The Spectacular Now
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4.1 • 473 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
This National Book Award Finalist is now a major motion picture -- one of the most buzzed-about films at Sundance 2013, starring Shailene Woodley (star of The Fault in our Stars and Divergent) and Miles Teller (star of Whiplash).
SUTTER KEELY. HE’S the guy you want at your party. He’ll get everyone dancing. He’ ll get everyone in your parents’ pool. Okay, so he’s not exactly a shining academic star. He has no plans for college and will probably end up folding men’s shirts for a living. But there are plenty of ladies in town, and with the help of Dean Martin and Seagram’s V.O., life’s pretty fabuloso, actually.
Until the morning he wakes up on a random front lawn, and he meets Aimee. Aimee’s clueless. Aimee is a social disaster. Aimee needs help, and it’s up to the Sutterman to show Aimee a splendiferous time and then let her go
forth and prosper. But Aimee’s not like other girls, and before long he’s in way over his head. For the first time in his life, he has the power to make a difference in someone else’s life—or ruin it forever.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Unlike most high school seniors, Sutter Keely the narrator of this smart, superbly written novel is not concerned with the future. He's the life of the party, and he's interested in the "Spectacular Now." In stream of consciousness style prose, Sutter describes his lurching from one good time to the next: he carries whiskey in a flask, and once it's mixed into his 7Up, anything is possible. He will jump into the pool fully clothed, climb up a tree and onto his ex-girlfriend's roof or cruise around all hours of the night. Without ever deviating from the voice of the egocentric Sutter, Tharp (Knights of the Hill Country) fully develops all of the ancillary characters, such as socially awkward Aimee, the new girlfriend who tries to plan a future with this quintessential live-for-the-moment guy. Readers will be simultaneously charmed and infuriated by Sutter as his voice holds them in thrall to his all-powerful Now. Ages 14 up.
Customer Reviews
Hey Holden. My name's Sutter.
I thought the similarities between The Spectacular Now and The Catcher in the Rye were uncanny. Both Holden & Sutter are consumed with holding onto childhood and dislike what adults turn into; both have an encounter with a prostitute; both have the same witty tone. Wheres Holden is holdin' on, Sutter's stuck in the gutter ...(get it? haha). Overall, great book! But I'f have to agree with the consensus that the ending was a little lacking.
Decent book
This was a pretty good story. It just didn’t seem to end. So this alcoholic kid is doing nothing with his life, learns about who he doesn’t want to be, and then dives head first into a lifestyle that is exactly who he doesn’t want to be. Disappointed with the end.
Love it.
Its really great. I especially love just how the book is written to perfectly show it from the main character’s point of view. Normal thing to do when writing a book but I feel that this take was quite unique and charming.