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I Am Charlotte Simmons

By Tom Wolfe

(60)

| Hardcover | 9780374281588

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Book Description

Dupont University--the Olympian halls of learning housing the cream of America's youth, the roseate Gothic spires and manicured lawns suffused with tradition . . . Or so it appears to beautiful, brilliant Charlotte Simmons, a sheltered freshman from North Carolina. But Charlotte soon learns, to her Continue

Critics

Oh, Tom, do get on with it

I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe Cape £20 pp676 Tom Wolfe dressed down for this, his third novel. He had the feeling that there had never been a great book about university life written from the point of view of students and, in order to put that ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

Ohmygod it's a caricature

I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe 676pp, Cape, £20 After studying for a doctorate at Yale, Tom Wolfe famously changed course and became a journalist - a New Journalist, pursuing the rough beast of 1960s America (the fashions, the drugs, the biker g ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

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7 Reviews

1 person find this helpful

Incredible audio book! Dylan Baker is as good reading as he is in movies, one of the best audio books I've ever listened to and best-written novels.

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Bibliobum said on Jun 13, 2008 | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

Education in the Age of Social Pressure

terrific, genial, I loved it!

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Anatole Pierre Fuksas said on Sep 2, 2007 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

I finished this book three months ago and I already feel I want to read it again.
Charlotte Simmons is one of the most true-to-life characters I've ever read about in a book.
Many times I wondered how a male author could have written so realistically about a female character (in spite of the narrati ... (continue)

I finished this book three months ago and I already feel I want to read it again.
Charlotte Simmons is one of the most true-to-life characters I've ever read about in a book.
Many times I wondered how a male author could have written so realistically about a female character (in spite of the narration sometimes slipping into being overly piteous).

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Elena said on Feb 10, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

my first approach..

I feel particularly sentimental about this book, that represent my first approach to the english language.
That's why I won't, of course, be neutral about it!
Anyway, it talks with a detached sight about the transformation of a young american lady in the femme fatale of the college..very american, v ... (continue)

I feel particularly sentimental about this book, that represent my first approach to the english language.
That's why I won't, of course, be neutral about it!
Anyway, it talks with a detached sight about the transformation of a young american lady in the femme fatale of the college..very american, very sour!

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Pinedda said on Dec 5, 2009 | Add your feedback

*** This comment contains spoilers! ***

My first Tom Wolfe, possibly not the last

A very imaginative piece of fiction in the heart of the American university system. I liked it a lot with the following advise: the book is basically divided into 3 parts. First (about 500 pages) the build-up of a the main character throughout the first semester, which is very interesting and enjoya ... (continue)

A very imaginative piece of fiction in the heart of the American university system. I liked it a lot with the following advise: the book is basically divided into 3 parts. First (about 500 pages) the build-up of a the main character throughout the first semester, which is very interesting and enjoyable. After something bad happens, we go through the next 200 pages or so, following the trip to hell of Charlotte: I think this part could/should have been cut by half. In the end, we start to see the re-emergence of a new Charlotte, but this comes to an abrupt end after only 100 pages...this should have been longer...

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Kadath Dragon said on Nov 7, 2009 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

I read this during my semester abroad. It was a cure for all feelings of homesickness.
Tom Wolfe is a brilliant American social commentator (Bonfire of the Vanities) and continues with Charlotte. The fact that a not-so-young but very distinguished man can narrate so clearly the thoughts and ... (continue)

I read this during my semester abroad. It was a cure for all feelings of homesickness.
Tom Wolfe is a brilliant American social commentator (Bonfire of the Vanities) and continues with Charlotte. The fact that a not-so-young but very distinguished man can narrate so clearly the thoughts and fears of a 19-year old college girl is quite a feat. He does enlist the help of his daughters.
The book is a crystal clear, sometimes smutty (necessarily, afterall this is about college life), realistic look at the typical American experience of so many young women today.
Charlotte, like myself, grew up in a small town and was head of the class. She moved away from everything she knew to the halls of academia. She soon found that there is a darker side lurking beneath the certificates and libraries.
Heartbreaking but empowering.

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TaraS said on Jan 20, 2009 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback