I Am Charlotte Simmons

[JimG]

Just curious. Has anyone read this Tom Wolfe novel? I would be particularly interested in hearing from recent college students as to whether the picture of college life presented is accurate. Hopefully it would apply more to secular colleges than Catholic colleges.

If it is accurate, perhaps parents of college students should worry.

 

[catsrus]

I have never heard of this book, but my interest is piqued.
I clicked on this thread because Charlotte Simmons was my father’s birth mother’s name.
She died August 15, 1921, 2 days after giving birth to my father, her 11th child.

 

[JimG]

If you don’t normally read Tom Wolfe novels, be careful about starting now. If it were a movie it would be rated R for strong language and graphic scenes. It’s not obscene, by any means; but it tries to show what happens when a smart but relatively naive girl from the small town finds herself in the pseudo-sophisticated world of a major university, with no privacy (co-ed dorms and bathrooms) no friends, and continuous exposure to bad behavior.

Wolfe makes a point of “researching” his novels, so I was just wondering about the accuracy of his picture of college life.

In any case, I’m sure that this Charlotte Simmons is nothing like your Grandmother!

 

[Aaron_I]

I attend a private university (Univ. of Tulsa). I refused to put up with the &*^$ I would have had to deal with at a public university. I have not read the book, but I will take a stab in the dark: the scenes reflected do not by any means represent the majority of students but are certainly available to the low-lifes who actively seek out such times.