Read Recently: “Joe College” by Tom Perrotta
Title: “Joe College”
Author: Tom Perrotta.
Synopsis: Danny is a sophomore at Yale in 1982. Has girl trouble, torn between roommates and hometown friends, drives father’s lunch truck over spring break. Hilarity insues.
Backstory: College, the 80s, the
author of “Little Children” which I loved. Do I need another reason?
Notes: Quick, painless read. No fiber in this meal. Think Fruit Roll-Ups.
Verdict: Perrotta hasn’t matured quite yet. The whoel novel is loveable in an old blanket sort of way but doesn’t really justify why we should be reading. Danny is really hapless schlub, a financial aid package away from Fuck Head in Jesus’ Son. Perrotta overwrites him giving him phrases no 19-year-old would use even the kind who hyperanalyzes nothings like I did at that age. The supporting cast is colorful yet flatly so.
This is a pleasant read. But not much more.