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Sep 03, 2011

Alyssa rated it:

Life’s a party for Sutter Keely because he’s the life of the party. He’s the guy who has friends from every social circle, can get people laughing in awkward situations, and has a smile every time you see him. He’s the definition of “happy drunk,” and since he’s drunk all the time, he’s just a happy guy all around. He lets nothing get him down, not even when his “beautiful fat girlfriend” Cassidy dumps him or when Ricky, his best friend, starts to follow the clean route. Nope, nothing, not even More...

10 comments like (15 people liked it)

Jan 15, 2011

Greg rated it:

This is a weird book. The book itself is pretty straight-forward, the narrator is a high school senior named Sutter who likes to drink and is the life of the party. The party to him though is all of life. He's always the life of the party even though most people probably don't realize the party is happening. He lives by the motto of 'embrace the weird', meaning just go with whatever happens and make the best of it. Part of his embracing whatever happens is knocking back enough whiskey to ma More...

10 comments like (19 people liked it)

Sep 30, 2011

Bethany rated it:

I just can't review this book without starting by saying, okay. The main character is a present-day teenager who thinks he's Jack Kerouac, although I seriously doubt he's ever read Kerouac, because basically, the kid is a loser. Except, of course, he thinks that he is amazing and fun and deep; in actuality, he's an alcoholic flake.

The entire time I was reading this book, I was irritated. By the main character, by his mother, by his sister, by his friends. I have to say, though, More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 03, 2008

Kitri rated it:

wow, what a nihilistic book for YA. warning for parents: this book is full of drugs, booze (drunk driving... and working, and schooling) and sex. although the consequences of these actions are dire, they're subtly so. other than that, the main characters are likeable and real.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 18, 2010

Ann rated it:

Ages 14+ (sex, drinking, drug use)

Spectacular class clown, ladies man, fuck-up Sutter Keely is at the end of his senior year of high school. He gets through his days in a state of bliss by downing giant whiskey and 7ups. And here's the good part - he sees none of his flaws. His drinking isn't a problem, his future isn't a problem. He's smart, canny, and in complete and utter denial about his flaws. That's what makes him an impeccable narrator. He meets quiet, geeky Aimee and decides More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 12, 2009

Lynn rated it:

This book has taken me forever to read - not because it isn't outstanding - but because it is. Sutter is a character so beautifully realized that I could hardly bear read his story. I would read a few chapters and then I would have to put the book down for a while before I could go back to it. Tim Tharp has created a character so real that he felt like a member of my own family, the sense of him was so real that I could hardly bear to watch his tragedy unfold. This is a brilliant book and I More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jan 22, 2011

Thomas rated it:

Sutter is between girlfriends. His grades aren't so hot. He's grounded nearly every weekend and he doesn't get much support from his family. But he's ok. Between a constant flow of Whisky and Seven, his bad-ass dance moves, and his undying charisma, Sutter finds friends and good times wherever he goes. He's more than okay. Sutter's freaking spectacular.

With so much to offer, Sutter decides not to keep his awesomeness to himself anymore, and takes on a project: the mousy, unpopular Aime More...

0 comments like (14 people liked it)

Feb 02, 2010

Tony rated it:

I'm only an occasional reader of YA fiction, and this is another case where it didn't really occur to me that this was book aimed at teen readers until I was halfway through it. The original first-person voice of Oklahoma City teenager Sutter Keely grabbed me from the start, and his alcohol-fueled misadventures during spring term of senior year make for a surprisingly compelling read. Sutter is the classic "life of the party" mixed with classic "nice guy with a heart of gold" More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Dec 03, 2009

Lesleigh rated it:

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the novel The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp. This book probably isn't for everyone. There is a lot of drinking and light drug use. I usually tend to steer clear of reading anything like this. However, this book proved to be better than many of the novels I have recently read.

Sutter Keely is an eighteen-year-old senior from Oklahoma who “lives in the present, staying drunk or high most of the time.” He is the definition of a high school party boy. More...

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Jul 05, 2009

Angela rated it:

When all the brilliant parts of Sutter Keely’s life start turning sour, what does he do? He goes and super-boosts the self-esteem of once-quiet and spineless, paper route girl. With the catchy “embrace the weird” motto, Sutter is living the last few months of his senior year to the fullest. Sutter’s the coolest guy, the entertaining one who marks a real party, and one careless drinker. He just isn’t ready to put the brakes on his party life and find a future for himself. Living in the “spectacul More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 15, 2009

Jackie "the Librarian" rated it:

Sutter Keely is a lot of fun. The life of the party! All his girlfriends have the greatest time with him. So, why do they all break up with him? Don't they LIKE having fun? So, he enjoys drinking - what's wrong with that? It's not like he's a mean drunk, at all.

