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How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater (Edward Zanni #1)
by
Marc Acito
A deliciously funny romp of a novel about one overly theatrical and sexually confused New Jersey teenager’s larcenous quest for his acting school tuition.
It’s 1983 in Wallingford, New Jersey, a sleepy bedroom community outside of Manhattan. Seventeen-year-old Edward Zanni, a feckless Ferris Bueller–type, is Peter Panning his way through a carefree summer of magic and misch...more
It’s 1983 in Wallingford, New Jersey, a sleepy bedroom community outside of Manhattan. Seventeen-year-old Edward Zanni, a feckless Ferris Bueller–type, is Peter Panning his way through a carefree summer of magic and misch...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
August 2nd 2005
by Broadway
(first published 2004)
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Fiction. It's 1983 (though you really can't tell except for how Reagan's in office) and Edward Zanni's on top of the world. It's the summer before his senior year, he's been accepted to Juilliard, and life just couldn't be better, but everything screeches to a halt when Edward's father tells him he's not paying for his son to go to acting school. So Edward and his friends pull together and make a plan. The title pretty much says it all: nerd power, capers, sexual experimentation, con artists, an...more
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Absolutely one of the funniest books I've read to date. Gordon Korman meets Ferris Bueller in a story where the characters get caught up in a hilarious and crazy-wacky scheme that totally snoballs out of control, beyond anything they can imagine.
It is the mid-80s, and all 17-year-old Edward wants is to enroll in the drama program at Julliard. But when his father remarries the most psycho of psycho step-mothers, Edward gets kicked out of the house and learns he can kiss his college pl...more
It is the mid-80s, and all 17-year-old Edward wants is to enroll in the drama program at Julliard. But when his father remarries the most psycho of psycho step-mothers, Edward gets kicked out of the house and learns he can kiss his college pl...more
This book started off pretty good and entertaining but then it went downhill and the plot and storyline got too unbelievable and out of control. I would have enjoyed just reading about the lives and antics of several "play people" high school students. I didn't need all the stuff about money laundering and blackmail.
I ended up kind of skimming the last 100 pages. I did enjoy a lot of the musical theater, pop culture references and it was a fluffy enough read for what I was...more
I ended up kind of skimming the last 100 pages. I did enjoy a lot of the musical theater, pop culture references and it was a fluffy enough read for what I was...more
Barky
rated it
Edward Zanni, seventeen, wants to study acting at Julliard. It’s been his plan for as long as he can remember. But, his dad throws a wrench in the works when he announces that he’s not going to pay for college unless Edward goes to business school. Thus begins Edward’s year of insanity as he scrambles to find a way to pay for Julliard. Throw in some crazy money-making schemes (Edward can’t seem to hold onto a real job for more than a few days) involving theft, money-laundering, a Catholic Vi...more
This is just a really fun book. It's crazy, not entirely relatable, not particularly dramatic. It's just a fun, fluffy romp that will bring back ridiculous memories to any high school drama nerd. I first picked it up off a discount table when I was living far away from home. I had only graduated from high school about 6 months before, and was missing my friends and the atmosphere of drama society, so it seemed like a good fit. And it was. Over the next few months I read it several times, and lik...more
Props to the author/agent/editor/publisher of How I Paid for College for coming up with a subtitle that really encapsulates the entire novel in one breath: "A novel of sex, theft, friendship and musical theater." That's really what it is. No, really.
When Edward finds himself screwed by a new stepmother, overbearing businessman father and no way to pay for his lifelong dream of attending acting school with the best young actors of America, he turns to his friends for support. ...more
When Edward finds himself screwed by a new stepmother, overbearing businessman father and no way to pay for his lifelong dream of attending acting school with the best young actors of America, he turns to his friends for support. ...more
General overview: male senior in suburban New Jersey dreams of going to Julliard for theatre. His father cuts him off and says he won’t pay for his school. Kid fights back and with his friends gets the money from him in other ways. It ends all happy and good, by the way. This book had its good points and bad. Let’s start with the bad. It’s like DUH! Of course the Dude is gay. Male, theatre, wants to go to Julliard? You could spot that a mile away!!! Things worked out a little too easily, sort of...more
“I put on my new glasses to heighten the effect. The glasses have a sort of pinkish tint to them that bathes everything I see in a rosy glow, and I’m pleased with myself for buying something that doesn’t necessarily make me look good to the world (they are a little faggy, I guess) but which makes the world look good to me instead.” — Marc Acito, How I Paid For College
Let me say this from the get-go: if Philippa hadn’t handed me this book, I wouldn’t have ever picked it up; if she hadn’...more
Let me say this from the get-go: if Philippa hadn’t handed me this book, I wouldn’t have ever picked it up; if she hadn’...more
First three paragraph are not review; thats my view. So rather not curse me later.
