Freshman

I LOVED this book. It had me laughing out loud; once I even snorted wine out of my nose. (A high caliber endorsement indeed!) It's definitely not just for young adults. Nutshell: It's "the Onion" meets Donna Tart's "Secret History" meets "The Catcher in the Rye", if you are a fan of one (or all) of these, definitely give "Freshman" a read!

I can't believe this book is really considered "young adult." Maybe in some parallel universe where The Onion is the official newspaper of your local high school, but the last time I checked, mocking the ridiculous is an all-ages activity. This is a funny, funny book, but it's also dark, even cruel in its honesty about America and our fixations with status and money. Early on, our hero meets one of his enemies, a man whose idea of affirmative action is to name his new country club after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Motto: "We have a dream ... the finest golf course in America!") From the aforementioned real estate developer Burlington Darling and his idiot son Trip to the frat boys of Comma Comma Apostrophe, to the stuffy academics of Stutts, nobody escapes unmocked, and as other reviewers have pointed out, the results are hilarious. I have no idea how Gerber can be so funny for an entire book, but I'm psyched as hell. And I can't wait for the sequel...

This is the perfect book for anyone in high school who wants to go to a fancy college, anyone IN a fancy college, and anyone who's ever been to a fancy college. Or anyone who wonders what they're like. It's a hilariously accurate take on life at Stutts University, an amalgam of Yale, Harvard, Stanford and all of America's many other snooty schools. The characters are desperate to get in, and then desperate to prove to themselves they belong there, casually wreaking various forms of emotional and societal destruction -- on themselves and others -- as they go. Hart, the main character, watches the crazed scramble for success while also wondering whether to dive in himself. Meanwhile, the surrounding adults are just as berserk if not more so. It's perfect for your smart 16 year-old cousin, and also filled with sophisticated comedy and references that will appeal to adults. Anyone who's ever had to take the SATs will get it. I've read Gerber's popular Harry Potter parodies, and this is even funnier and deeper. And best of all, it says it's first of four books, one for each college year. Highly recommended.

The fearless comic mind behind Barry Trotter is back and as hilarious as ever. Buying this book is certainly cheaper than attending an Ivy League school--and definitely funnier.