This book was a pleasant surprise. I started into it thinking, "Oh, no; another one of those self-help books designed to con money out of scared kids." Besides, as a composition teacher, I'm not used to reading essays by 18 year-olds for pleasure. So, I approached this collection in a rather negative frame of mind.

But my preconception was, as preconceptions too often are, wrong. I recommend this book to everyone.

For instance, college-bound high school seniors, the intended audience, should certainly read it, and not only because it'll help them prepare college application essays, but also because it'll show them what good writing is, give them a model, a standard to measure themselves against, as it were, show them what they might do. Granted, these are essays submitted to Harvard, Yale, University of Chicago, and other places where people such as I never dreamed of going to college. They are nonetheless the stars we should aspire to, their standards the ones we must judge ourselves by. "The reach must exceed the grasp, or what's a heaven for?"

Teachers, too, should read it, especially the comments that follow the individual essays. These comments, though they occasionally conflict with each other, give some real insights into what high school students need to be learning about writing. And college composition teachers can see what they should (in the best of all possible worlds) be able to expect of entering students -- in terms of writing ability, general knowledge, and thinking skills.

The comments hammer on the importance of using strong essay openings and closings, carefully selected supporting detail, correct grammar and spelling, making a clear point, writing to a particular audience, and so on. They stress the importance of wide reading to good writing, and the value of revising and editing. Because of an axe I perennially grind, I was pleased to find Ivy League admissions officers eschewing "self-conscious" writing (p. 191) and saying, for example, " . . . he relies so heavily on the first person singular that the piece becomes tedious and self-serving" (p. 178) -- and this in the section entitled "Self-Portraits." It is, in short, a pretty good little writing textbook.

Besides students and teachers, though, anyone who can read can benefit from this book. For instance, the essays give some wonderful peeks into the minds of 18 year-olds -- a subject of interest to even the crustiest curmudgeons among us. They offer some hope that perhaps American students are not as woefully uneducated as so many studies have argued, that perhaps there are still some decent minds out there. Most of all, the essays are entertaining, interesting, and well-written -- who wouldn't enjoy that? And they're all short, few over two pages long, which is another plus for busy folk.

So, try as I might, I can't find much bad to say about this collection -- except that it has one of the ugliest covers I've ever seen! But, for only $8.95 we can't expect good reading and a nice cover.

Jim Vandergriff

English Instructor

SMSU