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The Spectacular Now
- By Tim Tharp
- Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Common Sense Media says
Teen drunk's tragic story requires sophisticated readers.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that the main character is an unrepentant teen drunk who prides himself on being a "right-now kind of guy." He doesn't make a typical YA transformation, and readers may be surprised that he is not reformed by the end. Sophisticated readers will be able to deduce that he is a tragic figure, damaged by his broken family and doomed to lead a depressing drunken life -- but parents might want to check in to make sure teens understand the point here. There's also marijuana smoking, swearing, brand names, sex, mentions of condoms, and a girl confessing that her first time was a disturbing encounter with the 20-year-old son of her mother's boyfriend when she was only 14.
What's the story?
High school senior Sutter Keely is never without a drink -- in a go-cup, hip-flask, or car-trunk-turned-ice-chest -- and he is always slightly buzzed, sometimes falling-down drunk. Sutter is a happy drunk, the life of the party. He says that he is "one hundred percent serious about not being serious," and can't understand why his classmates seem so interested in planning ahead. When he meets nerdy Aimee, who supports her mother's gambling with her paper route, Sutter decides he is just what Aimee needs. But his friends don't seem to agree.
Is it any good?
This book is different than most YA stories about addiction: Sutter does not learn the Big Lesson, and he doesn't see the error of his ways or join AA. By the end he is still an alcoholic. But careful readers will be able to deduce that his story is a tragedy: everyone he loves is moving on, while he has still not graduated from high school, has lost his job -- and even his drinking is not always purely pleasurable the way it once was.
Not all the plotting is perfect: Some readers may find the scene where Sutter finally finds his father a bit of a letdown. But readers will find it easy to root for Sutter, who has some real kindness locked inside -- as well as some deep pain -- and find it difficult to leave him drunk and alone outside of a sad dive bar, disappearing "little by little into the middle of the middle of my own spectacular now."
What families can talk about
Families can talk about how this book differs from typical stories about substance abuse. Did the ending surprise you? Has Sutter changed at all by the end?
This book was nominated for a National Book Award. Why do you think this book was singled out? Does it deserve that honor?
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AGE
perfect for anyone, unless your parents dont like the scene it is in
I Love this book, its so true to a lot of people that can be catagorized as a Sutter Keeley themselves
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AGE
Great writing, worth discussing
I think the reviewer missed by a bit here. In the end Sutter sees everyone who is important to him heading off to begin their adult life while he is still stuck in his pattern of drinking and going no where. He tries to quit drinking but can't and he is beginning to realize the hopelessness of his own life. I think Tharp is a terrific writer and there is much to discuss in this sharp, sad novel. Don't sell it short. Bookshop Mom
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| Author: | Tim Tharp |
| Book type: | Fiction |
| Genre: | Contemporary Fiction |
| Publisher: | Alfred A. Knopf |
| Publication date: | October 1, 2008 |
| Number of pages: | 294 |
| Hardcover price: | $16.99 |
| Publisher's recommended age(s): | 14 - 14 |
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