Benjamin Braddock was good-looking, athletic, rich, and exceptionally intelligent. He had just graduated tops in his class from one of the finest colleges in the east. He had won a valuable and coveted teaching fellowship to the graduate school of his choice. And in the garage was a flashy, expensive sports car--a graduation gift from his dad.
But for all the accomplishment in his past and the promise of his future, Ben was a miserable specimen of humanity. As far as he was concerned, his degree and the learning it stood for weren't worth a pail of spit...and he had no intention of going on to graduate school, fellowship or no fellowship!
Then, in the midst of Ben's harrowing and poignant search for himself, the wife of his father's business partner came along to give Ben a thorough post-graduate education.
Ben's zany misadventures as he lets himself get involved with a beautiful older woman, then fights a losing battle to stop himself from falling completely in love with a younger version of the same beauty, will tantalize and captivate every reader. Charles Webb' spare, understated literary style has a magical fascination. And his wry sense of humor provides a delicate balance to the novel's deeply serious underlying themes of communication between the generations.
Editorial Reviews
"Brilliant...sardonic, ludicrously funny." --The New York Times
"A highly gifted and accomplished writer." --Chicago Tribune
"His novel makes you want to laugh and it makes you want to cry." --The Cleveland Plain Dealer
About the Author
Charles Webb was born in California and was graduated from Williams College in 1961. The Graduate was his first published novel, and received enormous critical acclaim...as has the Academy Award-winning motion picture made from it by Mike Nichols.
