Jungle Rumble

Acito, Marc.  Attack of the theater people.  New York, NY:  Broadway Books, 2008.

I’ve never tried to hide my love for Acito’s first novel, How I Paid for College.  Many students have had me thrust it upon them saying, “You HAVE to read this!”  A story, as the title implies, of how a Julliard bound New Jerseyan Edward and his band of zany pranksters funds his college aspiration after his father says no.

I anxiously awaited his second book for something close to 4 years.  And now I wait no longer.   Or actually I teased, savored the reading of the sequel to How I Paid for College, Attack of the Theater People, knowing it would probably be 4 more years till Acito’s next novel.  But the wait was well worth it.

Without ruining too much plot…the story picks up 2 years later with Edward and gang living in Manhattan.  Edward has just been kicked out of college for being “too jazz hands for Julliard”.  Feeling lonely and ashamed, Edward tries to find a place for himself with stops along the way as a “party motivator” and unwitting insider trader.  As with the first, this sequel is a roller coaster of a ride with laugh out loud funny passages.