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Everything Looks Impressive
Everything Looks Impressive is a knowing, smart look at college life today, showing the battles young people are fighting during the “happiest years of their lives.”
an Ivy League bastion of privilege, a breeding ground of America’s elite. Here you are the clique you belong to, as demonstrated by the clothes you wear and the drugs you prefer. Here everything, including sex, has been politicized.
Where does Alex MacDonald, fresh from a small blue-collar town in Maine, fit into all of this? He isn’t sure. He’d like to win the favor of Jill Lanigan, but her tastes seem to run to her own sex. And he’d like to connect with preppie roommate Brook Morehouse, but he’s troubled by Brook’s superficial values. And when the tension among these antagonistic campus groups turns bitter in the wake of a violent party in which both Jill and Brook are involved, Alex begins to question where his loyalties lie.
Hugh Kennedy’s debut is fresh and full of news about contemporary youth, a coming-of-age novel that ranks with the classics This Side of Paradise , Catcher in Rye , and Bright Lights, Big City .
an Ivy League bastion of privilege, a breeding ground of America’s elite. Here you are the clique you belong to, as demonstrated by the clothes you wear and the drugs you prefer. Here everything, including sex, has been politicized.
Where does Alex MacDonald, fresh from a small blue-collar town in Maine, fit into all of this? He isn’t sure. He’d like to win the favor of Jill Lanigan, but her tastes seem to run to her own sex. And he’d like to connect with preppie roommate Brook Morehouse, but he’s troubled by Brook’s superficial values. And when the tension among these antagonistic campus groups turns bitter in the wake of a violent party in which both Jill and Brook are involved, Alex begins to question where his loyalties lie.
Hugh Kennedy’s debut is fresh and full of news about contemporary youth, a coming-of-age novel that ranks with the classics This Side of Paradise , Catcher in Rye , and Bright Lights, Big City .
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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Hugh Kennedy
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 26, 2015
Maybe I didn't get it, but this book just didn't do anything for me. Do you have to be a "Yalie"? I guess, sure, it's some insight into the word at that era (80s), but that's about it. I was mostly bored throughout. Admittedly, there were some really lovely sentences, but not worth trudging through the whole book do get at, I don't think.
May 17, 2009
A look at life at Yale in the mid '80s.
December 2, 2025
This book quite literally had nothing of note happen. On top of that, the climax seemed to have unfolded in the middle of the book, which was nothing short of disorienting. However, the mundane subject matter and the short lived pinnacle somehow added to the charm.
Alex MacDonnel, the protagonist, reminded me of a more lucid Holden Caulfield and was refreshingly equipped with some semblance of social tact. (Personally, I'm tired of the socially awkward protagonist that, unfortunately, seems to be every current author's favorite character to conjure). The writing style felt like reading one long, fragmented dream that I found reminiscent of a less cryptic J.D. Salinger. Ultimately, this book rendered a pretty believable depiction of the life of a college student at Yale that was somewhat uneventful, but I was taken in by nevertheless.
Alex MacDonnel, the protagonist, reminded me of a more lucid Holden Caulfield and was refreshingly equipped with some semblance of social tact. (Personally, I'm tired of the socially awkward protagonist that, unfortunately, seems to be every current author's favorite character to conjure). The writing style felt like reading one long, fragmented dream that I found reminiscent of a less cryptic J.D. Salinger. Ultimately, this book rendered a pretty believable depiction of the life of a college student at Yale that was somewhat uneventful, but I was taken in by nevertheless.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews