How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship, and Musical Theater

Edward, the would-be Juliard-trained actor with a less than perfect body, tries to find his place in the world, his mind, and his body, and---hopefully--in college.

This book is hilarious and the narrator insures that hearing must be better than reading it. When he is called to sing, he sings, and it is pleasant to hear his voice. His reading has a youthful exhuberance totally suited to the material.

I too struggled with my seuxality as a teenager, as do most of us, so I was delighted with the author's presentation that is funny but never embarrassing.

Highly recommended.

Hey, Marc Acito didn't write the most insightful novel about alienated youth attempting to make peace with the big bad world. He leaves that to more prolific scholars. What he did write was a hilarious look at a group of people, young and old, who live life to the extremes. None of the youth in this novel will die wishing they had gone for the heights with more gusto. And, oddly, I was moved by the genuine pathos between children and their parents. The protagonist, Eddie, in the course of ten hours of listening, grew from a silly twit of a lad to an adult with much to offer and high hopes for the future. I loved this comedic take on coming of age and recommend it highly.

I actually laughed out loud on the treadmill at the gym. Extremely funny, but hardly "Catcher in the Rye"; just a well read, well written story about disgruntled suburbia. The characters are multi dimensional and memorable. Extraordinary? No, but highly entertaining. And, FYI, includes a charmingly open and honest exploration of sex and sexuality, so keep your toddlers out of earshot.

I love this narrator. Everything he does is amazing. Every character is unique, consistent, and interesting. The book is fun but the narrator is superb.

Loved it. It suprised me. It wasn't your typical gay novel. I thought he would have paid for college in a different way.

I loved the book when I read it, and enjoyed it even more through Jeff Woodman's vivacious reading. It's very funny, and sweet without being cloying - and if there are some wildly improbable bits, well, isn't that what fiction is for? Recommended!

It is rare to hear a book that keeps you laughing, and this book does. Acito captures growing up affluent and confused in the burbs and makes enough references to the early 80's to make me miss Bananarama. But beware- this book can be raunchy and many of the hero's situations are "gay friendly'. Homophobes should look elsewhere. And last thing-- an abridged version would have been made more sense. Eleven hours is fine for an important biography, but seems a little drawn out for such a light, fun read (listen).

I admit - I did not like this book when I first started it. I left this audio to go listen to other books. When I came back, the story really started to pick up and I was totally hooked. I laughed at all of the adventures and I could not leave until I knew how he was able to pay for college.

It seems like any funny book on the New York Times Best sellers list features some gay person. Can't hetero people be funny anymore. I just had a hard time relating. David Sedaris is good but I wasn't a big fan of Augustin Burroghs. Just not my cup of tea.

The story was funny, enjoyable, interesting, and funny. Several times I laughed out loud. The story is written in a Sedaris like manner. Although no one can tell a story like Sedaris, but Acito is very close. Try it you will like it. My only disappointment is I could not find anything else Acito. He needs to write more!!