In what has to be the laziest and most ill-informed main stream news-story I have ever read, the International Herald Tribune wrote an article about President Bush recommending I am Charlotte Simmons to some of his friends. The book, for those who haven’t read it yet, basically covers how base the college life is. The IHT reporter, though, totally misses the point of the novel, instead saying:

Does Bush like the book because it is a journey back to his keg nights at Deke, or because it offers a glimpse into the world of his daughters’ generation? Or does he like the writing? Or is it all of the above? The White House won’t say. Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, did not respond to phone calls or e-mail messages last week asking about Bush’s interest in Wolfe’s book.

Now one would hope that someone in a journalism program would have a basic understanding of literary analysis, but apparently not. It would be just as accurate for them to write an article concluding that the President is a fascist because he recommends reading Orwell’s 1984. In fact, I am Charlotte Simmons is very Orwellesqe in the way that it leaves the reader feeling so outraged and helpless at the end, and that something, anything, must be done to stop the insanity that has become youth culture.