THE SPECTACULAR NOW by TIM THARP
Genre: Realistic fiction
# of Pages: 294
spec·tac·u·lar
adjective
1. beautiful in a dramatic and eye-catching way.
"spectacular mountain scenery"
2. something invoking awe
now
adverb
1. at the present time or moment.
"where are you living now?"
2. used, esp. in conversation, to draw attention to a particular statement or point in a
narrative.
A beautiful moment. Isn't that where we all want to live? In an awe-inspiring present.
Well, why can't we? This is the question Sutter Keely, the main character in Tim Tharps novel the
Spectacular Now, poses. Sutter is a carefree and fun-loving high school senior who lives life in
the present, trying to forget the past and hide from the future, not that he would ever admit it. The
book starts with Sutter getting drunk and skipping class, but then he does something unexpected.
He helps a stranger for no reason and absolutely no personal gain, but then goes back to getting
drunk. This describes a pattern that we see used as the main plot line in the book. After a chain of
events leaves Sutter passed out on a strangers lawn, he meets a girl name Aimee Finicky. Aimee
isn't anything like Sutter. She’s quiet, shy and ambitious in her own fanciful way. Sutter sees her
as a project. A person he can fix this is where it starts to go wrong...
I thought the book was excellent. The writing allowed you to see through Sutter’s eyes
but, still retain your own opinion about what was going on. I really feel like I was there. The plot
isn't too unrealistic while still being able to keep you guessing about what would happen next.
The topic is interesting and I would easily recommend this book to either gender. The one thing
which I really didn't find appealing about the book was the ending or lack of any. The book just
kind of dropped off. Every other character changed throughout the book but not Sutter, He
continued to do what he had been doing, living in the “spectacular now”. I suppose in real life you
can't fix everyone in a short span of time like in the book. Some people are just broken. But it was
still sad and left a lot of questions unanswered.
I would recommend this book for more mature audiences as it had a lot of substance
abuse, sex, and violence. The main character is almost never without his signature drink, a
Seven-up mixed with whisky. The Spectacular Now is a familiar genre to me, but is not really like
other books I have read before. If you enjoy realistic books about teenagers coming of age you
will probably like this book. All said and done, I really enjoyed reading this novel. It was
interesting from the start, even though there were some things I would have written differently,
like the ending. This book really made you feel sad for all the Sutters in the world you wish you
could shake them into some common sense.
Reviewed by: Elsa Hoover
8th grade, 2014