The Spectacular Now

by Tim Tharp

I didn't really like this book, although, of course, I was still compelled to read the entire thing. It was about Sutter Keely, a senior in high school, who embraces the weird and lives only in the now. Really he's a drunk, and the amount of drunk driving in this book drove me crazy. He's a likable enough character, but he's really a mess. I wanted to fix him the entire time I was reading, and I couldn't understand how a mom could be so absent and blind to what was going on with her own kid. It had a non-ending though...the kind where you have to infer what happens next. I hate those. I like to know!

Quotes I Like:

"Im more worried that I didn't exactly hear what she wants me to do from now on to save our relationship."
'So what, you weren't listening at all? If it was me, I'd be hanging on every word.'
"You can't hang on every word, there's too much going on at any given moment. All you can do is absorb the feel of it."
(isn't that guy logic?)

"I don't look down on anyone, except maybe for the pretentious, and you can even feel sorry for them if you think about it." (I'd like a shirt with that sentence on it!)

"It's sad in a way to watch old movie stars grow old beneath their fabulous hair."