Thanks for saying what I couldn't figure out how to say! I thought it was a very good book because it is written through the eyes, words, and thoughts of an extremely intelligent, extremely backwoodsy, naive 18-year old girl...who also has no clue that she is very attractive, too! That's why I thought Wolfe did a great job...he makes us see how she looks at life, how extraordinarily bright she is, and how she faces and changes during the course of her freshman year.
He was apparently pretty accurate, too, about how athletes are treated.
The book IS pretty layered, and is worth reading...but it may not appeal to some.
From what I've read, the "There's always been sex on campus" crowd doesent like this book at all. But theres been a fundamental change in the attitude of young college students,and this book addresses that very directly. Its quite seriously an alarming situation, IMO.