The Spectacular Now – July 9, 2013

The Spectacular Now – July 9, 2013

Author: Visit Amazon's Tim Tharp Page | Language: English | ISBN: 0385754302 | Format: EPUB

The Spectacular Now – July 9, 2013 Description

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Unlike most high school seniors, Sutter Keely—the narrator of this smart, superbly written novel—is not concerned with the future. Hes the life of the party, and hes interested in the Spectacular Now. In stream of consciousness–style prose, Sutter describes his lurching from one good time to the next: he carries whiskey in a flask, and once its mixed into his 7Up, anything is possible. He will jump into the pool fully clothed, climb up a tree and onto his ex-girlfriends roof or cruise around all hours of the night. Without ever deviating from the voice of the egocentric Sutter, Tharp (Knights of the Hill Country) fully develops all of the ancillary characters, such as socially awkward Aimee, the new girlfriend who tries to plan a future with this quintessential live-for-the-moment guy. Readers will be simultaneously charmed and infuriated by Sutter as his voice holds them in thrall to his all-powerful Now. Ages 14–up. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up—Sutter Keely, a high school senior, is determined to live in the moment. He eschews planning for the future, intent on letting the good times roll. Sutter's been downing six packs since seventh grade and is rarely without his flask of Seagram's. Despite the heavy drinking and some raunchy sex talk, he is initially a likable character with a fresh and funny voice, but his affability wanes quickly and that voice just doesn't ring true. He meets Aimee when he passes out on her front yard. Sutter isn't really interested at first and only dates her because he considers her a project, someone he can help become less of a social outcast. Along the way, he begins to come off as condescending and egotistical and his sarcasm isn't as comic. It's a well-written book told in first person, but the narration seems much too sophisticated to be believable. He uses phrases like, "I am…sore at heart" and utters phrases like, "the room brimmed with padded chairs." Some of the plot is also disconcerting. As the result of Sutter's drunk driving, Aimee is struck by a car on a highway and suffers only a broken arm. The story ends with Sutter drinking in a bar, assured he's a hero after dumping Aimee, and rejoicing about feeling nothing.—Patricia N. McClune, Conestoga Valley High School Library, Lancaster, PA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

• Product Details
• Table of Contents
• Reviews

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Ember (July 9, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385754302
• ISBN-13: 978-0385754309
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

"Well, darkness has a hunger that's insatiable" -- Emily Saliers

"Forget the dark things. Take a drink and let time wash them away to wherever time washes things away to." -- Sutter Keely

THE SPECTACULAR NOW is such an achingly humor-filled, intensely sad story, that it has taken me a couple of days of processing the emotions it stirred up before being able to talk about Sutter Keely. Having previously included KNIGHTS OF THE HILL COUNTRY (Tharp's previous book for teens) on my Best of 2006 list, I was well aware of the author's abilities, but this second book is Something Else. It is one that absolutely should be added to high school collections and to required reading lists for YA Lit students.

High school senior Sutter Keely is great friends with a long line of ex-girlfriends. He has a superb sense of humor, plays well with his peers, is forever the life of the party, and professes his affinity for embracing the weird. But as his latest relationship crumbles, he asks himself, "Why is it that girls like me so much but never love me." And, of course, as we come to learn, it is the damaged young alcoholic himself, and not the girls, who has the real problem. Or a number of real problems.

But then he has a chance pre-dawn meeting with a girl he's never noticed who is so unlike his partying crowd:

"She jerks back, startled to see me move. 'You're alive,' she says. 'I thought maybe you were dead.'
"I'm like, 'I don't think I'm dead.' But right now I can't exactly be sure of anything. 'Where the hell am I?'
"'You're in the middle of the yard,' she says. 'Do you know someone who lives here?'
"I sit up and look at the house -- an ugly, little, pink brick one with a window air-conditioner unit. 'No, I never saw it before.

Everyone knows that if you want a good time, you call Sutter Keely. He's the guy with a bar in his boot, enough whisky in his flask to go round and he doesn't know the meaning of the word `embarrassment'. There's no doubt that Sutter is the life of any party - but when it comes to relationships, he fizzes pretty quick. He's accumulated a string of ex-girlfriends in his eighteen years, and remained friends with every single one of them. But right now he's hoping to hold on to his current girlfriend, the gloriously fat and beautiful Cassidy - of Icelandic eyes and Nordic locks. But Sutter can't do the one thing that Cassidy asks of him; to consider her feelings. So Cassidy dumps him, and Sutter finds healing in the bottom of a whisky bottle. . .

Aimee Finicky finds Sutter passed out on a strangers' lawn. Of course she knows who he is, they've been going to the same school for years now and she can remember every class they shared and every hilarious thing he did - he's cool and popular, so it's no wonder he doesn't recognise quiet, shy Aimee.

After sharing a paper-route one morning, Sutter decides to `save' Aimee. She has no self-esteem, a gambling mother and Walrus-like stepfather. She wears a purple puffer jacket that makes her look like a Christmas ornament, and her best friend is a miniature tyrant. Sutter decides to take her under his wing, and not a moment too soon.

But it might not be Aimee who's in desperate need of help. After all, Sutter has never quite recovered from his parent's divorce and lies to himself about his idyllic absentee father. His sister has been angry with him ever since he set her husband's suit on fire. And his best friend, Ricky, has gained a girlfriend and some perspective on Sutter's wild partying ways.

The Spectacular Now – July 9, 2013 Preview

Link

Please Wait...