With his signature eye for detail, Tom Wolfe draws on extensive firsthand observation of campuses across the country to immortalize college life in the '00s in this story of Charlotte Simmonsa sheltered freshman from North Carolina. Upon first arriving at Dupont University and witnessing its Gothic spires, manicured lawns, and elite tradition, Charlotte sees her new life as an academic dream made real. But she soon learns that for the upper-crust coeds of Dupont, sex, social status, and kegs trump academic achievement every time.