Product Description

This is a hilarious first novel from Simpsons writer Larry Doyle - and soon to be a major film directed by Chris Columbus and starring Hayden Panettiere. Denis Cooverman is a nerd: he knows a great many things. But when he stands up in front of his entire class and tells the hottest girl in high school, 'I love you, Beth Cooper', Coove discovers that he still has a lot to learn. Denis Cooverman wanted to say something really important in his high school graduation speech. So, in front of his 512 classmates and their 3,000 relatives, he announced: 'I love you, Beth Cooper.' It should have been such a sweet, romantic moment. Except that Beth, the head cheerleader, has only the vaguest idea who Denis is. And Denis, the captain of the debate team, is so not in her league that he is barely even of the same species. And then there's Kevin, Beth's remarkably large boyfriend, who's in town on leave from the US Army. Complications ensue...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32995 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Review
"'Wickedly funny' New York Times 'Feels like an instant classic, right up there with end-of-school landmarks like American Graffiti and Dazed and Confused.' Tom Perrotta 'Hilarious... Doyle keeps this entertaining novel moving at a clip but never forgets that humour needs heart too. Grade A.' Entertainment Weekly"

About the Author
Larry Doyle wrote for The Simpsons for four years before becoming a complete Hollywood sellout. He lives outside Baltimore and has a wife, three children, and twenty-six assistants, most of whom he calls 'you'. For more, please see www.larrydoyle.com and www.iloveyoubethcooper.com

Customer Reviews

Amusing but outstays its welcome
I picked up I Love You Beth Cooper (ILYBC) on a whim at an airport. I'd read about the imminent movie version and I wanted something light and funny to read on the 12 hour flight I was about to board so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

So, was it the laugh fest the jacket blurb would suggest that it is? Well to be honest, no. Its was certainly amusing in places and raised the odd chuckle now and again but ILYBC is not a work of comedic genius. Its a perfectly amiable teenage coming of age tale that combines farce, social observatory humour and the tropes of traditional romantic comedy to varying degrees of success.

I can also see why Hollywood wanted to adapt it for the screen. ILYBC feels like a story that should be told visually rather than on the page (the book even includes the odd comic panel to illustrate the story). It fits in perfectly to the teen-comedy genre occupied by movies such as Superbad, American Pie, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Breakfast Club and others, although its possibly more intelligent and perceptive than many of those films and mixes in pathos with the comedy in a way that a movie probably couldn't.

In fact trimming the story of ILYBC down to fit it into a two hour movie would probably be no bad thing because whilst the book is entertaining enough it does rather out-stay its welcome. The plot of ILYBC is really too slight for a novel of several hundred pages and a little too much dramatic padding is required to stretch events out. This results in some uneven pacing and a final third that begins to drag at times.

Finally I would hazard that this book will appeal far more to readers in the US than to anyone else. The end-of-highschool experience in the US is unique to that country and many of the references in ILYBC are going to resonate far more with those who have passed through the US education system. You'll still find it funny even if you've only experienced US highschool life vicariously via TV shows and movies, but probably not as funny as if you'd actually been through similar if less extreme experiences yourself.

I can't see ILYBC going down as a classic comic novel. It feels like a decent movie script stretched out into not so great book, which is not that surprising considering Larry Doyle's background as a writer on the Simpsons. Unfortunately what will work on screen often doesn't quite cut it on the page and that is the case with ILYBC.

EDIT - August 2009 - Since I posted the above review the movie version of ILYBC has been released in the UK and the US to generally poor critical notices and limited commercial success (i.o.w it tanked). It seems that in the case of ILYBC what doesn't really work on the page also fails completely on screen.

The Best Night Ever
Comedy is the hardest genre to write, whether it's for the page or the screen. Doyle's worked on both The Simpsons and Beavis and Butt-Head, so he's clearly got the chops for TV, and this book proves he's got 'em for the page as well. Although I love comic fiction, it usually tends to leave me pretty unsatisfied, often tending to be satire of the "shooting-fish-in-a-barrel" variety, whereby the situations are stale and the jokes obvious. Here, Doyle takes a familiar setup (perhaps it might qualify as a subgenre) -- the last day/night of high school -- and goes to town with it in a ridiculously over-the-top manner that will leave readers looking for laughs well satisfied. It's something along the lines of "American Graffiti" meet "Freaks and Geeks" meets "Better Off Dead."

The story kicks off with the nerdy hero Denis Cooverman (aka Penis, aka The Coove) delivering his high school valedictorian speech in a sweltering gym. The thing is, his best (and only) friend Rich, a walking database of movie quotes, has convinced him to toss his milquetoast speech in favor of some home truths. And thus the speech becomes a trainwreck of thinly veiled insults, retribution, and outing of classmates, climaxing with Denis's declaration of love for the head cheerleader. This serves as the catalyst for a wild night of many wacky and/or illegal antics which are clearly not condoned, but are laugh-out-loud funny (including three sexual acts whose slang names I had to Google to decode).

If this doesn't sound particularly original, that's because it isn't. But comedy is all in the execution, and Doyle loads each page with gags, sharp banter, great wordplay, and all manner of acid observations. Yes, many of the targets for this semi-revenge of the nerds satire are obvious, but again, it's all in the execution. The wild night unwinds at breakneck speed, saturated with current pop culture references, and pretty much ready to go for the big screen. It's probably best appreciated by those who weren't the popular kids in high school, and are now in their mid 20s to late 30s, well steeped in the teen movie genre from the complete works of John Hughes to American Pie. It's totally unbelievable, and totally hilarious stuff.

A 17 Year-Old Boy's Graduation Fantasy and Nightmare Will Leave You Laughing
Reading this book made me feel like I was 17 again. Around my high school graduation, I experienced several nights like the one described in I Love You, Beth Cooper. The book had me laughing so hard that my wife and daughter kept interrupting their reading of the new Harry Potter book to find out what was so funny. This book is an instant comic classic!

In Denis Cooverman's high school, seating was often alphabetical. That placed him in the seat behind head cheerleader, Beth Cooper, for many classes over the years. His admiration grew while she had no awareness of him.

Their worlds are far apart. He's the class valedictorian and ace debater who plans to become a physician. She doesn't do so well in school, will be attending the local college, and works at Payless Shoes for 35 hours a week.

But that distance is bridged when Denis interrupts his valedictory speech to say, "I love you, Beth Cooper." She speaks to him and that leads to the kind of madcap night that creates a wonderful coming of age story.

Complications occur immediately when Beth's boyfriend is offended by Denis's declaration. That jealousy sets up a conflict that allows both Beth and Denis to get to know themselves better.

The evening is physically challenging for Denis. You'll keep up by looking at his face through a series of drawings done in the style of the cover drawing. These drawings make the book much more visceral than it would otherwise be.

The larger theme of the book is about facing up to your own situation and doing something about it. Denis's speech has an influence on Beth and her boyfriend, Kevin, but you'll find that others are moved, too.

Denis's friend, Rich, provides much comic relief for Denis's angst during the night. If you like old movies, you'll enjoy his continual references to them. Nostalgia is also fired by the many references to old songs.

I have one regret: I wish that Kevin and his friends had been part of a motorcycle gang rather than in the Army. That change would have made the humor work better.