Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book - But Not Perrotta's Best, October 26, 2000
I first read about Tom Perrotta in the New York Times Book Review, when "The Wishbones" came out. Rarely have I had such an enjoyable read. As a native of New Jersey who was best man in a classic Northern Jersey, blue collar wedding, Perrotta astounded me with his ability to get his characters, dialog, and plot lines just right. When "Election" came out, I read it in one morning on a beach in Mexico, but once again, felt transported to my teenage days in New Jersey. And finally, I read Perrotta's first book, "Bad Haircut - Stories of the '70's," and found that to be a gem as well.Which was why I found "Joe College" a disappointment. Perhaps it was a matter of reaching too far, but this novel found the author floundering a bit. While Perrotta still builds likable, yet complicated characters, in this novel he tried to build too much into it, and the result was at times, a muddled picture. I felt there were one or two subplots that could have been cut, which would have allowed the author to spend more time developing the principle characters. Don't get me wrong - I still recommend this book. Even if it is not Perrotta's best novel, Tom Perrotta at 80% is better than most novelists at 100%. Immediately upon finishing this, I found myself calling a good friend of mine who graduated from Yale in the 80's and told him to buy this book - pronto. And I also loved Perrotta's protagonist's way of balancing not only the two worlds he lived in, that of the traditional ivy-covered walls of Yale, against his blue collar, working class hometown in New Jersey, but also the Yale of his dreams and expectations against the Yale that he actually found. And I also could completely identify with the frustration of the protagonist's love life- the hopes, the let down's, the stops, the starts. Ultimately, I think "Joe College" will represent another level for Tom Perrotta. This novel was a bit darker, deeper and complicated than his previous ones. Perrotta is growing as a writer, and while this novel may seem like a small set- back, I still wholeheartedly recommend it. As I said, a Perrotta novel that falls slightly short of expectations is still better than most novels out there. And I can't wait for his next one.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Cad's Self Discovery, October 20, 2000
Based upon the reviews I had high expectations for this book. The theme is enticing: a lower middle class New Jersey guy's adjustment and transformation at a citadel of America's economic and intellectual elite. The first quarter of the book suggests that it might fulfill the potential of such a plot. However, it meanders and fizzles out, and concludes with a surrealistic ending incompatible with the rest of the novel.In terms of the broader issues, the protagonist Danny comes across as a callow self centered, albeit good natured, guy who is willing to turn his back as well as step on friends and family rather than let them thwart his chance at escaping blue collar New Jersey after having securing access to America's highest strata at Yale. While he suffers some minor angst over his increasing detachment from his working class origins he increasingly owns, and justifies, an elitist attitude and values as well as distain for the culture of the hoi polli. This sense of meritocratic entitlement and fear of falling manifests itself in a callous, craven, and callow failure to return calls, much less confront his responsibility after impregnating a working class girl (from a social set he didn't risk mingling with in high school) who alleviated his boredom one summer home from college. While seemingly macho in confronting mob muscle attempting to frighten him off his father's lunch business route, the impetus appears more his ego, as he shows a callous disregard for the economic and physical danger this presents his family. The book is honest, it is frank, unfortunately it is probably very realistic. The protagonist and his self discovery describe a vain man made increasingly unattractive by his quest to secure access to success. Disappointing, the hubris he meets at the end is insufficiently developed. After being delayed throughout the novel, the comeuppance warranted further development. I can fully appreciate a dark plot and sinister characters. However, I really don't think that Perrotta intended to represent Danny as a cad. However, in reality these may accurately be the type of the characteristics and values acquired by those who secure success by upper movement through academia, where one quickly seeks to distance himself from unrefined origins once receiving access to the "top". The book also, uncomfortably perceptively, recognizes the arrogance of those advancing through academia who feel that while they are entitled to such upward movement, others are not. This novel leads the reader to view the success and values of the meritocracy with a jaundiced eye. However, I don't think that was the author's intent; I think Perrotta wanted to depict the pitfalls which might inexplicably confront a regular working class "good guy" once he earns the access to this rarified strata.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
For Recovering English Majors Everywhere!, September 7, 2000
By A Customer
A wonderful novel which will satisfy any self-reflective needs for someone who came of age after disco but before the Go Go 80's. Danny, the first person narrator, is a working class Italian American kid from New Jersey who is here moving into his Junior year at Yale. He straddles these worlds with a freshly romantic appreciation for the peculiarities of both. His father drives a lunch truck and Danny helps out during summer and spring breaks and it is on this job that he reconnects with a high school acquaintance Cindy. Their halting relationship (she really loves him) creates the third act complication which follows Danny north to New Haven and his whole other life as a promising English Major and possible leading man for Polly, the social opposite of Cindy. It's not easy to call this book monumental because the events of the book are very personal and sort of soft, but the accretion of detail, and the rhythm and echoes between the characters and their scenes create a wonderful overall effect. Perratta is working with the huge American contradiction of what is earned and what is given and his first-person character is a bridge between a father who has made his income with his back (actually, his butt, but nevermind that) and his own future which will be built with his mind. Perratta mines Yale in the 80's for wonderful scenes of gifted children in the throes of their own amusement. And the thrown-off tone and approach of the storytelling actually conceals a deep and incisive portrait of a generation now taking charge of all of our futures.A splendid read and highly recommended
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