A review by annepw
Paying for the Party: How College Maintains Inequality by Elizabeth A. Armstrong

2.0

I expected to relate more to this book, as a college student, but what I found almost as interesting as the delineation of different college trajectories was the look inside a big public state school. Going to a school with no Greek life and anemic party scene, I was especially fascinated by these aspects of life at MU. More generally, I think that Armstrong and Hamilton's attempt to track exactly what happens in college that fails less privileged students is invaluable. They deconstruct the black box of college and provide concrete (if unrealistic) solutions.

The failings of this book are mostly rhetorical. The authors' feelings were excessively inserted into the text and the writing was often clunky and repetitive. It was a quick read but a somewhat exasperating one.