Prep: A Novel

by Curtis Sittenfeld

Book Overview

Curtis Sittenfeld’s debut novel, Prep, is an insightful, achingly funny coming-of-age story as well as a brilliant dissection of class, race, and gender in a hothouse of adolescent angst and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 081297235X
• ISBN13: 9780739456729
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
• Length: 406 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.9" x 0.9" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

High school flashback

This coming-of-age story is told from the perspective of Lee Fiora, an Indiana resident who is awarded a scholarship at the prestigious Ault School, an East coast boarding institution. "Prep" chronicles Lee's four years at Ault and details the numerous experiences and heartaches that help shape her life. Author Curtis Sittenfeld has succeeded in writing a very adult book about something that nearly all readers will be able to relate to: high school. Being a teenager is not an easy experience for anyone, and all of us have our fair share of high school horror stories to go around. In Lee's case, the high school experience is even more challenging because she is thrown into a world where she is unbelievably out of place. Lee feels like an outcast at Ault: she's one of the few kids who are there on scholarship, and the other students come from very wealthy families. The money issue is one of several reasons why Lee is unable to fit in with her peers and really make her mark at Ault. She withdraws from her classmates and has a difficult time making friends. As Lee struggles to succeed at her new school, she finally forms a solid friendship with one girl, Martha, and has a huge crush on a fellow student, Cross Sugarman, who is a member of the "popular" crowd. Throughout her four years at Ault, Lee manages to learn a lot about relationships with other people and also a lot about the relationship she has with herself. Critics of this book complain that Lee is an annoying character because she's incredibly insecure and obsesses about everything all the time. Personally, those qualities just make her more endearing to me. The teenage years are rough, high school is brutal, and experiencing all of that in a strange environment where you have no contact with your family must be a thousand times worse than what the average kid has to deal with. Yes, Lee can be hurtful, selfish, and downright stupid at times...but she's a teenager, and most teenagers go through a phase when they're extremely moody and self-centered. That being the case, I don't think there's anything unusual about Lee. I think her best quality is her honesty. Lee recognizes positive traits and tragic flaws in every person she meets, including herself. It's very refreshing. I think the best thing about this book is that although the story is narrated by Lee and she is detailing her high school experiences, she is reflecting back on her time at Ault ten years after she graduated. "Prep" isn't a sappy story of teenage angst that belongs in the young adult section: it's a summary of Lee's boarding school experiences being told to the reader by Lee when she's in her late 20s. This isn't a book for teenagers; it's a story that was written for adults. I think most adults will be able to relate to Lee's experiences on many different levels, which is why I highly recommend this book.

Lee is me

I have NEVER, EVER read a book where I related more to the main character than I did to Lee Fiora. A lot of critics say she doesn't properly reflect the high school experience--well, that's understandable, since there is no universal high school experience that everyone in the world can relate to. If you are someone with an introverted, self-conscious, overly-analytical, fearful, shy personality (like myself), then you will identify with Lee's experience. If not, then you probably won't understand why she acts the way she does. Like myself, Lee has a lot of severe social anxieties, and I'm sure it would only be compounded being one of the few "middle class" students at an elite prep school. I think her behavior is completely justified and absolutely realistic. Of course, there were scenes here and there where I thought I would have reacted differently than she did, but overall, there were so many occasions where I just thought to myself, "Oh my God, I can't believe there is someone else who thinks this way." Just her little everyday observations and worries, and how almost all of her decisions are driven by the effect they will have on how others perceive her - all of those things are things I felt in high school, and still feel every day. I feel like Sittenfeld got inside my mind. Even the littlest moments in the book struck a chord with me: in one scene, Lee is in a dorm room with another girl (I think it's Sin-Jun, but I can't remember at the moment), and is enduring an awkward silence. She likes the girl's skirt, and wants to compliment her, but she just can't bring herself to say anything. She thinks to herself, "Sometimes speaking is just so hard." I know exactly what she means. Even her obsession with Cross is totally spot-on. Who in high school doesn't pine for the hot, popular guy from afar? And then, when her crush is actually realized, she becomes even more obsessed - he's all she can think about. Again, what high school girl could deny having behaved the exact same way with the first guy who expressed interest in her? What I also liked about Lee is that she had a high school experience that wasn't all hearts and flowers. In fact, looking back on it, she doesn't necessarily feel that fondly towards it. I feel the same way - although it had a few great moments, high school wasn't that amazing for me. I wasn't one of the popular kids. I wasn't a complete outcast, but I was more like Lee - one of the peripheral, uninteresting girls. In fact, my 10-year reunion is coming up, and I don't think I even want to go. I could not get enough of this book - I devoured it. I was so sad to see it end. I felt sad and nostalgic and bittersweet when it was over. I would love to hear about more of Lee's experiences. She is the closest I've ever come to feeling like I was reading a book about myself. If you are nothing like Lee and think that a character like her would annoy you, maybe this book isn't for you. But if you feel that you possess any of

painful to read but worth it

This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It is as if Curtis Sittenfeld held up a microscope to her high school experience and committed it all to sometimes horrifying memory. Parts of the book are so poignant that I had to stop and let them settle in before continuing. One of the most powerful aspects of the book is the central character, Lee. It's one of the most warts-and-all portrayals I've ever read. Lee's sexual insecurity, lack of self-worth, crush on Cross Sugarman, latent racism, and constant awareness of her relative poverty at the fictitious, prestigious, money-loaded Ault School are bravely and fully on display. The book is told with excruciating detail, including authentic prep-school kid dialogue and close observations. For example, Lee is fully aware of the difference between her bubbly self growing up (she won a pie contest in her hometown) and her quiet, watchful self at prep school, constantly monitoring her own behavior and observing others. The difficulty of balancing these two selves makes Parents' Weekend an especially wrenching experience for her.

Achingly real, funny and full of melancholy all at once

The book is so clear and concise I was fooled at first into thinking it was a simple story without much depth. But I found I didn't want to put the book down. Lee is someone I wanted to wrap my arms around and hug and rock and at the same time I wanted to shake her. Sittenfeld captures a reality of life -- people in our lives -- especially ourselves -- can not be "type cast". We can be loving and vulnerable and honest and also fearful, selfish and closed, often when afraid, saying just the oposite of what we mean. There was a satisfying melancholy about the way the narrator, writing in the first person, looked back with acceptance and even understanding at her teenage self.

Like Being Back in High School only Funny and Fun this time.

I first read something by Curtis Sittenfeld in December when she wrote a hilarious article in the New York Times called, "you can't get a man with a pen." I sent it around to my friends. I hate using the word fresh for writing, but there is something about her character in Prep that feels new. The character, like Sittenfeld's writing, is honest -- about insecurities, about powerful crushes, and about high-school life in general. This kind of honesty, when reporting the inane existence that is high school, is at turns exhilarating, excruciating, and just plain funny.