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

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

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Synopsis

A deliciously funny romp of a novel about one overly theatrical (and gay) New Jersey teenager's larecenous quest for his acting school tuition. It's 1983 in Wallingford, NJ and 17-year-old Edward Zanni is Peter Panning his way through a carefree suburban summer. The fun comes to a halt when his father remarries and refuses to pay for Edward's Julliard tuition. He can't get scholarships because his dad is too rich and his mom is in Peru getting in touch with Incan spirits. He's also incapable of holding a job! So he turns to his loyal, dishonest friends to help him steal the money from dad, all the while practising for "Grease." Sounds like a farcical gay coming-of-age story -- we'll review it soon.

Review

Pudgy thespian wanna-be Edward Zanni loves his best girlfriend but lusts after his high school's hunkiest football player. He's trapped in early-'80s suburban New Jersey hell with a disdainful father who won't pay for his Juilliard tuition and a spiteful stepmother who hates him – and without the adoration of his mother, who's away at a Peruvian commune. His only hope - after a near-nervous breakdown during his audition is interpreted as raw genius - is to win an acting scholarship. But he isn't eligible for any, so he embezzles money from his father to endow a new scholarship - in Frank Sinatra's name, specifically for Italian 17-year-olds from his hometown - by laundering the cash through a fictitious "Catholic Vigilance Society." Except that another kid wins it. The plot of humor columnist Acito's first novel is the very definition of silly, and the scholarship scheme doesn't even kick in until halfway through. But there's hardly a page without a laugh, and sexually confused Edward is among gay fiction's most endearing recent coming-of-age characters. How I Paid for College is that most rare of pleasures: intelligent light reading.

Richard Labonte, Books to Watch Out For

Customer Reviews

Already a classic!

GYTrekker wrote on 11/07/2011:

This is a very sweet first novel by my friend Marc Acito (who is also an occasional NPR commentator). It has charming and funny characters that anyone will remember from their high school years... those odd "theater people", who never quite fit in with the cool kids. Rollicking and fast-paced, it was strongly influenced by Joe Keenan's novel "Blue Heaven", so if you love Mr. Keenan's novels you'll likely enjoy this as well... Pick up a copy for the budding young theater poofter in your family!