Customer Reviews

The Student Body: A Novel

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Student Body is suspenseful, sexy, and hilarious. The setting is Harvard and, it captures the flavor of the college town and the city of Boston. Toni Isaccs, the heroine, is smart and resourceful and passionate about solving the mystery invlving her friends and classmates. Van is an unforgettable character, the sexiest man on campus with a hidden secret. Chase scenes and snide sarcasm alternate to make a really entertaining book. I'm so glad this is finally a paperback!

The Marketing
Before I read pjammer's review, I thought I was the only one who was the target of the "fellow reader" spambot from Jane Harvard. Now, I DO subscribe to a number of reading-recommendation mailing lists, and CERTAINLY don't mind if authors honestly told me who they are and why I should read a book (recently discovered Lee Gruenfeld, author of the delightful All Fall Down, this way). Pretending to be a fellow reader, suggesting that "I think Amazon might have it." is another thing altogether.
The Book
Well, I admit I wanted to like it. But the "comically rainbow-coalition-esque," observation of Reader from LA, captured the spirit of the novel completely. The charaters are so Politically Correct, to absurd lengths (Black! Ambitious! Woman! Bisexual! Vietnamese! Sex Machine! Aaack! Just! Shoot! Me!), that you find yourself silently wishing for everyone to die halfway through the novel. No luck. May I suggest that characters be crafted with interesting personalities (that can stand on their own) first, and THEN decide on a race, instead of the other way around? I think it would work much better.
The authors smugly asser their PC-credentials throughout the novel - a white character who refers to a black prostitute as "brown sugar" is a "racist a--hole." Well smack ME upside the head with a Clue-by-Four, if identifying somebody's skin color in an admittedly tacky phrase automatically makes you the scum of the earth, what phrase do we reserve for lynchers, klansmen, and the truely odious troglodytes of society?
The fundemental flaw of this novel is its lack of an authentic "voice." Like white rappers who grew up in the suburbs trying to rap about inner-city life (An aside: where IS Vanilla Ice these days, anyway?), Jane Harvard misses the mark every time she wanders outside of the pristine halls of Harvard. The grit and sex are laughably lame, and the PC attitude grates the nerves of anyone who has ever dealt with authentic racism. Thank God for Amazon's generous return-policies.

Jane Harvard's collaborative book differs from most of what's on the market in that it's a thriller with a sense of humor, and its characters are not limited to white men. It succeeds both as a page-turner and as an ironic commentary on "multicultural"issues. Obviously, not everyone is into this, but then again, not everyone is into books that require intelligence. I loved it, and got my friends to read it.

The most impressive part about this book is the continuity created in the plot when it was written by four different people...The biggest drawback to the book is the fact that it was written by four different people...

I did enjoy this book (see rating), however I got a headache not from plot holes, but from character holes. It seemed like each author had their own idea of what each character is like, showing glimpses of personality at different points of the book, but the resulting psychological gestalts are confusing to say the least.

The effect was disturbing, but did make for an interesting read. The insight into life on an elite Ivy League campus is intriguing, and there are sufficient twists and turns to keep you turning the pages.

If nothing else, you should read this for its pure creative value. It's amazing what a group of people can get together and do... for a grade.

I thought The Student Body was an exciting and very entertaining read. The almost sarcastic humor was great comic relief for a fast paced thriller plot that sounded more like an episode of Hard Copy than a novel about the Ivy League.

I really liked the strong characterization of Toni and her friend, young women who won't take no for an answer. Toni is a great character.

I can't believe this book was written by four people; it seems like the work of one smart, bitchy author. It was fun to see gay, black, Latina and Asian characters interacting with white characters and with each other. The plot is maybe a little farfetched, but up to the minute (Bob Dole needs a copy) in the biotech and business angle. Higher education was never this good.

Though the sex was less titillating than the implied coupling in an Archie Comics Digest, I found the book's pace brisk and the references to Harvard and its surroundings sublime--very genuine and delivered with authority.

The anti-stereotypes were a bit overwrought, but the characters were drawn in an intersting, tounge-in-cheek fashion. I literally, could not put this book down!

If there is a sequel (Jane, if you are reading, please!) may I suggest a Serbo-Croatian protagonist on the order of Boston news legend Natalie Jacobsen.

I received this book for Christmas and was finished reading it by that night!! It was an exciting read from the beginning. I would definitely read anything else that these four decide to write!!

Jane Harvard's first effort is a winner in this tale of sleaze at America's most prestigious center of higher learning. While the plot may be somewhat predictable, there are enough twists and characters who refuse to be cliches to make this an exceptional read.

Okay, I admit it. I was leery of this book because of all the hype. And yet...it sounded so interesting. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to read just a tiny bit. And just a bit more.

Then I was doomed. The true-to-life (if a bit larger) characters, the snappy writing, and the cutting humor sucked me in. And I was reading a trashy novel and -- yes -- enjoying it!

I'm a graduate of one of the other Ivies (the best one, if you ask me), but I think everyone who went to college in the eighties or nineties will identify. This is one hot Body!