2005 book 88

ethan canin's for kings and planets
here's your typical "midwestern youth goes to new york for college, where he is seduced by the glamorous world of his rich but troubled friend" story. actually, i think in most of the books i've read with that plot, the midwestern youth is usually a poorish jewish youth seduced by the world of WASPs, but same difference. so that's the first third of the book. in the second third, said midwestern youth goes to dental school, something that is continually mocked and looked down upon by most of the other characters--which of course pissed me off to no end, b/c my dad is a dentist, and it's a perfectly respectable and normal profession. seriously, these characters go ON and ON about how terribly tragic it is to be a dentist. i would think being a proctologist would be worse, but that's just me. in the last third, things settle down a little--i actually liked the last third, but it's pretty in keeping with the rest of the book and is somewhat predictable.