactly like that!"

This is a really great book. It is very heart felt, and you can feel the emotion that the writer puts into it. Any college student can completely relate to the situations that occur in this book. Even if you have graduated from college you could probably read this and remember it happening to you. Also the writing is great, you can just feel like you are there. You should really pick this one up.

The watery taste of cheap beer. The funky odor that lingers in dorm hallways. The heavy conversations served up along with the leaden food at the college cafeteria. The morbid fear that your roommate is going to show up at just the moment you've convinced the cute girl in your chem class to go oral on you.
If you've gone to college, you'll recognize it all in this energetic first novel by Brad Mendenhall. No doubt tapping into his own experience at a small liberal arts college in central Pennsylvania, Mendenhall writes evocatively about the romantic adventures of Kenny and his motley crew of friends at a similar institution.
With its myriad characters who seem as authentic as the flesh-and-blood students currently walking the grassy lawns of college campuses today, "Sex, Money, Good Grades, And Other Things You Won't Get in College" (SMuGG) is a crystal-clear glimpse at the world of American kids going through that brief, glorious time that represents, for many, the first taste of independence and freedom from parental authority.
It fits snugly in the same tradition of college novels that begins with Fitzgerald's "This Side of Paradise," and continues through John Knowles' "A Separate Peace" and the more recent "I Am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolf.
Clearly, I'm a fan of the college novel, having had an amazing, formative experience at my own alma mater. Full disclosure: I'm an alum of Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, the same university that graduated Brad Mendenhall, though we attended nearly a decade apart and have never met. Part of my own pleasure of the book, it must be said, is my recognition of the various landmarks of the book's fictional Crenshaw University, a thinly disguised version of LHU.
But you don't have to have been an LHU alumnus to enjoy the other obvious pleasures of SMuGG. You just have to be someone who loves a great read.

This brought back memories of what it was like being younger and in college. Anyone who's "been there and done that" should thorougly enjoy this book. Anyone who hasn't could easily find themselves intwined in the lives of Kenny and the others as well. The characters, dialogue and situations are realistic, rather than campy, and makes for a good read.

I found this book to be a very easy read and very humorous. The story brought me back to the issues and memories that I experienced during my 4 years at college. I really liked how the author kept the mystery going throughout the novel and didn't reveal too much about characters too soon. While some of the dialog was a bit difficult to follow, the story felt very real and very believable.

This was this author's first published work. I would very much like to read more from this author in the coming years.

This novel is clever and witty with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. It's a real page-turner and is brilliantly written. The characters are believable and relatable. Whether you've been to college or not, you will be able to commiserate and find a little bit of yourself (or people you know) in them. I would recommend this book to anyone. One can only hope that this first time author will grace us with many more gems like this one.