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austinstorm's review against another edition
5.0
I did not expect a turn toward addiction memoir leading up to a nervous breakdown. I loved the ending, contra firehose of knowledge or academic gamesmanship. Really enjoyable.
yearofbluewater's review against another edition
3.0
Quick and enjoyable, if not particularly memorable.
lraeskat's review against another edition
4.0
Not really what I was anticipating, but I liked the author's voice throughout.
mishka432's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. The title implies some sort of broad criticism, but it's really a memoir about his breakdown at princeton. The code-switching aspect is thought-provoking, but overall the story was not super interesting to me
heykellyjensen's review
1.0
Wow. This was boring and Kirn was not interesting in the least. I couldn't even get through it because, well, he was a slacker and I didn't have any sympathy or ANY interest in him at all.
skundrik87's review
2.0
Wanted less of a personal biography and much more on the deeper and more pressing flaws with the education system.
mattmatros's review
3.0
Three stars is probably a bit generous, but I enjoyed the very end of the memoir, where Kirn gives his final verdict on the Princeton experience, so the book gets a half-star bonus.
Outside of the last few chapters, this read like a veiled attempt for Kirn to brag about all the women he slept with and all the drugs he did when he was younger. There was nothing resembling a narrative thread, and there wasn't really any rhyme or reason for what anecdotes were included, except that he seemed to include the most salacious and to leave out anything related to actual coursework. This seemed odd to me, given what the book was supposed to be about (and also, that it was supposed to be about something).
Parts of this were fun to read, but mostly the memoir failed to hold my interest, and didn't give me much new insight into the college experience (again, the last couple chapters excepted).
Outside of the last few chapters, this read like a veiled attempt for Kirn to brag about all the women he slept with and all the drugs he did when he was younger. There was nothing resembling a narrative thread, and there wasn't really any rhyme or reason for what anecdotes were included, except that he seemed to include the most salacious and to leave out anything related to actual coursework. This seemed odd to me, given what the book was supposed to be about (and also, that it was supposed to be about something).
Parts of this were fun to read, but mostly the memoir failed to hold my interest, and didn't give me much new insight into the college experience (again, the last couple chapters excepted).
line_so_fine's review
2.0
Most of the critiques I have read about education in the United States have been focused on students who are underserved. I thought it would be a compelling thing to read a critical look at the education of our nation's overachievers. And although the book does its job, I felt sort of meh while reading it. Something about the arc of the stories was just too meandering for me. It's not a bad book, but it's just didn't grab me.