I Am Charlotte Simmons

by Tom Wolfe

Book Overview

Tom Wolfe, the master social novelist of our time, the spot-on chronicler of all things contemporary and cultural, presents a sensational new novel about life, love, and learning--or the lack of it--amid today's American colleges.

Our story unfolds at fictional Dupont University: those Olympian halls of scholarship housing the cream of America's youth, the roseate Gothic spires and manicured lawns suffused with tradition . . . Or so it appears...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312424442
• ISBN13: 9780312424442
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Picador USA
• Length: 752 Pages
• Weight: 1.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Exploring the Flaws in Higher Education

Tom Wolfe, a brilliant observer of American culture, brings his keen eye to the American university system in I Am Charlotte Simmons. His exploration of the many quirks and contradictions of college life is timely and intelligent, diving into the uneasy balance between athletic prowess and academic integrity, the allure of Greek Life, and the undercurrent of privilege permeating the campus. Wolfe's portrayal of college "athletes" and the overwhelming attention and resources they receive contrasts sharply with the academic aspirations that should define university life. Through the perspective of Charlotte Simmons, a gifted but naive freshman, Wolfe examines deeper tensions: the struggle between the genuine pursuit of knowledge and the relentless chase for grades, the quest for education versus career-oriented achievements, and the pressures of social appearance over intellectual growth. Charlotte's journey mirrors young adults' challenges, caught between independence and immaturity, navigating decisions that could shape their futures without the benefit of life experience. Wolfe's narrative has no true heroes—just flawed, impressionable characters trying to find their way. It’s a vivid depiction of the American university experience, with all its virtues and pitfalls, forcing readers to reflect on the realities of higher education today.

Compelling for its truth

This is not a book for your Sunday school group, or for anyone who wants to hold on to their misconceptions about what college is really about. It is offensive (at times) both in language and subject matter, revealing the author's depth of research and preparation for this novel. As a high school teacher, I have seen many "Charlottes"; those who are weary with jocks and party-people and want to find a truly intellectual "life of the mind." They leave my classroom believing that their freshman year of college will be just that - a new frontier filled with others like themselves: those who long to change the world simply through the power of thought. What they discover is much what Charlotte herself discovers: their secluded small town really was a microcosm, and all of the issues that existed there exist at their university, only now they are better-funded. It's been amusing to read the reviews and notice that you can almost identify which *Charlotte* crowd the reviewer fits into. Most of the angry ones would be *Adams* in my opinion, furiously claiming that Wolfe got it wrong and that not all college students are like these. They miss the point. They are angry about the ending; about Charlotte giving up her pursuit of a "life of the mind." Once again, they miss the point. In finding Jojo, Charlotte discovers her happy medium. He is tired of pretending to be stupid, and she is tired of pretending to be something she is not. They are a match, and Charlotte Simmons finds that she is (maybe) more Sparta than she would ever have cared to admit, and she shares much with the community of parents and friends that she left behind. She discovers that you don't go somewhere to find a "life of the mind"; you find it within yourself, in the choices that you make every day. All others are falsehoods. After finishing the book, I felt as if I was Charlotte Simmons, only with slightly modified choices. Wolfe's novel made me evaluate my own life and feel more at peace with the life I have created. If *Charlotte* had an epilogue, I am sure that it would tell us that she did the same.

Free Will vs. Society

In reading "I Am Charlotte Simmons," I started out slowly, but quickly warmed up to the book, staying up until 4am to whiz through the final 100 pages or so. In writing this novel, I don't think Wolfe's prime objective is to present a documentary-style depiction of college life. Instead, utilizing a device Quentin Tarantino uses in his movies, Wolfe exaggerates some characteristics of college life to write a novel about the pressures kids go through as they try to balance their individuality with the social pressures and norms that come with college life. When an 18-year old kid, such as Charlotte Simmons, begins college, some parts of his or her character are already well defined, while other parts are highly prone to environmental influences. Wolfe employs the arguably over-simplified archetypes of the frat-boy, the nerd, the jock and the snob to emphasize the social stratification of his fictional college campus (one that isn't too far off from reality) and set up the environment through which Charlotte must navigate. Throughout her college journey, Charlotte, through the prism of her naiveté and innocence, is constantly forced to balance her individual beliefs and the morals instilled in her through her upbringing with the new social structure and environment she is forced to confront at the university. In this book, Wolfe depicts college life for what it is - a bizarre, artificial, highly-stratified mini-civilization that exaggerates many of the characteristics of our society as a whole. Kids are thrown into this environment before many have strongly established their own identities, and their success or failure in this environment depends on their inner-strength and ability to make the right choices. While everybody at a college campus does not fit neatly into one of the archetypes Wolfe employs in this book (a fact Wolfe himself acknowledges when Charlotte clearly mis-categorizes a girl sitting at her table while in the library), this kind of stratification really does exist at most large schools. And incoming freshman, starting out with a clean slate, are constantly bombarded with choices - whether to join a fraternity/sorority, who to hang out with (and the social implications of choosing to hang out with particular people or groups), whether to drink, how much to study, where to party, what classes to take, etc. Wolfe pretty accurately depicts the emotions that a person goes through as they navigate these decisions. Tellingly, many of the people Charlotte interacts with are already seniors, and they have made their choices long ago (though they are certainly capable of changing their minds). Charlotte is only just starting to figure things out, and we follow her through a series of steps and missteps, sharing her emotions along the way. Starting out with an idealist view of college life, Charlotte is quickly hit by cold reality, makes some startlingly bad (but understandable) decisions, and ends up at least understandin

Class, Status, and Power

I am a big Tom Wolfe fan, but all the reviews statingthat the books was only about out of control college kids screwing like rabbits almost convinced me to skip this one. Like most great novels the reader can chose how deeply or superficially to puruse the book. One can read it simply as a page turner. Wolfe offers much more. He investigated elite colleges first hand before writing the book. Thus the reader gets social cultural descriptions of 'our best', our pre-ordained 'masters of the universe'. Wolfe is hilarious in exposing the values and behaviors of the sorority sisters and the frats. In fact there are too many memorable scenes to mention. Wolfe turns race relations upside down, examines big time college athletes, or student-athletes, economic and social class, and university culture. The book raises many questions, and gives the reader a lot to think about. Most negative reviewers seem to take this book personally. Some get hung up on Charlotte's virginity which is really a character issue or choice. The book is about human beings, it has universal meanings and themes that are important to think about. The writing is, well its Tom Wolfe. If you want to read a book that will become a classic and still be around 50 years from now, from our national treasure, Tom Wolfe, our Mark Twain and Dickens, read, really read the book. If all you want to do is focus on reporting of sexual mores you can do that as well. If you really get upset that a female character choses sexual abstanance then you may agree with the professional reviewers. If you are stringently politically correct and can't take critques of 'sacred cows' then this book may upset you.

Five for sheer readability

Flawed, yes, and perhaps not entirely convincing, "I Am Charlotte Simmons" is nonetheless an engrossing read with enough appealing characters, surprising turns of event, and occasional tart moments to keep your nose in the book for a good long while. Okay so it's not "Bonfire of the Vanities"-what is? This book goes down very easy, but take a minute to think about what goes on at Dupont University and you'll probably find "Charlotte" is a pretty disturbing book. You have to like Charlotte Simmons. Here she is, a girl from a rural high school, the success, the striver. With her grades, scores, and drive, she gets into all the top colleges in the country but chooses Dupont, the place she feels she will find her intellectual equals. This is not what Charlotte finds. The most moving character is basketball player Jojo Johanssen, another kid from a hardscrabble background who finds himself in hot water when he actually begins to like learning. The downside of this is that because Jojo has been playing top basketball since high school, he hasn't had much education since middle school. So, should he continue to take soft jock-friendly classes and pass, or risk his scholarship and athletic future by signing up for the philosophy classes he craves and failing? The goings-on at Dupont are all pretty tawdry, revolving entirely around sex and drinking. Charlotte wonders why people with combined SAT scores of 1550 can act this way. The arrogance and lack of common decency among the students is so overwhelming that some of the scenes are difficult to read. After four years at this school, what kind of person will she be? For entertainment, this novel is worth reading, as it is for the questions it poses about the people we will be turning the world over to. I recommend it for both reasons.

Poor Tom Wolfe

Poor Tom Wolfe. He's the literary equivalent of the President. Readers love him or hate him. There's no middle ground. For those who appreciated "Bonfire of the Vanities", and "A Man in Full", "I am Charlotte Simmons" is more of the same. But "Terrific" more of the same. No one does biting sardonic social criticism with the same elegant style, panache, and dark gleeful humor than Wolfe, standing up there in his white suit. What his critics usually do is jump onto the artificial and outlandish use he makes out of the characters. They are caricatures that could jump right out of "Punch". Oafs, boors, egomaniacs, slobs, manipulators and manipulated. They're all there, bigger than life, because his work is not about stories, or relationships, or deep messages. His work is about Social Commentary. The wooden characters and simplistic plots are just the frames for the message. It's commentary that stings; which lets us see the raw nastiness of a Society we were never raised to expect. It's one of the hardest of illusions to penetrate and expose, and here is where Tom Wolfe's genius shines. Wolfe's perceptions are deep, the questions he asks are key. What are our colleges teaching? Math, science, and literature alone; or should the schools of higher learning be making an attempt, any attempt, to deal with young people's knowledge of themselves? If a student who arrives at school is a mess, can, or should the school have a role in dealing with the issue. Wolfe is not trying to answer the question, he's trying to show us the extent of the problem. Schools have spokespersons, ready to tell us that their most cherished goal is not the pursuit of the diploma, but rather the inner growth of the young person entrusted to their care. Mr. Wolfe thinks otherwise. Charlotte Simmons, raised dirt poor in a small rural community,with God and truth in her bones, has won a scholarship to one of America's most prestigious Universities. She arrives, certain that the glory and beauty of higher education here, will show her the way towards a pure and wonderful life. What now, does Charlotte find when she lands in the middle of Dupont University? She finds every despicable evil that her Momma and her teachers at home, never got around to telling her about, if in fact, they even knew existed. She finds a repudiation of all that she thinks she is. Sex, alcohol, drugs, non stop profanity, unfriendly, rude, shallow classmates, sex crazed drunken fraternity parties, cheating, no respect, no standards, the "Seven Minute Seduction", and above all, an overwhelming belief embedded in all these folks, that "Sports" are a holy and religious calling. The jocks are this book's "Masters of the Universe". Male students envy them, female students dream of the status they can achieve from ten minutes in the sack with one of them, or better, with several of them. "Sports" are what runs the engine, what makes the school important, what makes the old Grad happy and weepy, happy enough