The Spectacular Now

Sutter Keely is the life of any party in his Oklahoma town. With his ever-ready flask, engaging stories, and irrepressible sense of humor, Sutter lives and loves in the moment. The Spectacular Now is Tim Tharp’s 2008 YA novel about Sutter’s determination to drown out thoughts of the past and future with his signature – and ceaseless – big cups of 7-UP and whiskey.  While Sutter idles during his last year of high school, his friends are moving on, planning for college and beyond. Then Aimee Finecky enters his life. Studious, responsible, and Sutter’s opposite in every way, Aimee offers Sutter a way forward. But will he take it?

Sutter narrates the novel, and his opening words sum up his life at age 18: “So, it’s a little before ten a.m. and I’m just starting to get a good buzz going.” As usual, Sutter is drinking and ditching school, in this case, to take his girlfriend Cassidy to her hair appointment. When he arrives late, she accuses him of ignoring her feelings, but he soon charms her into forgiving him. While Sutter has had a string of short-term girlfriends, he adores beautiful, curvaceous Cassidy, whom, he notes, he’s been dating longer than any other girl.

Ricky Mehlinger, Sutter’s best friend and party pal, is single. To remedy this, Sutter sets him up with Bethany. They go out with Bethany and her friend, Tara, and Sutter commiserates with Tara on the subject of stepfathers. Although Sutter’s parents divorced “in the Precambrian era,” he still blames his mother for driving off his father. He has no idea where his father is now, or what he’s doing, but idolizes him nonetheless. He lies to Tara, claiming his father works in the Chase building and is “beyond successful.”



Cassidy appears just as Tara gives Sutter a friendly hug. It’s an innocent embrace but gives Cassidy an excuse to break up with Sutter. She’s fond of Sutter, but realizes he’s sabotaging his future. While Cassidy has done her share of drinking and partying, she’s ready to get serious about college and career goals.

The end of his relationship with Cassidy sends Sutter on a bender. Expected at his older sister’s house for a dinner party, he shows up drunk, retreats to a closet with a joint and his brother-in-law’s bottle of 30-year-old scotch, and sets a suit on fire. He’s promptly ejected.

The next thing he knows, Sutter is sprawled in a strange front yard, having passed out there, and a girl’s worried face looms over his. He doesn’t recognize her, although she knows him and goes to his school. When Sutter is back on his feet, Aimee Finecky explains she’s out on her morning paper route. Sutter tags along with Aimee, hoping to spot his car, as he can’t remember where he left it.



Soft-spoken and shy, Aimee is the nerdy, bookish type that has never registered on Sutter’s radar. While they deliver papers together, however, he starts to see her as a promising renovation project. The paper route, it turns out, is Aimee’s mother’s, but she prefers to spend her time gambling, so Aimee has assumed responsibility for it. In fact, Aimee willingly takes on many duties her mother shirks, while also being a doormat for her only friend, Krystal.

Sizing up Aimee, Sutter decides she needs more backbone, more self-confidence, and more fun. She escapes the stress of her dysfunctional mother and her mother’s bossy boyfriend by reading science fiction novels, obsessing over horses, and dreaming of a NASA job. In the meantime, she’s never had a boyfriend or a relaxing drink. Sutter can fix that. As he tells his friends, he doesn’t want to date Aimee, but by showing interest in her, he’ll make her feel attractive and date-worthy.

Sutter showers Aimee with attention. He invites her out; he plies her with drinks; he introduces her to the partying subculture. Soon, Aimee has a flask of her own and, fortified with alcohol, she’s coming out of her socially awkward shell. She’s speaking up for herself. She’s also falling for Sutter.



Meanwhile, Sutter still pines for Cassidy and hopes to rekindle their romance. They’ve remained friends and get together regularly, but Cassidy has a new boyfriend, Marcus, who does selfless volunteer work and has a bright future. While Cassidy is kind to Sutter, she’s outgrown his aimless, irresponsible ways.

Aimee laps up Sutter’s attention (divided though it is) and a good deal of alcohol, too, so that she‘s getting a “good buzz” almost as relentlessly as Sutter. When, in a fit of drunken jealousy, Aimee slaps Cassidy at a party, Cassidy calmly tells Sutter he should take Aimee home. Later, Cassidy, Marcus, and Ricky – who’s gone clean under Bethany’s influence – approach Sutter on Aimee’s behalf. They tell him he’s dragging Aimee down into his alcoholic quagmire, but he denies having any alcohol addiction himself, arguing that “It’s just a hobby, a good, old-fashioned way to have fun.”

Moreover, Sutter discovers he likes being with Aimee and might be falling for her, too. He expected her to quickly tire of his antics, as other girls always have, but she still laughs at his jokes and treats him with unconditional kindness. He starts calling her his girlfriend, and she starts planning their future together. Thanks to Sutter, Aimee’s gained the courage to leave her mother after graduation to attend college in St. Louis and pursue her NASA dream. When she asks him to move with her, he agrees, although with misgivings.



At Aimee’s urging, Sutter locates his father in Fort Worth, and they go see him. Sutter’s illusions are shattered. Mr. Keely is not a successful businessman, but a drunk with no meaningful job or relationship. During their drive home, Aimee tries to ease Sutter’s distress and says she loves him. This only angers him. He forces her out of the car, and she’s side-swiped by another vehicle. Luckily, Aimee only sustains minor injuries. She forgives him, but Sutter finally sees how he’s damaging her and realizes he’s glimpsed his future in his father.

After graduation, Aimee leaves for St. Louis, with the understanding that Sutter will soon follow. He lets her believe this, but actually plans to end their relationship with an email. Having sent Aimee on her way, Sutter goes to a bar and drinks.

The Spectacular Now was a finalist, in 2008, for The National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. In 2013, a film adaptation of the novel premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was well-received.