Book Review: How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater by Marc Acito (2005)

I want to preface this review by saying I am a Jersey Girl, born and raised. I am not Italian or Jewish, but grew up surrounded by these communities. And though I was not a teen in the 80’s (proud 90s baby over here), I have to say that Acito gets the Jersey atmosphere. While reading it I thought either this dude really is from Jersey or is a bitter New Yorker who calls the garden state Dirty Jerz ironically. Much like the whole “I-can-pick-on-my-family-but-you-can’t”, we Jerseyans feel the same way about our state.

Photo Credit: Goodreads

Because of that, I was able to enjoy Acito’s depiction of Edward Zanni’s teenage surroundings.

I also was once a teenager, and I can relate to the awkward yet sexual growth that all of the characters go through. Was the plot believable? No. But was it hilarious? Definitely. “How I Paid for College” reads like a bad early 2000s brat-pack-rom-com in the best possible way, a tamer American-Pie if you will…if you were to discount the multiple threesomes. It is raunchy, dramatic, self-masturbatory, and oddly encouraging all at once. As a teenager, everything you feel you feel 1000 times more because you have no true knowledge of anything outside of your microcosm. Edward and his gang go about trying to reconcile the real world with real world consequences with their idyllic lifestyle, and it just does not work out. And that is funny.

And I am a sucker for anything musical theater related, being a theatre kid myself, so there’s that.

I am trying to think of who I would actually recommend this book to. It was one I picked up from the grab section of my college library. Despite the characters being 17 and 18, I really don’t think you can appreciate the humor until you are sort of separated from that age; distanced enough to think of your awkward transition into a baby adult with fondness and self-deprecating humor instead of embarrassment. It’s not a hard read, but if you aren’t keen on ridiculous slice-of-life plots involving teens who absolutely no clue, then you just won’t enjoy it.

The three-star review is mainly because of the plot and the overindulgent sexual themes. Not because I disliked them, but because it kept me from being truly connected to the characters. I could relate only on a superficial level, and parts reminded me of myself rather than kept me engaged with the characters. I kept reading because the writing and style were good, and the storyline involved theatre and the quest for Juilliard, not because I couldn’t wait to see what those crazy kids would get up to next.

So give it a read if you have the time, or need a lighter book to break up a Russian author book binge. You aren’t missing the hidden gem of the century if you don’t read this, but it is a nice lil nugget that can make you smile.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5.