Growing up Wired

by David Wallace Fleming

Beautiful women... JPEGS, recreational drugs... pharmaceuticals, and elite fraternities... websites - this isn't the college scene that Victor Hastings expected.

Victor likes to admire the provocative pictures of the girls he's dating. Meanwhile, these girls are posting more and more on Facebook and all the social sites. Now, all the men in his fraternity are competing for the attention of these online, amateur pinups.

Three women will make an impact on Victor. Erin Masters is an alluring yet naïve co-ed. Despite outward modesty, she has no reservations about letting friends plaster her provocative images across various websites. Emily Green-Portsmith, on the other hand, comes from wealth and is comparatively more aware of her effect on men.

The influence of these women does not sit well with the house mother of these fraternity boys. Affectionately known as Ma Red, this feisty former Vietnam correspondent from the old-school of etiquette and discipline is prepared to make a fight for her traditional values.

And throughout these discoveries, Victor wonders:

What kind of love is this?

... the wired kind.

[image]

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary

244 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

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David Wallace Fleming is a satirist with a wicked sense of humor. His love for comedy has led him to write in a variety of genres, all using his wit and sarcasm. David is a classic man who writes the sort of tales he'd like to read. His works have appeared in Out of the Gutter, Escape Velocity, and the Bizarro Press. His one goal is to give the readers something unique and special yet also reflective of the exciting times we live in.

Reviews

[Kevin Farrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I reviewed this book for the author and offered some feedback prior to publication. I would have rated it higher if I was closer to the twenty something demographic that it is written for. The book takes a look at the social pitfalls of young people in college - especially the fraternity/sorority set. The writing flows well and is fast paced. I was reminded of Tom Wolfe's writing when I read this story.

In short, this book was too hip for me. Give it a try if you are still cool.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gift copy kindly provided by author and Goodreads friend David Wallace Fleming.

The guys in the frat-house seem like characters from the film Animal House, superficial pranksters and trouble-makers focused on booze, sports, women, and sowing wild oats. Victor Hastings is different: bookish and pale-skinned, he has studied philosophy, learned to think more deeply than the others and begun to question the system. Perhaps it is this that makes him awkward around both men and women. He is something of a loner even though he would sometimes like not to be. As if life on the cusp of adulthood were not complicated enough, the internet makes it even harder.

I wasn't sure what to make of all the characters, especially Emily. I sympathized with her insecurity, but I didn't like the way she went about attracting attention to herself. I liked Victor but he seemed to swing from being overly aggressive to very indecisive. How, dear reader, will they ever make it work?

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://jerseyguyscanread.blogspot.com...

Quite an interesting take on rites of passage, and coming of age in modern times. I felt like a lot of the characters were too flat to be effective as characters in the story, which is a shame because the characters that were more developed were a lot of fun and fairly relatable. Definitely a great story though, because the internet really is replacing face to face interaction. Even texting, and that sucks because actually talking to someone in person is so much more gratifying than waiting for the chirp of a cell phone or the beep indicating a notification on Facebook. More to come on my blog, once I'm out of class for the night.

[Xdyj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got it for free from the author. It's about something I know very little about, but I do find it hilarious and very well-written. I sort-of wished the Ma Red story line would have a more surprising ending.

[Julie(Reading By The Beach) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing Up Wired is almost like a college experience all rolled into one book. Drugs, drinking, sex, porn and a generation obsessed with technology. David Fleming sneaks in these sub-plots that are meaningful and just simply brilliant. It's almost scary how realistic this book is. Growing Up Wired shows how individuals(maybe a certain generation) can become disconnected with the living world by shutting themselves away or being dependent with technology(computers, cell phones, social websites etc).

I think that with Growing Up Wired, each reader will come away with a different meaning, maybe along the same lines, but still different. For me, this was a story about a college guy, Victor Hastings, who is stuck in a technological, virtual haze trying to escape by any means possible. Maybe sex for him is the first step in being able to feel, but he keeps getting reeled into the psychological games of shy or ill-reputed females. He perceives himself as unconfident, but even so he is always disallowing people to label him. By being the observer we are allowed to see that he perceives himself wrong(in my opinion). He is more than fairly intelligent and is confident just not in face-to-face female interactions. Victor(and some others) are inclined to many philosophical ramblings, but I found this to be insightful, sometimes confusing, but still making perfect sense(Am I making sense?). College is the time for self-discovery and this is what the book portrayed for me, whether or not that was the authors intentions. There is also the point of women(or college aged females) who allow themselves to be subjectified, either willingly or because of a deeper reason. Everybody craves attention from everyone, parents, peers, authority figures, etc, but how far are you willing to go to get that attention?