Was in a search of book with Humour as base, google it and came across "How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater " which won Oregon Book Awards' 2005 Ken Kesey Award for Best Novel.
It began dull and was poking my head for having to read a book which will be dwelling in theatrical classics(yeah,i am just not good at it..haven't even read Shakespear...more
Was in a search of book with Humour as base, google it and came across "How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater " which won Oregon Book Awards' 2005 Ken Kesey Award for Best Novel.
It began dull and was poking my head for having to read a book which will be dwelling in theatrical classics(yeah,i am just not good at it..haven't even read Shakespear...more
Hysterical book written in first person, narrated by 17-year-old Edward Zanni. Ed has fallen in love with acting and singing, and has high hopes of getting into Julliard. He has a beautiful girlfriend named Kelly but he's also attracted to his football player friend Doug. Ed's other friends are Paula (zany, colorful, large-figured and an unwilling virgin), Nathan (cheesehead with flashes of criminal brilliance), and Ziba (the hot new girl, of Persian descent). Ed and his band of friends spen...more
This book is formatted like a memoir of a high school theatre kid. I was able to identify with a lot of what the characters were experiencing, having been there myself or having had friends with similar experiences. I did, however, feel that the narrator's blase attitude about being "bi-sexual" was unrealistic. He never seemed to be fearful of other people knowing about his gay tendencies - only the object of his desire. There was no conflict with the expectations of society/family...more
Chris
rated it
Recommends it for:
gay and lesbian teenagers, questioning teenagers, teenagers in general, fans of YA, college students
Shelves:
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fiction,
gay-literature,
gay-youth,
humor,
teen,
young-adult,
homosexual-issues,
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my-favorites,
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The story of Edward Zanni takes place of his senior year in high school with all the similar hijinks that high school students like to do in their last year. But for the most part, this story takes a different turn in that in order for Edward to figure out how he is going to pay for college, he has to come up with some pretty clever ways of doing it.
For the most part this story is fun and quick to read because the chapters are very short and always leaving you hanging at the end of ea...more
For the most part this story is fun and quick to read because the chapters are very short and always leaving you hanging at the end of ea...more
Tori
added it
2004- Ah, to be a teenager in the `80s. If you're Ed Zanni, you're confused about your sexuality, involved in the school play, and planning to go to Julliard for college. However, as his senior year of school starts, his wealthy father remarries a crazy Austrian and tells Ed that if he plans to go to school for drama, he won't be footing the bill. Ed isn't so ready for his musical theater dreams to be over. Enter in his crazy cast of friends: Paula (a Freshman at Julliard herself), Kelly (Ed's c...more
My sister half-read this book but was raving about how funny and awesome it was so I had to read it, too. Plus, the cover is lovely and eye-catching.
I liked the GLBTness of it and the humor. Wow, the comdey of this novel was perfect and the whole thing was paced well and just great! I liked how it took place in the '80s (and you could just tell that from page one, come one people) and the great knowledge of the theatre (musicals, plays, etc. you know).
But for some reas...more
I liked the GLBTness of it and the humor. Wow, the comdey of this novel was perfect and the whole thing was paced well and just great! I liked how it took place in the '80s (and you could just tell that from page one, come one people) and the great knowledge of the theatre (musicals, plays, etc. you know).
But for some reas...more
Marc Acito's debut novel is a wild teenage tour de force, a ballsy work of fiction set in New Jersey in the early '80s that centers on the senior year of Edward Zanni, a high school student with a ragtag troupe of friends and accomplices, a nebulous bisexuality, and dreams of pursuing musical theatre at Juilliard.
