One of my all-time favorite books. I just love the feel and tone of this novel. I can taste the booze, I can smell the cigarettes...it always makes me want to drink, smoke and dress in good clothing. This is about my 80th reading of The Secret History. It gets better each time. The narrator is so great and I secretly love him. What is it about? It's about Greek tragedy, groups of friends that know better, very smart people who know better, autumn, winter, spring thaw, love, hate, booze, cigarettes and murder. My favorite part is the narrator staying behind during winter break and almost freezing to death in his "rental" Goddamn I love that...the act of trying to find someplace warm to stay, right up until the last minute...and shaking so hard with cold that you just fall asleep, exhausted. LOVE it. I bought it when it first came out, and it had that lovely clear plastic cover. I lent it out...never got it back. I finally found a first edition at my used book store, however, it does not have the plastic covering:::snif::::I'd be willing to buy another first edition..WITH the plastic covering. I think I re-read this book every year and every year I find more things to love about it.