The recent Duke lacrosse scandal reminded me of Tom Wolfe’s I Am Charlotte Simmons. In one interview, Wolfe commented that he based the book on a few specific elite colleges, including Stanford and Duke. The protagonist, Charlotte Simmons, arrived as a freshman at a fictional top-ranked university with high expectations for the intellectual climate. Instead, she was thrown into a disorienting community of materialistic southern belles and a sex-obsessed athletes.
Coming from Wolfe, I expected more insight instead of an exaggerated account of elitist debauchery. His past novels also utilized exaggeration to get his points across, but the world surrounding Charlotte Simmons goes too far. I read the book my senior year in college, and found it mildly enjoyable as a light entertaining read. As for social criticism, I’m left wondering if he really feels that the world of elite universities are dissolving into ignorant decadence. The book was more of a Danielle Steele novel for the beach than anything like A Man in Full.
I mentioned to a friend that I thought I Am Charlotte Simmons was a surprising disappointment. She seemed personally offended that I could insult a book that spoke to her. She assured me that it was not an exaggeration in comparison to her undergraduate experience at Duke. I’m still skeptical, but the recent lacrosse scandal certainly bolsters her side of the story.
I would love to hear if others were able to relate to Charlotte’s collegiate environment.
