She’s still the same old “love her or hate her but you can’t ignore her” Tracy, friendless and ambitious, hoping that the retirement of the school’s principal will elevate her to the top job. So what did happen to Tracy? Perrotta finally answers that question in his latest novel, Tracy Flick Can’t Win, which finds Tracy, decades after high school, back in her hometown with an out of wedlock child and working as an assistant principal at the local high school. Depending on whether you read author Tom Perrotta’s Election, in which Tracy was the main character, or saw the classic 1999 movie of the same name starring Reese Witherspoon as Tracy, she was either (a) headed to college at Georgetown and an unknown future (the book), or (b) working as a congressional intern and on her way up the political ladder (the film). She’s the driven high school senior who had an affair with her English teacher and was voted class president despite the sleazy efforts of another teacher to swing the election in her opponent’s favor. Flick fans and newcomers alike will love this compulsively readable novel chronicling the second act of one of the most memorable characters of our time.You probably remember Tracy Flick. In classic Perrotta style, Tracy Flick Can’t Win is a sharp, darkly comic page-turner, and a pitch-perfect reflection on our current moment. 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? 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.Īs she broods on the past, Tracy becomes aware of storm clouds brewing in the present. But nothing ever comes easily to Tracy Flick, no matter how diligent or qualified she happens to be.Īmong her many other responsibilities, Tracy is enlisted to serve on the Selection Committee for the brand-new Green Meadow High School Hall of Fame. 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.Įnergized 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. Tracy Flick is a hardworking assistant principal at a public high school in suburban New Jersey. Tracy Flick is back and, once again, the iconic protagonist of Tom Perrotta’s Election-and Reese Witherspoon’s character from the classic movie adapta Tracy Flick is back and, once again, the iconic protagonist of Tom Perrotta’s Election-and Reese Witherspoon’s character from the classic movie adaptation-is determined to take high school politics by storm.
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