The Rotter's Club

At a time when people are looking back on the 1970s with nostalgia, Jonathan Coe's The Rotters' Club is a timely reminder of how grim that decade was in Britain. Set in the industrial heartland of the West Midlands, it chronicles the growing pains of four Brummie schoolboys—Philip, Sean, Doug, and Benjamin—who must come to terms not only with adolescence but with terrible knitwear, ludicrous pop music, nightmarish food, and insidious racism, all set against a surreal, tragicomic reality of a postimperial nation. The book attempts to symbolize aspects of British life through its characters, with Doug representing industrial decline, Sean representing sexual liberation, and young Ben Trotter possibly symbolizing a young Jonathan Coe. Despite these contrivances, Coe's witty, empathetic style keeps the story engaging, weaving together the troubles and tragedies of ordinary people living through extraordinary years.