Zanni's a talented kid, the lead in numerous school productions and a born actor, but his plans go awry when his father Al, a successful independent businessman, drops the...more
Zanni's a talented kid, the lead in numerous school productions and a born actor, but his plans go awry when his father Al, a successful independent businessman, drops the...more
I actually got this book on tape from my library's tiny selection. And I'm so glad I listened to it on tape as the actor doing the voices did a great job and it was HILARIOUS with the various New Jersey/east coast accents. The only reason I didn't give it a four is because the main character is so completely self absorbed. He's ungrateful to people who are risking everything for him and he gets angry at them when their plans to help him don't work out, etc. He's the definition of a spoiled b...more
Back in the December ice storm when we were taking refuge at todd and kevin's house I plucked this at random from Kevin's bookshelf and got sucked in to the offbeat story and hilarious cast of characters. It is basically a really funny story about an elaborate embezzlement plot carried out by a misfit high school senior and his crazy crew of friends to figure out how to pay for his first semester at Juliard that involves a lawn Buddha, embezzling funds previously embezzled by an evil step-mother...more
A lovely, lovely thing. Hilarious, moving, innocent (kind of...actually, not really), raucously fun, hugely camp, and full of the kind of OTT, kooky characters which rarely work well in novels. But here, they get away with it because they're 17 years old. Not only that but they're 17-year-old fledgeling performers. And that is the way 17-year-old fledgeling performers behave.
Nowhere near as vanilla as High School Musical (although imagine if [an openly bi] Ryan were the main character, and T...more
Nowhere near as vanilla as High School Musical (although imagine if [an openly bi] Ryan were the main character, and T...more
I think that the subtitle really sums up this funny book, which may or may not be loosely based on the author's teen years. It is full of ridiculous things, a series of almost anecdotes tied together. Teens do not, as a rule, drug people and take sexually suggestive pictures in order to blackmail them to get money for Julliard. They do, of course, deal with sex. They also play silly pranks and deal with horrible parents and stepparents. There are so many serious and emotionally draining mom...more
Enchanté! I love this book to bits I want to read it again and again. It made me laugh out loud without shame and break out into song (which I often do, to the mortification of family and friends). I've always suspected that I was a gay man in my past life, obsessed with cute butts, leg warmers and Liza Minelli -- I am now thoroughly convinced me that this hypothesis is truth.
I love Edward Zanni, but I think I have a special place in my heart for Natie. Oh, oh, oh! How can I not lov...more
I love Edward Zanni, but I think I have a special place in my heart for Natie. Oh, oh, oh! How can I not lov...more
I recommend this for mature YA readers. It is not so designated in my library.
Edward Zanni is not only gay, he's a musical theater actor, seventeen, "dying" to go to Julliard, Italian, and lives in Wallingford, NJ. His best friend is the epitome of the high school "fag hag" -- overweight, a virgin, loves Edward like a brother, raised by her aunt, and already accepted to Jullliard since she's a year older.
This book is funny, sad, comedic, loving, and j...more
Edward Zanni is not only gay, he's a musical theater actor, seventeen, "dying" to go to Julliard, Italian, and lives in Wallingford, NJ. His best friend is the epitome of the high school "fag hag" -- overweight, a virgin, loves Edward like a brother, raised by her aunt, and already accepted to Jullliard since she's a year older.
This book is funny, sad, comedic, loving, and j...more
I was emotionally torn while reading this book. Part of me pleasantly thought back to my days in High School when I was carefree and knew that the world revolved around me. The other part of me was dreading the days when my children grow up and think that the world revolves around them.
This may be touted as a young-adult novel, but as a parent, I couldn't help focusing on the annoyingly entitled & self-righteous attitude of the characters. (Again reminiscent of my youth.)
...more
This may be touted as a young-adult novel, but as a parent, I couldn't help focusing on the annoyingly entitled & self-righteous attitude of the characters. (Again reminiscent of my youth.)
...more
Wow, I think this book was written directly AT me. By turns hilarious, poignant and absurd, it chronicles the way Edward stumbles through his senior year of high school and lurches towards Julliard. Firmly anchored in the 1984 I remember, full of fumbling and humiliating yet adventurous sexual escapades, true-life misunderstandings and completely whacko blackmail schemes, this audio book had me weeping with laughter multiple times. Not for the faint of heart, nor for those who like their lovers ...more
Hi, my name is Ellis, and I am notoriously bad at knowing what I'm actually reading before I pick it up to read ("hi, Ellis, mumbles the crowd.....). Anyone with such inability/laziness to take a minute to read a blurb about a book before reading it will pay from time to time.... This book made me pay.
