"Tracy Flick is back and, once again, the iconic protagonist of Tom Perrotta’s Election is determined to take high school politics by storm. Now in her forties, Tracy is a hardworking Assistant Principal at a public high school in suburban New Jersey. Feeling stuck and underappreciated in midlife, Tracy gets a jolt of good news when her school’s long-time Principal abruptly announces his retirement. Excited by the opportunity to claim the top job, Tracy throws herself into her work with renewed zeal. At the same time, the hiring process triggers troubling memories about her own high school experiences, as well as her more recent personal and professional disappointments. As she broods on the past, Tracy becomes aware of storm clouds brewing in the present…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? In classic Perrotta style, Tracy Flick Can’t Win is a darkly humorous, razor-sharp distillation of our current cultural moment. Flick fans and newcomers alike will love this compulsively readable second act starring one of the most memorable characters of our times."-- Inside jacket. |