Prep: Alarmingly Honest Look at Self-Conscious Underachiever’s Adolescence

Review by Chris Manson April 7, 2005 Issue

If Curtis Sittenfeld’s first novel Prep is any indication, prep school advertisements—at least where female prospects are concerned—should model themselves after prescription drug commercials. “You’ll participate in team sports, meet interesting new people, prepare yourself for the Ivy League School of your choice,” the announcer would say over innocuous pictures of youngsters enjoying innocuous activities. Followed by the rushed monotone: “Side effects may include an identity crisis or two, alienation from your family, disappointment, heartbreak, and assorted moral dilemmas.”

I have no idea if Sittenfeld actually went to a prep school like the one in her novel, but she clearly knows her stuff better than some hack who happened by campus for a weekend or two of research. The author has a seemingly effortless ability to dig right down to the very essence of a confused but impossibly observant—not to mention excessively self-conscious—girl’s existence at the Ault School in Massachusetts. The book is neatly divided into chapters for each of the four years of school, with the not-so-neat events in Lee Fiora’s life remembered in great, pained detail.

Prep is loaded with humor and surprises, as well as some of the most dead-on sex scenes I’ve happened upon. Lee’s recollections are so intimate it’s like reading someone’s diary, especially as she relates her relationship with popular classmate Cross Sugarman. I am not familiar with Sittenfeld’s previous work—her articles have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Real Simple among others—and based on her age, I assumed the twentysomething author would take a detached, ironic approach to the material. Happily, she does not.

Does Sittenfeld have it in for prep schools? I don’t think so. While it is not in the book’s agenda to trash the public school system—the outside world has little relevance for Ault students—there is a sense of community, similar to a small town where nobody has any secrets. It’s difficult to say when the events actually take place. You could assume the narrator-heroine is at least 10 years out, and judging by the lack of cell phones and the predominance of cassette players in the dorm rooms, I’m thinking ‘80s. The sole pop culture reference of note is when Madonna’s song Holiday blasts from the dorm building’s open windows during a much-needed break. But actual dates seem unimportant, as I suspect the author was trying to come up with a timeless story.

There are the usual “Am I not pretty enough?” questions raised. As a scholarship student from a middle class Indiana family, Lee obsesses a bit too much about Ault while her academic performance is, to put it charitably, underwhelming. You would think a somewhat underprivileged outsider would try harder, but that’s not the case with Lee Fiora. She has a tendency to keep her own feelings locked inside while acting as a casual observer during the dramatic events in her classmates’ lives—dorm thefts, suicide attempts, you name it. Lee saves her emotional explosion for a parents’ weekend during sophomore year; her actions seem hardly justified but credible nonetheless. I was reminded of the soldier who went home after Army basic training and unwittingly subjected his horrified mother to an endless stream of f-words.

Lee Fiora has been called everything from a female Holden Caulfield to a more believable Charlotte Simmons (after Tom Wolfe’s recent, widely disliked schoolgirl epic). I don’t know. Lee strikes me as pretty original, the details I prefer not to divulge lest I spoil some of the wonderful surprises within Prep’s pages. I don’t think Sittenfeld set out to do “her version” of any existing book—certainly not the next Catcher in the Rye. I hardly expect some conspiracy nut or potential assassin to be found with a copy of Prep tucked in his back pocket, at least not until it comes out in paperback.

Sittenfeld avoids the stereotypes of snooty rich kids you’re used to seeing in prep school stories. There is a particularly great moment when she confronts her schoolgirl crush (obsession?) Cross in the gym and he sets her straight about what’s weird and what’s not.

This is a compelling read, whether you’re a boy or a girl, a prep school alum or a high school dropout. Most of us have been in Lee Fiora’s shoes before, thinking a little too hard about what we’re going to say and putting a little too much thought into our simplest actions. My only gripe is that whoever wrote the dust jacket summary doesn’t seem to have a clue what this story is about—it does absolutely no justice to an excellent novel and will no doubt dissuade some potential readers. On the other hand, the endorsements from such notables as Tom (Election) Perrotta and Dave Eggers understand and clearly appreciate what Sittenfeld has done in this fine debut.

Random House, 403 pages. Available at book retailers, online and local libraries.

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