We get an array of different characters(as is prone in life) that are all scary realistic. You have the resident stoner, the overage frat boy that refuses to grow up, the guy that starts to lose it, the confident guy that gets what he sets his mind to(maybe the sanest character; I hope the author knows who I'm talking about), and all the inbetweens.

"With all the distractions and breakneck pace of everything today, there's no way to know what's real anymore"

I was completely and utterly entranced by Growing Up Wired. I devoured it as quickly as possible, unable to put it down. This should be a REQUIRED read for all college students and recent college grads. It makes you put a lot of things into perspective. Probably not the best book for college parents, but then again, it might bring them to a new level of understanding(or just scare the crap out of them).

[John Hammond]

While Growing Up Wired is a decidedly hi-tech coming of age novel, any potential reader must be warned that its title implies a far broader exploration of technology in everyday life than the novel provides. At the same time, it should not be narrowly dismissed as a parable against porn. The adult entertainment industry is not the villain of this story. All of the players are average college students.

A girl's desire for attention from the widest possible audience leads her to put hot photos online, and a boy's instinct to see the girl next door naked drives him to visit her site. But what happens when the abstract practice of posting and viewing pics replaces sex, or when the exchange of well-crafted, half-hearted texts replaces an intimate conversation? The main character struggles with these problems. His college, his religion, and even his fraternity were designed to guide him into manhood, but they are unable to offer him any real solutions. Growing Up Wired is about the young men and women who are left to faced the new world on their own and maybe even find each other along the way.

The main love interest has an iconic quality. Her crippled fingers mark her as a wounded bird, but she is uninterested in hiding them. She bares all in her postings, but is unknowable to the main character's pursuit both online and in the real world.

The novel is a pretty quick read almost to a fault, but one novel cannot resolve the complex dilemmas brought on by technology. By its very nature, Growing Up Wired can only leave the reader wanting more.

[Lori Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author approached me via email asking if I'd like to read and review his book. I told him I would be happy to. :) (Maybe one day -- he will repay the favor?!)

This is an entertaining read. It makes you wonder why we post things in our profiles online for the whole world to see and if we stop to think about the consequences these things could hold for us in the future. Applying for a job at a daycare center? But what about those photos of your bare boobs out there for God and your grandma to see?

Victor genuinely likes Erin and now every red-blooded male on campus is lusting after her. Interesting take on the "wired" age of technology. This is an easy, entertaining read that some people might find eye-opening. I predict good things for David. There is one thing that I didn't like about the book, the cover. Sorry.

Oh, and the Can Man thing -- I'm pretty sure everyone in or from Iowa will understand that and think to themselves... "Our town has/had one of those!"

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

How would react to hearing the girl you're interested in hook up with your fraternity brother? We follow Victor through a year at college as he falls deeper into the technological revolution, with MySpace and nearly-naked girls occupying a lot of his hard drive, and his journey to "get the girl." He's the underdog, at the mercy of his fraternity brothers, navigating the waters of underage drinking and a hint of hazing. In the end, he gets the girl and appears to lose his addiction to the barely-clad wonders of the Internet. A coming-of-age tale from the point of view of a young man in a college fraternity...not my usual cup of tea. But, I gave it a shot and was very surprised. I liked it! And, I was hooked by chapter 3. Fleming writes wonderfully. With a perfect balance of narrative and descriptive, the reader gets a rather exclusive look into a world to which the general populace is not usually privy. If you want something different than your "usual read," pick this up and have a go.

[Josh Karaczewski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went to a small college, without fraternities, as the internet was in its adolescence. So Growing Up Wired's protagonist inhabited a foreign land to me (however stretched for comic or satiric purposes), dealing with issues that didn't exist for me when I was at school. Fleming explores issues of sex and establishing authentic connections in the digital age, and how the natural tendency for rebellion and revolution in young college students are being affected by technology - and he does it with moments of great writing.

[Clare]

To quote from Robert Cherny's review, "A more proper title might have been The Effect of Internet Porn on a Frat Boy and the Women He Meets.”

[Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Realistic of 2011 college life and technology. Well written and liked it human quality.
Ending surprized me. Good read.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well written book..Was a fast and enjoyable read..I do feel it is more geared for my 20/30 yr. old children,but so glad I had the chance to read it..

