The Spectacular Now

***SPOILER ALERT:  THIS REVIEW POSSIBLY GIVES AWAY THE ENDING***

(Sorry, for some reason, I couldn't distance myself from this one the way I usually do.  My review addresses key things from the book so if you haven't read it or don't want to take the chance, please skip this one. I had seen the movie first, so it wasn't a big deal to me, but fair warning.)

 

The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp is the tale of the classic party boy who prefers to live in the present moment---with an abundance of alcohol---instead of looking forward to the future and actually doing something with his life. 

 

Sutter Keely is the epitome of the carefree high school boy.  All fun, all the time.  No sense of responsibility or consequences.  No regard for commitment past the "fantabulous" now.  Even when he loses his girlfriend, becomes distant with his best friend, disappoints his family, doesn't graduate and loses his job, he stays stuck in the now---probably from fear of looking beyond and actually testing himself to do anything but drink and have fun.

 

And then Sutter meets the shy and quiet Aimee, a girl who has been a pushover her entire life, and Sutter sees befriending the girl as an opportunity to "save her soul."  He doesn't plan for them to fall in love, but even then his emotions seem as if they're on the surface only because he doesn't see or want a future.  While he does help her gain the confidence she so desperately needs and to take charge of her own life, only heartbreak comes from loving a boy who deep down sees nothing of his own worth and goes along with her ideas of the future because he doesn't want to say no.

 

In the end, nothing really changes for Sutter Keely, except that the rest of his world has moved on while he is very much stuck in the now.

 

This book was amazing.  It was funny and entertaining while still portraying a deeper message beneath the humor, which I loved. Unfortunately, it also struck a nerve with me.

 

See, I know Sutter.  Dated him, even.  A real life version, at least. And I found it terribly sad that he let his fears and doubts dictate his life while still managing to live in utter denial, thinking this was how life was supposed to be.  He wasn't happier than anyone else.  He just medicated with alcohol so he didn't have to think about how unhappy and self-conscious he actually was.  It was like he had a self-destruct button that he couldn't stop pushing, but he didn't care because he had blissfully and blindly taped a sign saying "The Spectacular Now" over it. 

 

So, while the story was well written, I have seen it play out in real life---which is also what makes the book authentic and wonderful.  I watched someone I cared about do the exact same thing and in the end, I couldn't help but hate Sutter a little bit for wasting what could have been a legendary life, even if he did always have good intentions. 

 

Still, it is a book I would (and have) recommend.  My rating: 8 out of 10.