I Am Charlotte Simmons

By: Tom Wolfe

Narrated by: Dylan Baker

Length: 31 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Dupont University: the Olympian halls of learning housing the cream of America's youth, the roseate Gothic spires and manicured lawns suffused with tradition....Or so it appears to beautiful, brilliant Charlotte Simmons, a sheltered freshman from North Carolina, who has come here on full scholarship. But Charlotte soon learns, to her mounting dismay, that for the upper-crust coeds of Dupont, sex, Cool, and kegs trump academic achievement every time.

As Charlotte encounters Dupont's privileged elite, her roommate, Beverly, a fleshy, Groton-educated Brahmin in lusty pursuit of lacrosse players; Jojo Johanssen, the only white starting player on Dupont's god-like basketball team, whose position is threatened by a hotshot black freshman from the projects; the Young Turn of Saint Ray fraternity, Hoyt Thorpe, whose heady sense of entitlement and social domination is clinched by his accidental brawl with a bodyguard for the governor of California; and Adam Geller, one of the Millennial Mutants who run the university's "independent" newspaper and who consider themselves the last bastion of intellectual endeavor on the sex-crazed, jock-obsessed campus, she gains a new, revelatory sense of her own power, that of her difference and of her very innocence, but little does she realize that she will act as a catalyst in all of their lives.

With his signature eye for detail, Tom Wolfe draws on extensive observation of campuses across the country to immortalize college life in the '00s. I Am Charlotte Simmons is the much-anticipated triumph of America's master chronicler.

©2004 Tom Wolfe (P)2004 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Finalist, Fiction (unabridged), 2005

"Like everything Wolfe writes, I Am Charlotte Simmons grabs your interest at the outset and saps the desire to do anything else until you finish." (The New York Times Book Review)
"The book is brilliant, wicked, true, and, like everything Wolfe writes, thematically coherent, cunningly well plotted, and delightfully told." (Atlantic Monthly)

Fizzles out at the end

I loved the first half of this book, but it lost steam toward the end. A key relationship -- Charlotte and her mother -- is left hanging. Her mother demands the truth. Charlotte will have to grapple with this, but the writer never returns to it. Another problem is the reader's over-acting. He shouts for pages at at time, making it hard to continue listening -- poor dramatic development. The abridged audiobook might be a better choice.

A Perfect book for a 74 year old in 2004

Wolfe is a superb writer telling a rather pedestrian story. It has the feel of a John Huges film without the elements of comedy or likeable characters

Outstanding narration

The narrator brought Tom Wolfe's intricate plot to life brilliantly! highly recommend this book. it is rich and well presented.

For this we pay tuition?

Excellent and funny and sad. This depicts college life and upscale universities. Scary in parts -- especially with my sons in college. Scarier if I had daughters. A great read that reflects college life - and growth.

Great Book, Great Reading Performance

Let me start by saying Dylan Baker's reading of this novel amounts to nothing less than a 31 hour 1 man Broadway show. His charactizations were brilliant, more than just sounding like the characters he added a visual dimension to their personalities, male and female that is amazing to experience.

My only problem with his reading is the tugging at the back of my brain that I wouldn't have liked this book as well or at all if I read it myself or a less talented reader was cast. I am listening to a lot of books and I am starting to get the feeling that I have about MTV. If a song becomes popular because it has a good video but would have not been noticed otherwise , is it still a good song? Who knows. But I am worried that production values will increase and things like music and sound effects and multiple readers (ultimately one for each character may be next)become more important than the words. Ala hollywood. STILL YOU WILL HEAR A BRAVURA READING ON THIS BOOK.

The story is very good, captivating all the way through. I do agree with some other reviewers, it looses a little steam in the end. I loathed some of the characters so much that I wanted to bath a little more in their undoing.

The funny thing is this could almost just as easily been about college in the 60's and in some ways I think might actually be. Loved it.

Glad I'm an Alumnus

Many critics disliked I am Charlotte S_. They're wrong. This is one of his best works. Mind, there's a lot of scrofulous language and steamy scenes, but that's his take on college life. If that makes you squeamish, then read something else. I'm glad I'm not attending college now. Wolfe's story, though, is hilarious, and the ending is very satisfying because Wolfe leaves no loose ends behind.

Good and funny story

Once I got past the first chapter. this book was one I could have binge listened to. I highly recommend it.

Too long and very vulgar but still good

This is not a great book by a long shot, but it's an entertaining book.

It's Thackeray-like: lots of characters over lots of time with lots of plot intersections and some (only some) witty commentary on the people and their society. But it's really, really long--far longer than the characters justify and with very little plot development. And it's really vulgar; the language is obscene, the actions are beyond bawdy, and the people are shallow. (That's part of Wolf's point--really his main point--but he reproduces the boredom of being around these people and their talk.)

And yet it's still worth the trouble. Even windy, four-letter-filled Thackeray is better than most stuff that's written now. There are wickedly funny observations and some really first-rate prose.

And the narrator is terrific. He separatates characters clearly and gives them moods and tones of voice. He alone pushed my rating up one star.

looses it

good book until the 17th cd, where it becomes drawn out and repetitive. The whole story would be much better with out the drawn out X-mass family thing. Also colleges dont send grades home to your parents.

Best narrator

Dylan baker is hilarious as the narrator. Such a great addition to this satirical plot driven novel full or rich amusing characters.