I am Charlotte Simmons

So, I just finished my first book of Tom Wolfe's, and I have to say, I really enjoyed it. It was generally well paced, and the characterization was amazing. Perhaps I'm assuming too much regarding Wolfe's knowledge of philosophy, but the way he had Coach misapplying "mens sana in corpore sano" (and citing it as Greek!), and when he had Socrates committing suicide, the way this shows Coach to be a person with no understanding of the life of the mind or philosophy was spectacular. I also particularly enjoyed his skewering of the self-declared intellectuals (Adam Gellin and posse), showing them to be the vapid pseudo-intellectuals those sort of people usually are. Mostly, I liked the way that, although none of the characters are completely sympathetic, (arguably) none of them are unsympathetic either (with the possible exception of Coach and Hoyt).

This is not to say that the book was perfect, though. It did get preachy at times, and I suspect it could have been a bit shorter. Overall, though, I'd heartily recommend it, and I'm looking forward to checking out some more of Wolfe's writing.

Oh, and can I add, Quat is such a great name for that character!