Tracy Flick Can't Win: A Novel

It's been roughly three decades (!) since we last heard from Tracy Flick. Last time we left her things were looking up for Tracy. She was getting her law degree from a hidden ivy, and working for a congressperson. Flash forward three decades, and now she's assistant principal at a cookie cutter suburban high-school, the kind of institution she came to despise as a young woman, where standards and expectations are low for everything but the football team.It's looking like she'll never fulfill her dream (and the dream of her mother) of becoming a woman of note, the kind of pantsuit-wearing CEO of a Fortune Five Hundred company, or high-powered lawyer or senator she once had dreams of becoming.When the position for head principal at her school opens up, though, she at least has a consolation prize waiting for her, more power and a greater bailiwick, something to at least mollify a bit of her competitive nature. Alas, as usual, Tracy finds herself in a contest whose winner will be determined as much by popularity as merit. Or maybe not, as this time she's determined not to let the meathead jock get the best of her, as happened in high-school, when she lost an election (or maybe not; it's a long story).As in "Election," a constellation of other characters orbit her, all telling their own tales in deeply intimate, almost confessional first person. Author Tom Perrotta is a master at juggling these multiple perspectives, making high art out of the kind of head hopping that would ruin a lesser writer. This time, alas, a couple of those characters aren't as well-rounded as last time, and one or two descends into cipherhood, created clearly to bring the novel to a shoehorned, predetermined end that doesn't match with much of what came before.Still, what's good in here is very good, both comic and poignant, and sometimes downright touching. Ultimately Perrotta's gift is to ferret out the complexity in supposedly one-dimensional characters, like ex-jocks and security guards, and to find the superficiality lurking at the heart of so many strivers, high achievers, and supposedly talented people who appear to have the world by the horns.Tracy Flick still remains his most iconic creation, at once both alienating and supremely sympathetic, tenacious as a honey badger in some ways and in others as vulnerable as a hothouse flower. It's nice to see that she still has some fight left in her, after all these years. And it's equally satisfying to see that fat living and a sideline in screenwriting haven't quite hobbled Perrotta's great gift, or smoothened his rough, satirical edges, as sometimes tends to happen with the passing of the years. Recommended.

Tracy Flick is a hardworking assistant principal at a public high school in suburban New Jersey. Still ambitious but feeling a little stuck and underappreciated in midlife, Tracy gets a jolt of good news when the longtime principal, Jack Weede, abruptly announces his retirement, creating a rare opportunity for Tracy to ascend to the top job.Energized by the prospect of her long-overdue promotion, Tracy throws herself into her work with renewed zeal, determined to prove her worth to the students, faculty, and School Board, while also managing her personal life—a ten-year-old daughter, a needy doctor boyfriend, and a burgeoning meditation practice. But nothing ever comes easily to Tracy Flick, no matter how diligent or qualified she happens to be.Among her many other responsibilities, Tracy is enlisted to serve on the Selection Committee for the brand-new Green Meadow High School Hall of Fame. Her male colleagues’ determination to honor Vito Falcone—a star quarterback of dubious character who had a brief, undistinguished career in the NFL—triggers bad memories for Tracy, and leads her to troubling reflections about the trajectory of her own life and the forces that have left her feeling thwarted and disappointed, unable to fulfill her true potential.As she broods on the past, Tracy becomes aware of storm clouds brewing in the present. Is she really a shoo-in for the Principal job? Is the Superintendent plotting against her? Why is the School Board President’s wife trying so hard to be her friend? And why can’t she ever get what she deserves?My Thoughts:As we watch Tracy Flick try to finally get what she deserves through hard work and staying true to her beliefs, we know already that Tracy Flick Can’t Win. Others seem to get the kudos, while she seems stuck in the past with the failures she can’t forget.Alternating stories offer a look at the other characters, some of whom are competitors for Tracy…and some are friends.As we near the big night when the Hall of Fame contenders are announced, we sense that there will be a big moment for Tracy. Something that will get her noticed. I enjoyed this character and rooted for her all along. 4.5 stars.

So moving and engaging! The characters were so well developed and interesting. Kept me reading all night!Read this if you want to know what happens to her.