The Sophomore

Book excerpt: ' The Sophomore by Barry Spacks is that rare beast: a clever, sophisticated novel that is very, very funny. It's like an American Lucky Jim - at once hilarious, shrewd and very true. A complete delight.' William Boyd Harry Zissel is 22 years old, a college sophomore who plans to be a major writer. He just can't seem to finish anything. Then his girlfriend Miriam announces she's pregnant. Harry fears he'll end up a married wage-slave, just like his old buddy Arthur Thompson. Leaving his apartment to get breakfast, Harry decides instead to hit the road. Can he live the American dream of 'starting afresh'? Or does he need to buck up, straighten out, do some work for a change...? The question is not for him alone in Barry Spacks' brilliant debut novel from 1968, reissued here with a new introductory Q&A with the author. 'No synopsis can do justice to Spacks's technical skill and comic inventiveness.' Saturday Review