First off, I have to say that I was super excited to read this book, because Jeffrey's last book, Middlesex, is one of my favorite books ever. This book was a little disappointing... I've described it as the "woe is me" mentality of privileged college students. Oh no! My parents are so screwed up and they screwed me up too! Oh no! What am I going to do with my life once I receive my diploma? That part really dragged me down because I realize what a cliche it is and how dumb it makes those characters seem.
That being said, it was an entertaining read. The main female character takes a class on Semiotics and I was laughing out loud at the pretentiousness of those "hipsters" from the 80s. I've had classes with those kids!
But my favorite character was Mitchell, the religious studies major who takes a year off after college to travel the world and spends a few weeks volunteering for Mother Theresa. His religious, romantic, and moral struggles really spoke to me as authentic.
The rest of the book reminded me to Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections...NOT my favorite book because of the "woe is me" theme that pervaded it.
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