As a reader, I felt like one of Sutter's girlfriends. At first, yeah, it was fun, if a little appalling, to read about Sutter's drunken adventures, giving a runaway kid a ride home while skipping school himself, meeting a shy More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jul 08, 2011

Catie rated it:

I’m not sure if this book would have affected me quite as much if I didn’t know this boy. He is one of the people that I love the most on this planet, and he shares more DNA with me than anyone else. He’s intelligent, effortlessly popular, charming, kind, and entertaining. He has a big heart, fragile and exposed. We once spent hours in our backyard collecting slugs and setting them up in their very own tree stump castle. Once when he was facing a spanking, we schemed and plotted, arming ou More...

23 comments like (15 people liked it)

May 27, 2010

Trish rated it:

Wow...A lot of drinking, sex, weed, foul language....Maybe I should've read this book when I was at least 15. But of course, I've read books with more foul language and sex and stuff. Overall, the book was entertaining. I couldn't help but get irritated with the main character. I sort of wanted it to have a better ending than with Sutter getting drunk and rambling down the streets with a high chance of getting ran over by a car. I wanted it to have some kind of moral lesson or at least with Sut More...

0 comments like

Jan 18, 2010

Erica rated it:

The Spectacular Now is a character-driven story that is both frustrating and gratifying. There’s not much plot to speak of, but instead the story deals with Sutter’s relationships during his last semester of high school. It’s kind of like a documentary focusing on a high school senior who doesn’t have any plans for his future. I like this concept, given my anthropologist-like tendencies to observe people in their natural surroundings, but readers who want stories with a definite Point A and P More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 23, 2008

Abby rated it:

Sutter Keely is a high school senior with no vision for his future and, in his words, "God's own drunk." He takes life as it comes -- embracing the weird, hanging out with his best friend Ricky, sipping on his trusty cup of Seagram's and 7-UP, and trying not to piss off his beautiful fat girlfriend Cassidy. But when Cassidy kicks him to the curb and Ricky starts dating his first girlfriend, Sutter finds himself alone & restless. When Aimee, a quiet nerdy girl with no self-esteem, rando More...

0 comments like

Jan 14, 2010

Steve rated it:

I really had fun reading this book. I love the simple, clean story. No giant enlightening epiphanies or soul searching endeavors. Just an idyllic story (to say the least) with it's up's and down's. Sutter Keely is 18 years old and feels average at best. He's not a savant of any sort, and his future isn't laid out before him. He's soon to realize his life's going to take a turn; he's planned to graduate in a couple months but that's the least of his worries. He's only interested in the Now. He's More...

0 comments like

Dec 26, 2011

Johnp rated it:

I am still trying to figure out what this book is all about!

Sutter Keely is a high school senior who always has a drink in his hand and a joke ready. Things are going well, but then he fails to live up to his girlfriend Cassidys ultimatum, so he finds himself suddenly single. Through an odd series of events, he begins to talk to Aimee, the ultimate wall-flower/geek. This is where I got lost. Sutter goes between his ex-girlfriend (actually, several) and then back to Aimee. All More...

0 comments like

May 01, 2010

Heather rated it:

Sutter is a senior in high school who loves life. He skips school, drinks constantly (whiskey and 7-Up), is the life of the party, and "knows" how to have a good time. His best friend has always partied with him, but is outgrowing this phase. Sutter's girlfriend is wonderful, but she is tired of all the partying and Sutter's inability to take anything seriously.
Sutter is likable, but frustrating. The entire time I was reading, I was waiting for Sutter to change. I was waiting fo More...

0 comments like

Oct 13, 2011

Carmel rated it:

I had written a review for this book and it didn't so now I'm sad, so here's a quick one.

When I read the blurb of this book first I imagined this book was going to be boy meet girl, boy tries to make shy girl from geek to chic, girl finds out about boys plans, boy and girl fight, boy and girl make up.

The Spectacular Now ins nothing like that, this book is realistic, fresh and original. Tharp's writing is great.

Positives:
+Sutter: Sutter is such a good character. More...