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review of “Growing Up Wired” By David Wallace Fleming

The first chapter, the last chapter and a couple of chapters in the middle are brilliant. The remainder of the book careens between “Catcher in the Rye” and “Animal House” both in style in a level of sophistication. The contrast between the highs and the lows is so sharp as to be painful.

The book asks, but does not answer, the question whether a young man, or a boy, can have a fulfilling relationship with a woman after having been exposed to Internet sex. The story is a coming of age story involving a college frat boy and contains much of the standard imagery that one would expect of a member of that demographic. The premise that somehow the Internet changes all the rules is touched on, but never fully explored in the depth the title promises. It is not a bad story, but it does not reach its potential.

Plot: three stars

Characters: Four stars

Narrative style: Two stars

Technical execution: Four stars

The primary failing of this book is its uneven storytelling. Sometimes the narrative is clear and easy to follow. Other times it is confused and disjointed. My favorite passage is the book’s opening:

As a diversion, I followed the Can Man around campus—always from a safe distance because he was shy. Was he John the Baptist incarnate? It was too soon to know, though he wore a waist-long, unkempt gray beard with black striations and the bees loved him, buzzing near, hovering for the sugary remnants on histan arthritic fingers and those gooey flecks inside the cans of the clear garbage sack slung over his shoulder.

He listlessly pedaled his forest-green, 1970s ten-speed over sidewalks and jarringly wobbled up a curb with a “shit-SHIT!” bursting as if a lethal sneeze. He rambled, to himself and perhaps unseen past enemies, friends, lovers—of song remnants married to dimming emotions—the dueling nonsense maxims of God and Satan. His desert might have been one of loneliness among tight-skinned twenty-one-year-olds with his crumbly, green flip flops serving as thong sandals and dime-store, twelve-year-old clothes his camel-hair robe.

It’s unclear why I followed the Can Man. I had presumed him alcoholic and schizophrenic. I imagined him pressed flat against the lowest strata, the weight of our riches and comfort pinning him fast as the water in a lightless ocean trench crushes a man from the vertical miles resting above.

Hindsight is 20/20. It seems obvious with the passage of years that I followed the Can Man because I believed him alcoholic and with three men on my father’s side suffering from this I needed to know this Can Man was a different species from what I was, that a twitch of destiny could never shove me in his place.

A ten page exchange via a messaging system between frat brothers on the same floor of the house occurs in the middle of the book. It is virtually impossible to follow:


The trial scene that theoretically starts the real action is a sham and a hollow parody of a Joe McCarthy era witch hunt. It is slow and didactic. The characters are wooden stereotypes and the scene does not work. By contrast, the attack on the house mother’s apartment is fast paced and progresses in a logical, if frenetic succession. The pacing is intense, but it works.

The main character’s pursuit of the girl of his dreams which takes up the last quarter of the book is well done and is enough justification to read the rest. The ending asks as many questions as it answers as it explores territory that has been worked over many times. Questions left for the reader include why a woman would post suggestive pictures of herself knowing that the boys she sees every day will pore over them. Does Internet porn really impact a boy’s ability to relate to a woman or are the usual forces of insecurity and social ineptitude more relevant?

The title “Growing up Wired” alludes to a promise that is never fulfilled. The “wired” part refers to a single aspect of one man’s life. It does not address the wider spectrum of influences the current proliferation of electronic communications devices has wreaked on the lives of people growing up today. A more proper title might have been “The Effect of Internet Porn on a Frat Boy and the Women He Meets.”

[Nora Vickery · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

Full disclosure: I received this book free as part of a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.

Some of the reviewers of this book mention that they are not the target demographic for this book. With the title Growing Up Wired, I thought I was. I am an early millennial, part of the first generation of digital natives. I graduated high school in 2003. In fact, I might be a little young for this book. By the time I got to college, everyone had a computer, nobody actually talked on the phone and the Internet pornography available at the touch of a button was a lot racier than scantily clad teenagers on Myspace. However, it was close enough that I relate to Victor and some of his struggles.

This book spends a lot of time inside Victor’s head. Sometimes, that is an interesting place to be. Victor is introspective and obviously intelligent. He is unsure about his place in the world or how to become the adult he will eventually be. The people around him don’t help. He doesn’t quite fit in with his fraternity brothers and they all know it. They call him “The Poet” mockingly and get upset at him for spending too much time alone in his room. He really doesn’t know how to interact with women.

All in all, this is a fine place to be for a time. But a book also needs a plot. This book seems to have no discernible plot for the first half of the book. Being inside Victor’s head for over 100 pages starts to be a slog. If I didn’t feel obligated to read this to write the review, I would have stopped right here.

Luckily, it does get better when the fraternity throws a party and Emily, Victor’s crush, enters the picture. The interactions Victor has with his fraternity brothers and with Emily ring very true. The drunken conversations the guys have sounds like a conversation I might have had late at night in college, when we all thought we were deep thinkers. Emily simultaneously drunken confiding in Victor, while also sort of ignoring him is something I saw my peers do. Victor using his brothers to crowdsource his texts to Emily rings very true. And getting bad, but impassioned advice from people who are as clueless as you are is a time-honored adolescent tradition. But it is not enough to save this book for me. If the whole book was like the second half, I would have no problem recommending it to anyone. After all, every over a certain age knows how much it can hurt to be young and clueless. But, unfortunately, that is not what we have here. Instead, I probably wouldn’t recommend it unless you are between 30-40, maybe had a similar college experience, but most importantly, are far enough away from that experience to see how young you really were.

So I can’t wholeheartedly recommend this book, but it is a debut novel. Fleming’s characters are well-done and his voice rings true. I am excited to see what he can do in the future.

[TC · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the description this sounded like a parable for modern times and something that would provide some interesting thought provoking material. I like something a bit challenging so had high hopes for this book.

Victor is an Alpha boy, living in a frat house with other young men most of whom are far more adept with women than him. In the brave new age of the internet he passes his time surfing the web for porn. Soon many of his friends are browsing MySpace to find sexually suggestive pictures of the girls on campus. Victor is blamed for the frat house becoming insular and computer obssessed rather than full of visiting girlfriends. He is guided into a relationship with plenty of help from his more outgoing friends but finds himself questionning why she makes herself so available online yet so distant in person.

This book definitely gave me pause for thought, and made me think particularly about teenage girls I know who post pictures of themselves without apparently thinking about how wide the audience is. The world has changed with the advent of the internet and it's interesting to consdier how it is affecting some people's lives. However I found it took me a while to get into the book and when I did I couldn't really connect with the characters. They were a bit stereotypical and I didn't know enough about their backgrounds to begin to understand the main players. The story centres around the frat house which is something I know very little about as a Brit and perhaps that was part of the reason for the disconnect. While things happen in the book it felt like nothing really happened, and I was pleased when the narrative took the form of instant messages for a while as it picked up the pace a bit.

This book has some great reviews but I'm afraid the above combined with a sprinkling of typos meant it missed the spot for me.

[Cristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me a while to read this book because I wasn't really that into it. I'm sorry to say that I don't think it is written very well. It's very stream of consciousness and I found it difficult to follow. It's about a boy in a fraternity in college in what seems like the late 90s. Maybe I wasn't the right audience for this book, but I just didn't like it. It seemed like it was written by a high schooler. Also, the things that were going on didn't seem very realistic. I can't speak for what it's like for a boy in a fraternity in college, but I can speak to what it's like to be a girl in college and the book didn't seem to reflect truth in this area (probably because it was written by a guy). Overall, I would say it's not something I would recommend.

[Mary Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book as a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway. I quickly realized that I am not the target demographic. I was hoping to gain some insight into what makes some young people do the things they do in regard to internet/facebook/snapchat, etc. However, the author provided no such insight for me. I found the characters poorly developed and had great difficulty in distinguishing one from another.

[Siisso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific was when one stumbled across capturing modern literature like this on alternative book sites. It was full of college when I was a freshman, and it still is. The mood and scenes will take a while to change from what is conveyed on Growing Up Wired. This was the once I identified with a character on a level of unbridled humour and undertakings to an extent. What made it enjoyable and worthwhile. These days I distance myself completely. How my reading has been improved.

[Tony Greenall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wonderfully written to begin with, but as the story went on each character became more and more dislikeable. Eventually I just didn't care how things turned out and abandoned it 3/4 of the way through.
Having said that, I wouldn't be averse to trying more of this author, his writing style certainly has much to recommend it.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but it did prove an interesting insight into difficulties faced by today's technology-driven young adults.

[Rose Cimarron]

[2012-05-14] Added to IMM for this week