2011: #40 – I Love You, Beth Cooper (Larry Doyle)

Book #40 was I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle. The back of the book reads:

Denis Cooverman wanted to say something really important in his high school graduation speech. So, in front of his 512 classmates and their 3,000 relatives, he announced: "I love you, Beth Cooper."

It would have been such a sweet, romantic moment. Except that Beth, the head cheerleader, has only the vaguest idea who Denis is. And Denis, the captain of the debate team, is so far out of her league he is barely even the same species. And then there’s Kevin, Beth’s remarkably large boyfriend, who’s in town on furlough from the United States Army. Complications ensue.

It’s no surprise that Mr. Doyle is a former TV writer, or that this book was made into a movie, because it reads just like a teen mis-adventure movie, more Can’t Hardly Wait or Dazed and Confused than The Breakfast Club or Sixteen Candles (am I dating myself here?). I listened to this one weekend while painting my bathroom, and it was the perfect choice.

Denis and Rich (sometimes known as "Dick Munch and the Penis") are feeling fortunate to have made it out of high school relatively unscathed. . The book opens with Denis’s valedictorian speech, just before he utters the titular "I love you, Beth Cooper." Beth is the beautiful, popular cheerleader, already involved with a guy on leave from the Army who has more brawn than brains. During an awkward exchange after the ceremony, Denis manages to invite Beth to a non-existent party at his house, never truly imagining she would show up.

But she does.

What follows is possibly both the best and worst night of Denis’s life. Don’t expect any big life lesson here, unless you count "no one is as perfect as they seem", but do expect a lot of fun and unexpected adventures.

I’ve heard the movie wasn’t particularly good, but I’ll probably give it a watch anyway.

Other reviews:

Review: I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle « Teen Book Review
Book Review: I Love You, Beth Cooper « ReviewsbyLola’s Blog
The Book Pirate » Blog Archive » I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle

Audiobook length: 7 hrs 25 min | Approximate word count: 76,000 (’11 total: 3,888,850)

2010: Murder at Monticello (Rita Mae Brown)
2009: Undead and Unappreciated (MaryJanice Davidson)
2008: 20th Century Ghosts (Joe Hill)
2007: Plum Lovin’ (Janet Evanovich)
2006: All the Flowers Are Dying (Lawrence Block)
2005: A Kiss of Shadows (Laurell K. Hamilton)

Used in these Challenges: Countdown Challenge 2011; 2011 Audiobook Challenge; New Author Challenge 2011; Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge 2011; Four Month Challenge – Part 6;