Scan barcode
mhall's review against another edition
4.0
At its best, this approaches the works of Daniel Pinkwater in its zany and original hilarity. The tale is simple enough: the most unpopular boy in middle school is adopted as a pet project by Elliot Allagash, a new classmate of unimaginable wealth. Elliot promises he can make even the nerdiest, most hopeless case the most popular person in school. The short novel can't quite sustain the height of its beginnings, and by the end has become more conventional and the narrator ends up learning a lesson and growing as a person.
kmk182's review against another edition
3.0
Not as funny as Rich's short stories; but if you've read his other work this one is worth your time.
taaya's review against another edition
2.0
Nachdem ich von 'In Gottes Namen, Amen' begeistert war, enttäuscht mich Simon Rich diesmal stark. Seymour, ein unscheinbarer Junge, maximal ausreichend in der Schule und ohne Freunde, trifft auf den reichen Elliot, der daraufhin ein Experiment beginnt, wie man Seymour beliebt machen kann, nur, um sich die Langeweile zu vertreiben. Es folgen gefühlt endlose Intrigen, die anfangs noch ganz interessant klingen, deren Sinn und Zweck einem sich aber bald nicht mehr erschließt. Darüber sind beide Protagonisten alles andere als sympathisch, sondern beide auf ihre eigene Weise einfach nur dumm. Und eine wirkliche Auflösung oder eine Moral von der Geschicht' gibt es auch nicht, so dass das Buch einen höchst unbefriedigt zurücklässt.
lisacarr3's review against another edition
2.0
This book was ok. I didn't really feel for the main character and Elliot was just plain weird.
I felt most sorry for Elliot and his need to control everything and use money like it's nothing. I didn't really relate this to a realistic high school experience, not that it could't happen, just not in my world.
I also cringed a lot at the over abundant use of my Savior's name. I found it unnecessary and also not realistic.
I felt most sorry for Elliot and his need to control everything and use money like it's nothing. I didn't really relate this to a realistic high school experience, not that it could't happen, just not in my world.
I also cringed a lot at the over abundant use of my Savior's name. I found it unnecessary and also not realistic.
unsquare's review against another edition
2.0
I read Elliot Allagash in one three-hour sitting. It was mildly entertaining, and I remember laughing once or twice, but ultimately it's a remarkably slight novel that felt like a padded novella with pretensions of more. However, it's a quick, easy read, and I finished it before it could lose my interest or outstay its welcome.
The book charts the transformation of one Seymour Herson from chubby high school outcast to aloof popular kid cheating his way through life. His ascendancy comes thanks to a sociopathic billionaire teenager named Elliot Allagash, who appoints himself Seymour's personal svengali and immediately begins stage-managing his life down to the finest detail.
The characters are fairly one-dimensional. Elliot is always scheming, Seymour is always nervous, and they're surrounded by cardboard cut-out archetypes. The overall trajectory of their story isn't particularly surprising, but the author does get a few points for absurd details thrown in along the way. Elliot's convoluted revenges against his "enemies" do help keep things interesting now and then.
To be honest, I started reading it because I need to return it to the library next week, and I finished it because it didn't take that much effort. Overall, it was an inoffensive way to spend a few hours, but nothing I'd go out of my way to recommend.
The book charts the transformation of one Seymour Herson from chubby high school outcast to aloof popular kid cheating his way through life. His ascendancy comes thanks to a sociopathic billionaire teenager named Elliot Allagash, who appoints himself Seymour's personal svengali and immediately begins stage-managing his life down to the finest detail.
The characters are fairly one-dimensional. Elliot is always scheming, Seymour is always nervous, and they're surrounded by cardboard cut-out archetypes. The overall trajectory of their story isn't particularly surprising, but the author does get a few points for absurd details thrown in along the way. Elliot's convoluted revenges against his "enemies" do help keep things interesting now and then.
To be honest, I started reading it because I need to return it to the library next week, and I finished it because it didn't take that much effort. Overall, it was an inoffensive way to spend a few hours, but nothing I'd go out of my way to recommend.
dundermifflin's review against another edition
3.0
Elliott is a brilliant, disturbed character, and I wish Rich at some point explained how he became that way. He's very much like his father (who buys 3 or 4 kidneys so that he can have the "best match" for his dying wife and tosses the unused kidneys).
Good example of how middle and high school students can make you or break you if you don't stand up for yourself.
The ending, was a little weak and too predictable, but I enjoyed the book nonetheless.
Good example of how middle and high school students can make you or break you if you don't stand up for yourself.
The ending, was a little weak and too predictable, but I enjoyed the book nonetheless.
readalot662f9's review against another edition
3.0
Elliott is a brilliant, disturbed character, and I wish Rich at some point explained how he became that way. He's very much like his father (who buys 3 or 4 kidneys so that he can have the "best match" for his dying wife and tosses the unused kidneys).
Good example of how middle and high school students can make you or break you if you don't stand up for yourself.
The ending, was a little weak and too predictable, but I enjoyed the book nonetheless.
Good example of how middle and high school students can make you or break you if you don't stand up for yourself.
The ending, was a little weak and too predictable, but I enjoyed the book nonetheless.
More...