I thought this book was going to be a non-fiction story of some mischievousness that would be easily forgiven after the protagonist accomplishes the goal of entering and paying...more
I thought this book was going to be a non-fiction story of some mischievousness that would be easily forgiven after the protagonist accomplishes the goal of entering and paying...more
The frantic actions Edward Zanni takes to get tuition for Julliard could only be dramatized by a drama queen...which Edward is. Anyone who's spent any time with the drama elite will share in a laugh about this story of a group of actor/friends who join forces to get their friend in college. Hilarious dialogue, acerbic, cheerful and a pleasurable read.
Not it does indeed include sex, theft, drugs and blackmail which is probably why I liked it so much. This book is outrageous, ...more
Not it does indeed include sex, theft, drugs and blackmail which is probably why I liked it so much. This book is outrageous, ...more
UHH I really thought I would like this book because I like books about precocious teens and theatre and stuff, but this book was just like, insane. I felt like it was trying too hard to be edgy or whatever and just ended up being absurdly unrealistic. And Edward, the protagonist, was basically unlikeable. I get that he was supposed to be an insecure, self-absorbed teenager but like... damn was he ever. Also, this book was way long and slow-moving. Next time I want to read about self-aware theatr...more
This is definitely a good light read. Teenager Edward Zanni wants more than anything to get into Julliard's drama program, but his dad and evil Austrian stepmom don't want to pay for it. Cue a year's worth of unlikely but entertaining high school hijinks, white-collar crime, sex, and theater. A well-done mix. I really liked Eddie and his friends, and I loved the way the author made me believe in his character with the use of first-person narration. The ending was sweet, and I will most likely re...more
I know, I know, I know, I shouldn't be so in love with this book as I am, but I can't help it. When I read it I laughed so hard I could barely contain myself, and that NEVER happens when I read. Just for that this book deserves the highest rating. I mean, seriously, to get me to laugh over a book is impossible. Impossible, I tell you! So there.
So: if you ever loved John Hughes, read this. If the late Mr. Hughes had ever chosen novel-writing instead of film-making, this is what he'd ...more
So: if you ever loved John Hughes, read this. If the late Mr. Hughes had ever chosen novel-writing instead of film-making, this is what he'd ...more
Edward Zanni is planning on going to Juilliard, and is anticipating a relaxed, carefree summer when his father decides to remarry and refuses to pay Edward’s tuition. His mother is incommunicado in Peru, communing with the Incan spirits. Edward proves totally incapable of holding a job, and despairs of raising the necessary tuition. What follows is an incredibly hilarious romp through New Jersey and New York in search of the tuition money.
Edward and his friends concoct a series of schemes to rai...more
Edward and his friends concoct a series of schemes to rai...more
I enjoyed this story. I didn't love it, but I was certainly entertained. It is the story of a New Jersey teenager, Edward, who's dream is to attend Juilliard to pursue acting. When his father remarries, he refuses to pay for the son's education. Edward must concoct a plan to pay for Juilliard on his own.
I think two words that correctly describe this story are capers and hi-jinxs. The book is full of them. At certain points, I laughed out loud.
Here are a couple of my points, b...more
I think two words that correctly describe this story are capers and hi-jinxs. The book is full of them. At certain points, I laughed out loud.
Here are a couple of my points, b...more
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| Book review | 1 | 10 | Jul 29, 2008 04:17pm |
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For those who do not know me, I'm very famous. My debut novel, How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship and Musical Theater won the Oregon Book Awards' Ken Kesey Award for the Novel although I sometimes leave out the Oregon part to make it sound more important. It was also selected as a Top Ten Teen Pick by the American Library Association, though it still has not achieved my ulti...more
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“So I kept reading, just to stay alive. In fact, I'd read two or three books at the same time, so I wouldn't finish one without being in the middle of another -- anything to stop me from falling into the big, gaping void. You see, books fill the empty spaces. If I'm waiting for a bus, or am eating alone, I can always rely on a book to keep me company. Sometimes I think I like them even more than people. People will let you down in life. They'll disappoint you and hurt you and betray you. But not books. They're better than life.”
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“There are moments in your life when you see yourself through someone else’s eyes, when your only hope of believing you’re capable of doing something is because someone else believes it for you.”
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