"This is exactly the kind of shit I know not to do; it's how you get a reputation, the kind of thing that makes 34th Street."
These are the fears of fictional Penn sophomore Rebecca "Beck" Lowe in 1992 College graduate Rachel Solar-Tuttle's recent novel Number 6 Fumbles.
But unlike her character, Solar-Tuttle had no reservations about appearing in the pages of The Daily Pennsylvanian, reading selections from her book for an intimate audience of Penn alumni and students at the University Bookstore last Wednesday afternoon.
The novel follows Lowe's "unraveling" in the search for stability that begins after she sees No. 6 fumble the ball at a Penn-Cornell football game. Although the student's reaction to the seemingly trivial fumble may sound extreme, Solar-Tuttle said the book tries to convey the difficulty and chaos of undergraduate life.
"Because I deliver it sort of raw and real, and in the pace that it's in, I think there are some people reading it in a very surface way," Solar-Tuttle said. "They will say, 'Oh, this is... all about loving fraternities and being drunk'... but it's really very critical of that world." Consequently, she asks that her readers "keep an open mind."
The novel finds Beck pursuing comfort at the bottom of her vodka grapefruit shots and in the bedrooms of various college men.
"Seeing this narrator that's very flawed is kind of comforting" Solar-Tuttle said, commenting on the book's appeal to undergraduates. "I would love for students to say 'I am not in this alone,'" she added.
Parental conflict is also a major theme of the novel. "I really hope that students will give this book to their parents," Solar-Tuttle said. "There's a continental divide between parents and college students," she continued. "And to open up those lines and maybe have a little step towards some real communication and empathy would be good."
She added, "I would love for parents to take away the idea to have empathy towards their college-age students -- listen to them, love them unconditionally."
Audience members were pleased with Solar-Tuttle's presentation. "She really captured the Penn undergrad experience," said College senior Marcy Smirnoff, who also heard Solar-Tuttle speak earlier that morning at the Kelly Writers House.
"It's nice to hear about places you go to all the time," said Jill Viola, a 1997 Wharton graduate. However, "it will ring true to a lot of people regardless of whether they went to Penn or not."
For 1991 College graduate Bob Mannino, "It definitely brought me back to my college days."
And the author herself, who graduated from Penn Law School in 1995, was similarly reminiscent.
"The second I step on this campus I am just filled with emotion," she said. "I still have that magic -- it doesn't die. I am waiting to get over Penn, and I still am not over it."
