Tracy Flick Can't Win

By: Tom Perrotta

Narrated by: Lucy Liu, Dennis Boutsikaris, Jeremy Bobb, Ramona Young, Ali Andre Ali, Pete Simonelli, full cast

Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Reese Witherspoon

“Tom Perrotta is…one of the great writers that we have today. I love this book.” —Harlan Coben

An “engrossing and mordantly funny” (People) novel about ambition, coming-of-age in adulthood, and never really leaving high school politics behind—featuring New York Times bestselling author Tom Perrotta’s most iconic character of all time.

Tracy Flick is a hardworking assistant principal at a public high school in suburban New Jersey. Still ambitious but feeling a little stuck and underappreciated in midlife, Tracy gets a jolt of good news when the longtime principal, Jack Weede, abruptly announces his retirement, creating a rare opportunity for Tracy to ascend to the top job.

Energized by the prospect of her long-overdue promotion, Tracy throws herself into her work with renewed zeal, determined to prove her worth to the students, faculty, and School Board, while also managing her personal life—a ten-year-old daughter, a needy doctor boyfriend, and a burgeoning meditation practice.

But nothing ever comes easily to Tracy Flick, no matter how diligent or qualified she happens to be. Her male colleagues’ determination to honor Vito Falcone—a star quarterback of dubious character who had a brief, undistinguished career in the NFL—triggers memories for Tracy and leads her to reflect on the trajectory of her own life. As she considers the past, Tracy becomes aware of storm clouds brewing in the present. Is she really a shoo-in for the principal job? Is the Superintendent plotting against her? Why is the School Board President’s wife trying so hard to be her friend? And why can’t she ever get what she deserves?

A sharp, darkly comic, and pitch-perfect chronicle of the second act of one of the most memorable characters of our time, Tracy Flick Can’t Win “delivers acerbic insight about frustrated ambition” (Esquire).

©2022 Tom Perrotta. All rights reserved. (P)2022 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Lucy Liu, Dennis Boutsikaris, and other talented performers rivet listeners with this sequel to Election.... Liu as Flick sounds no-nonsense yet girlish as she voices Traci's midlife frustration and hope for a promotion. Boutsikaris, as retiring Principal Weede, has a world-weary, wistful tone.... This lively ensemble captivates right up to the audiobook's unexpected, timely conclusion." (AudioFile)

Just read the book to me

The over-acting of the readers and the staccato delivery of the person reading Tracy's voice are distracting from the story itself. I cannot finish this. I would like to return to the days of someone simply reading the book, not emoting and using so many voices. This type of delivery colors the story and interferes with what I am imagining about the characters. I would think authors would be annoyed by this subjectivity as well as it has the potential to change what they intended. In the future, I will listen to samples before buying.

Lacked focus

Unlike his singleminded heroine Tracy Flick, Tom Perrotta seemed all over the place on this one. So many characters and subplots …so many different points of view. Some of the subplots were interesting, and might have been developed into full fledged novels of their own, but others were so insubstantial I didn’t understand the point. Perrotta seemed intent on hitting all the hot button social issues — Me Too, LGBTQ, Black Lives Matter…the book felt almost like an apology for any unwoke transgressions the author might have committed in Election.

That said, even three star Tom Perrotta is a delight to listen to, and I was sorry when this story came to an end — an ending so abrupt (and to my mind contrived) I wondered if Perrotta had been under some sort of deadline pressure and needed to wrap things up in a hurry.

The connection to Election was a stretch for me. Election had a wonderful dark humor, which was not present in the sequel. And after Reese Witherspoon nailed Tracy’s character so brilliantly in the movie, it was jarring to find her reappearing in the voice of Lucy Liu, whose interpretation — though perfectly fine in its own right — was quite different. All in all, I’d give Tracy Flick Can’t Win a B-.

Awful

This was a rough attempt at piling every current social issue into one meaningless book. The characters never mattered. The storylines were sporadic and broken. It was literally just one person’s attempt to make every social issue show up, and it read like a steaming heap of garbage.

Audio format not ideal

There are too many characters to follow, & having different narrators for each character doesn't solve that problem. If I hadn't had a library copy of the actual book, I'd have had trouble keeping it straight. The story was enjoyable but I'm going to avoid titles where there are multiple narrators.

Well done

I had read Election and saws the movie. This was a great sequel. Like The Candy House it wasn't presented as a normal story. But Flick was done much better. There were a few surprises, laughs, and drama. Maybe space for a trilogy?

A deeply moving sequel

Ignore the naysayers.
This is a gripping overview of the life of a small community.
John Cheever comes to mind.
I was moved by the degree of pathos and compassion.
And the degree of insight.
The author does not look down on his struggling subjects. They are us.
And he makes no bones about the selfish opportunists who are only concerned with themselves.
A cast of readers adds welcome variety.

Eye Roll

After listening to and loving “Election,” I was excited to follow Tracy Flick into her future. It had a strong start, but devolved into social issue tropes, deep dives into characters I couldn’t bring myself to care about and which lacked tight connecting threads to each other. The climax was ridiculous with no discernible build up. Save your time and choose something else.

Good but not great

I liked the story from the multi-person POV but Lucy Lui was the wrong casting for Tracy Flick. They needed someone who sounded more outgoing. Her voice was way too soft and breathy.

Literary Excellence

Loved “Election”, but this one is better. While still nailing the misogyny and politics in the work place, Perotta presents a more optimistic tone in “Tracy…”. Perhaps the author, like me, has softened and mellowed a bit with age.

Outstanding!

The performances in this book are fantastic! You don't want it to end! In fact, it deserves repeated listening. Even if Tracy can't win, we listeners do!