Bonnie A. (Mizzou) - reviewed on + 27 more book reviews
Jerry, 18, meets Pookie Adams at an Oklahoma bus depot, and becomes secretly enchanted by her zany, rambling monologue enroute to Saint Louis, where (with a sense of relief) he leaves her behind and continues to New York. Then it's off to college for Jerry, but he begins to receive lengthy letters from Pookie, 17 of them, in fact. Before he knows it, he's involved with a seemingly crazy, startlingly honest girl who adores him. She helps Jerry leave behind the the hedonist, beer-swilling frat boy, and teaches him to open his heart to her. Then she disappears from his life almost as suddenly as she appeared in it. A funny, imaginative and pathetic story of a rapturous love affair between two crazy college kids.