Author Simon Rich is basically your prototypical author for an angsty, tongue-in-cheek book about high school. He's young, talented, and one of the snarky writers on Saturday Night Live. Naturally, Elliot Allagosh would resonate with anyone from a sixteen-year-old video game nerd to a reminiscing adult.
Seymour Herson opens his narration with a bleak glimpse into his life as an eighth grader at a NYC private school. He's chubby, a social outcast, and has recently been dubbed with the unflattering nickname "Chunk-Style." However, this somewhat cliched portrait of middle school angst is quickly interrupted by the arrival of the impossibly rich, incredibly eccentric (especially for a 13-year-old!) boy named Elliot Allagosh.
Elliot loves a challenge, and transforming the school pariah into the class president seems like a great way to pass his time. What ensues could have been a Cinderella-type story with a touch of after-school special, but Rich keeps the story funny and wonderfully fresh. My favorite parts were stories told by Elliot's father, who has never worked a day in his life and loves to find creative ways to use the billions of dollars in his bank account.
The story does, however, have a great deal of heart: Seymour learns the inevitable (popularity through lying, cheating, etc. does not guarantee happiness) and, during his senior year of high school, gets a much-needed waking up call. Elliot is a delightful con man, intriguingly neurotic and complex--you'll be reminded of a puppeteer crazed with boredom, tugging at the strings of his marionettes.
Beth gives it five out of five carrots!
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