I Am Charlotte Simmons

Fun to read a contemporary book about the work I do… life in colleges in the US.  Not always good by the way.  In this book, I Am Charlotte Simmons, Tom Wolfe (author of another RA Favorite Book – Bonfires of the Vanities) does his homework through his journey of the top colleges/universities across the country.  While this is a really long book (I actually listened to 32+ hours!), it really kept me engaged throughout.  The story begins with high school valedictorian Charlotte Simmons delivering her speech to those assembled for the ceremony.  We learn that Charlotte, from Sparta, NC, follows the lead of her parents' humble Christian upbringing and has stayed away from the alcohol, sex, and rock and roll, focusing strictly on her academics.  This leads to receiving a full-ride to the fictional “elite” Dupont University, which is more elite than Harvard, Stanford, and Yale!  Now the fun begins! (More behind the jump).

It's Charlotte’s arrival day to Dupont with her parents, who have driven to Dupont (PA) from Sparta, NC (I think about 800 people live there, and she is not the type of students who traditionally come to the institution).  Most of the students, including Charlotte’s roommate, are in the financial-stratosphere!  This clash of cultures and socio-economic backgrounds happens every day on college campuses, among the many other issues Wolfe adeptly addresses, such as being “sexiled,” flow of alcohol/drugs, Division I athletes getting free-rides to a degree (also free tutoring, courses that are beneath the regularly offered courses), Greek life gone badly, and other shady behavior everywhere one turns.  Charlotte’s roommate, Beverly, regularly has sex in the room with one of the athletes and constantly knocks Charlotte’s confidence to a point that she makes a major decision she will live to regret… going to DC with a star Lacrosse frat boy for the annual formal.  Wolfe introduces lots of other issues in this one, such as, the only white basketball player (whom Charlotte eventually falls in love with) getting caught plagiarizing a paper from his tutor, Adam, who is intertwined in this story as a friend of Charlotte, a reporter for the student newspaper, and the student who uncovers that a US Presidential candidate who visited the campus received fellatio from a sorority member.  One of the saddest scenes occurs when Charlotte is on the trip to DC with Hoyt, the frat boy, who gets her drunk and they have sex, Charlotte losing her virginity.  These issues are real and occur on too many college campuses where sex is a casual event, honesty and depth of relationships are rarer than they may have been (at least in my time) and alcohol flows freely everywhere.  I have always said lack of self-esteem (see Charlotte’s decision making) is the number one problem occurring on a college campus.  Wolfe has got it right!  There are many lessons to learn as a parent, a future student, or even current student about the travails – some which certainly can be avoided.  The most entertaining section in the book is the various ways the word sh*t can be used.  There are other funny moments too, it isn’t all tragic! There is much more to this story than I have written here.   I can’t believe I had not heard about this one before and I'm really glad I read it.  I will talk about it briefly in my class this year on college communities.  Yes, add this one to the list!  Very well done, Mr. Wolfe.