Everything Looks Impressive

I read this book a good ten years ago and I have never forgotten it. I had just finished my first year at college as well. I just read another book, a coming of age novel, that reminded of it and I wanted to put a good word in for Mr. Kennedy's book. I've never forgotten the feelings and insights it gave me. I think of it often.

Everything Looks Impressive, the first novel by Hugh Kennedy, is the story of a Yale freshman from a modest background that finds himself in a world of culture and privilege beyond his understanding. While he grasps to form a bond, any sort of meaningful relationship that he can, he interacts with several colorful, charming and spoiled characters that take his emotions for granted. You cannot help but fall in love with the innocent charms of the narrator who struggles to maintain his values while trying to fit in with his peers. A perfect scene when his girlfriend from home visits him at Yale shows him realizing just how phony he had started to become right under his own nose.Packed with dynamic prose, witty humor, and a few surprising plot twists, this book is a must read for any fan of contemporary fiction.