I value the opportunity I was given to read this in advance, but it has been three years and I still haven't read this. With so many books ahead of me, I cannot return to this title.

Tom Perotta's ELECTION was one of the most entertaining books I'd read, but I think TRACY FLICK CAN'T WIN is better. Tracy has gone from highschool to approaching middle age in a flash. As we hear from the outstanding characters, Tracy's plan to succeed the retiring Principal is hitting a few speed bumps, but she'll swerve to the finish.......but does she win after all?

Tom Perrotta’s novels, every last one of them, has provided me with hours of what should be the first things a novel should give: enjoyment. I’m long past the period where I was suspicious of enjoyable books, which doesn’t mean books that are light and emptied. An enmjoyable book is one that you wake up in the morning anxious to return to, whose characters matter to you, that presents dilemmas that make sense to an ordinary person.
Perrotta’s latest novel, Tracy Flink Can’t Win, resembles all of Perrotta’s previous books, and is the continuation of the story of Tracy Flink, the ambitious high school student in elevtion (played by Reese witherspoon inAlexander Payne’s adaptation of the book). There’s a definite pattern to Perrotta’s novles. They are usually set in the subuirbs, the main characters are teenagers and people their parents’ age, and the adults – usually the male of a married couple – makes a bad decision for which he will pay. And this is the source of the joy we get from his booiks. The issues faced by his characters are not earth shaking ones; they’re the quotidian failings of the average person. Not for perrotta questions of world peace and social justice. His human beings are riven by conflicts over love, marital fidelity, hypocrisy, thwarterd [professional and romatinc lives. We care about all of them and their fates.
The Tracy Flink who was almost robbed of hger election as student body president in elction is now in early about forty, and her brught future has fizzled out. She;s assistant principal at a high school, hoping to succeed the retiring principal, with a love life that’s fizzled out, and few friends. A life of ambition has been a long slow climb to the middle.
Around Tracy are a wealthy tech entrepreneur and his wife, the incumbent as principal, a former football star, and a couple of students feeling their way sexually and emotionally.
Perorotta is always scrupulously fair to his characters, and in this aas in election, he eschews the omnisicnet observer: the story of Tracy’s seeking of a promotion and the attendant tales, is told by the characters themselves. We see what they see in the way they see it. We’re free to judge them, but far more to understand them.
Tragedies and disasters occur, buththey’re the tragedies and disasters of the indivuals concerned. There are no moral lessons intended.
Perrotta’s writing voice is an easy one, and his skillful and engaging stories have been successfully translated to film and YV, with =films of election and ittlke Chilkdren (his best book and the ebst adapatation of his work), and series like Mrs Fkletcher and The Leftovers. All of them, those adapted and those not, are an X-ray of the wwyas we live our daily lives. Perrotta is not, nor does he seek to be, the author of formalist intellectual texts. But maybe there is a line form a great philosophical text that sums up Tracy Flick Can’t Win and all of Tom Perrotta’s fiction: “The ehart has its reasons which reason knows not.”

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for the advanced reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This was a good sequel to ELECTION. Tracy Flick, now in her mid-30s, is a single mother and the Asst. Vice Principal, awaiting the top job as the long-time Principal is retiring. Similar to ELECTION, each chapter is narrated by a different character as the story progresses over a full school year. Small town politics and peccadilloes prevail throughout, this was a well-written decent story. Sequels can be tricky. I don't know that ELECTION, a perfect stand alone in my opinion, needed a sequel but I definitely found myself pulling for Tracy here!

I never read Election but I've watched the movie like a million times and I'm obviously obsessed!

I couldn't wait to dive back in and see what Tracy Flick has been up to!

While not totally believable or memorable - this was still entertaining and I loved catching up with Tracy as she sets her sights on the position of school principal.

If you enjoyed the movie/book - this is a good one to add to the list!

This was a really interesting sequel! I actually never read the first book, but I did watch the movie. I enjoyed this!

This was such a fun sequel!! I loved Election and was delighted to read Tracy Flick Can't Win. Tom Perrotta is such a great author. Fun, easy to read with great prose, while also discussing big issues.

Not a standout Perrotta title, but fine for Tracy Flick completists. We pick up with Tracy much after her high school graduation. In fact, she is now the vice principal at a high school in New Jersey and has just learned that the principal is retiring. Here's her chance to ascend to the leadership role she deserves. It's a funny and satirical look at some of our current societal challenges. A quick read.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Net Galley.

Hilarious! I didn’t even read the first one yet and I loved this book. Can definitely be read as a stand alone.

Even though it's the second in the series, it can be read as a stand alone. I didn't read Election, or see the movie, and enjoyed this very much. Nice to see a character in fiction have a real human life. Not all of us can win everything and things still turn out ok.

Tom Perrotta is a national treasure!

I could not put this book down. Amazing plot lines, intriguing twists and fascinating characters drove the action forward. Absolutely loved this title.

Thanks to @netgalley and @scribnerbooks for my gifted copy of Tracy Flick Can’t Win, by Tom Perrotta (and fun goodies!) This book is out now, and is such a fantastic read, and can be read as a standalone even though it follows Perrotta’s book called Election.

I thought this was a great, easy to read book (until the last 50 pages, then it got intense). There are alot of emotions that the characters work through in this book, ranging from hope to despair and everything in between. Tracy is such a well-written, dynamic character as well.

I’m so excited to see this book done as a movie (apparently, starring Reese Witherspoon). It should translate so well to the big screen.

Please DM me for any trigger and content warnings!

My thanks to Scribner, the author and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of Tracy Flick Can't Win.

There are few authors who could revisit a beloved character without it being gimmicky, but Tom Perrotta did it here. As always, he's empathetic, pointed, observant and humane.

I am generally a fan of Perrotta’s books, particularly Election. This book held my attention, which is something for an audio book. It did seem inessential and might have been another story that Perrotta grafted Tracy Flick onto. It makes sense from a marketing perspective, but I didn’t think it added much to Election.

While I am a huge Tom Perrotta fan, I somehow have never read Election. Still, this book holds up as a stand-alone as we follow Tracy Flick in her quest to become principal. Jam=packed with hilarity, this book certainly stands up to Perrotta's unique writing style. The chapters are quick and told from the point of view of multiple characters, which really keeps the plot moving nicely.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Confession: I did not read Perrotta's Election. But I will now.
Nonetheless, I could still follow this title and found it charming! I think the different points of view told added to the story and enhanced the "Tracy Flick story."

Naturally, fans of 'Election' will be drawn to this title, but I see this garnering new reader to Election and the Tracy Flick world!

This followup to Election finds Tracy back in her home town and assistant principal at her old high school. When the principal announces his retirement and a board member decides to create a "hall of fame" things get tense at school and home. Secrets, lies, misadventures, and disappoints abound.

I loved this book. As a former high school teacher, I recognized so many of the characters, but the secrets, emotions, machinations are universal. The tension builds until the night of the HOF induction when everything gets crazy!! The book is filled with humor and pathos, just like real life.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC of Tracy Flick Can't Win by Tom Perotta.
This book is fast-paced and engaging. Written from different points-of-view, this book gives insight into many characters. I have not read Perotta's book, Election, which introduces Tracy Flick, but I was able to follow along and didn't feel like I was in the dark. I do plan to read Election now that I've become a fan of Tom Perotta.

I read Election first to prep for this book. I had seen the movie years ago. This book was fairly interesting and a quick read. Some parts dragged on a little. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Such a refreshing re-visit to one of our favorite late-90s over-achievers. Readers don't NEED to read or watch the original, but that context helped with the backstory.