Scan barcode
adevans16's review
4.0
Lacerating critique of Princeton and higher education disguised as a comic memoir. A great combination of really funny and really sad.
bexactually's review
Probably would have liked it better if I could have managed to finish it.
sondosia's review
5.0
People who don't like this book probably just don't get it.
Yes, I found myself frustrated and even angry at Walter sometimes. Yes, he can be whiny, braggy, and immature. But aren't we all sometimes?
I go to Northwestern, which is a tier down from the Ivies, but I can't say I've never met people like Walter. In fact, if I didn't love learning so much, I'd be a lot like him, too. Truth is, though, he would probably be unhappy just about anywhere, because he is an unhappy person. It took him a long time to learn to appreciate his gifts rather than using them as vehicles for hedonism.
I think everyone who is young and gifted (or remembers being young and gifted) can identify with this book. Intelligence can be both a blessing and a curse, and it's not easy to learn how to appreciate it as the former.
Yes, I found myself frustrated and even angry at Walter sometimes. Yes, he can be whiny, braggy, and immature. But aren't we all sometimes?
I go to Northwestern, which is a tier down from the Ivies, but I can't say I've never met people like Walter. In fact, if I didn't love learning so much, I'd be a lot like him, too. Truth is, though, he would probably be unhappy just about anywhere, because he is an unhappy person. It took him a long time to learn to appreciate his gifts rather than using them as vehicles for hedonism.
I think everyone who is young and gifted (or remembers being young and gifted) can identify with this book. Intelligence can be both a blessing and a curse, and it's not easy to learn how to appreciate it as the former.
debnanceatreaderbuzz's review against another edition
3.0
He worked the system. Better, he knew how to work the system.
He was not particularly well educated. He faked it. He scammed his teachers. He took the right classes. He aced the SAT.
I’m not sure I really wanted to know this. Is he typical? I know I don’t want to know the answer to that.
He was not particularly well educated. He faked it. He scammed his teachers. He took the right classes. He aced the SAT.
I’m not sure I really wanted to know this. Is he typical? I know I don’t want to know the answer to that.
lblewis01's review against another edition
1.0
I thought it was going to be a commentary on our education system, but it was just some guy rambling about his years in school during the cold war
More...