0 comments like

Jan 15, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

Sutter Keely is the Dean Martin of his generation. At least, that's who he thinks he is. In his senior year of high school, Sutter is known as a good time. Always carrying a flask of whiskey with him, he loves being the life of the party. However, most don't know the inner Sutter, which is too often covered by his party boy lifestyle. Aimee, a shy, introverted girl in his class, is the first to bring out who Sutter truly is.

Although he's charming and witty, he's covering sadness with More...

0 comments like

Jul 12, 2010

Erin rated it:

Hilarious and sad at the same time. Sutter is the life of the party--the one who can tell hilarious stories, get everyone to jump into the pool, and flirt shamelessly with all the girls. He's also "God's own drunk" (as he likes to quote), but he can quit drinking anytime he wants, so he says. When he meets shy, socially awkward Aimee, he decides to make her his project--to give her more confidence and empower her. Along the way, he accidentally falls for her as well. This isn't a sto More...

0 comments like

Dec 18, 2009

Elizabeth rated it:

I only kind of enjoyed this book. It was fun to read because it takes place in Oklahoma City, but the main character, Sutter Keely, is only kind of appealing. He presents an honest take on what goes on in a teenage boy's head, but it's also a little unrealistic at times.

I would not be able to teach this book in my classroom. I am a bit more on the conservative side, and the sex, drugs, and major alcohol abuse in this book in enough to keep it off of my shelf. It's not that it contai More...

0 comments like

Jul 25, 2009

Chris rated it:

I was almost immediately queasy each time I chose to hang out with deluded, self-destructive Sutter Keely, but he was a multi-layered, complex, authentic person. An excellent, sad character study.
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It's more like I was daydreaming when the Supreme Being told me what I should do with my life, and it's too late to ask what it was.
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"You're not a bad guy, Sutter. You're a good guy. You just don't have a real firm grasp on the concept of consequences."
More...

0 comments like

Jul 14, 2009

Jamie rated it:

i am now officially calling this the best book of 2008, and I only regret it took me until 2009 to read it.
Tim Tharp's previous young adult book, Knights of the Hill Country, was the same kind of pleasant surprise, a book that realizes fully a small midwestern town and the class differences that are both subtle and huge. This book builds on that promise, giving us a character who is both unsympathetic and someone you root for so hard that you feel like you're propping him up at times too, More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 14, 2009

Jared rated it:

High school senior Sutter Keely loves life. In fact, that's pretty much his guiding moral principle: Life is to be enjoyed, and it's up to you to enjoy it if you possibly can. If things gets weird, embrace the weird. Said embracing is made easier for Sutter by lots and lots and lots of whiskey. This isn't really a problem novel about a teen who either submits to or overcomes an addiction to drugs/alcohol. The plot, such as it is, is basically a romance/coming of age story. Tharpe perfectly captu More...

0 comments like

Mar 06, 2009

Janelle rated it:

I’ve learned that feeling unease and discomfort while reading a book is rarely a bad sign. The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp proves my theory: the uncomfortable books are the ones that stick with me. The characters that give me a creeping feeling of “something’s wrong here” are the ones that haunt me long after I put the book down.

Sutter Keeley, teenaged alcoholic, is one of those characters. When we first meet Sutter, he’s content spending time with his girlfriend Cassidy and getting More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 03, 2008

Susan P rated it:

Charming and irresponsible high school senior and budding alcholic Sutter Keely coasts through school and life with little effort and a lot of scotch. He is cute and funny and can talk to anyone and so far this has gotten him by. But he's also in denial about his father's abandonment and his drinking problems, and every girl he's ever dated has dumped him after a few months b/c of his many issues. When his best friend gets a girlfriend and is busy with her, and his girlfriend breaks up with More...

0 comments like

Oct 06, 2009

Molly rated it:

This novel is about a teen alcoholic who struggles to find the what lies beneath being the life of the party. A likable character, compassionate and hilarious and always drunk, he is full of adolescent lust and impulse tempered with a mature understanding and empathy despite his frequent fuck ups. I didn't really feel this book should be just in a YA section..
His conflicts between maintaining close relationships and responsibility make this a kind of coming of age novel where the hero n More...

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Feb 24, 2010

Iamdarcie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Mar 06, 2009

Kelly rated it:

Summary: It’s senior year, and Sutter Keely is living large with a beautiful girlfriend and an endless supply of whiskey. His girlfriend wants him to do something he can’t quite remember, but why worry about that when you can live in the now?

Review: Sutter’s charm is simultaneously entertaining and heartbreaking. You get the feeling that it’s a front for something, which of course it is.

This is not a feel-good story, but it is a real story. A real snapshot into the life o More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

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