How to Be an OverachieverMaking the Most of College: Students Speak Their Mind

By Richard J. Light

Harvard University Press

256 pp.; $24.95

By Patrick S. ChunContributing Writer

Every Harvard student is provided with copies of the CUE Guide and The Unofficial Guide to Life at Harvard--just another example of how students at Harvard are constantly spoon-fed opportunities to "maximize their potential." For overachievers, here's the next in the series: Making the Most of College: Students Speak Their Minds, a new instructional book written by Richard J. Light, a professor at Harvard's Graduate School of Education, based on interviews with Harvard students.

Light writes in the introduction that he is "struck by how much of what students on other campuses say is similar to what Harvard students say." But no matter how much other students can relate to this book, references to the residence system, foreign language classes, and dining halls are uniquely Harvard. Thus this book is more instructive to Harvard students than anyone else.

Light does not claim to be groundbreaking and he is not. However, Light's observations are successful in doing what they promise: helping you make the most of college. Rather than concocting revolutionary theories on studying, Light stays in the bounds of reasonable, sometimes even pushing the self-evident. Certain chapters of this book seem to focus more on how professors can help students, with hints given on how to make classes more effective. "Faculty who make a Difference" gives suggestions on how teachers can make class more reciprocal. The chapter titled "Diversity on Campus" is something designed for Professor Harvey C. Mansfield '53 to read. While these sections are not directed strictly towards students, they do give readers a multifaceted perspective on how both students and professors are involved in making class rewarding. The most helpful chapter of the book is probably "Suggestions from Students." Rather than completely explicating the plethora of suggestions, Light concisely summarizes them into bite-size morsels.

The book does not revolutionize the way you think, but it does help give you a unjaded view on how to improve your life in college. And everybody knows how much Harvard students dig self-improvement.

Autobiography of the American Dream

Of Beetles and Angels: A True Story of the American Dream

By Mawi Asgedom Megadee Books

148 pp.; $19.95

By Jessica S. ZdebContributing Writer

Just to prove that not every Harvard graduate goes into consulting, investment banking or graduate school after graduation, take a look at Mawi Asgedom '99. Not only is he ecstatic with his job as an inspirational speaker, but he has just published his autobiography. Of Beetles and Angels: A True Story of the American Dream is touching and uplifting; it is an amazing testament to his strength of character. It tells the story of his flight from Ethiopia's bloody war, his years spent in a Sudanese refugee camp and growing up in Chicago's suburbs. He finally ends up with a full scholarship and degree from Harvard.

Asgedom's simple prose captures the spirit of the American dream as exemplified by him and his family. The book is punctuated with bits of advice from Asgedom's parents that are the governing principles by which he lives, providing a wonderful frame of reference in which to see his actions. And although his story deals primarily with his struggles to over obstacles such as the English language and malicious classmates, Asgedom manages to slip in some entertaining sketches of his young life, such as a Halloween mischief and the theft of a parking meter.

By the end of the book, you see how Asgedom's hard work and vision throughout tough years paid off. He takes you through his high school years of trial and triumph to his arrival at Harvard. Asgedom imagines what his father would have done at Commencement, thinking he would stand up and yell, "This is my son, Selamawi. A long time ago I taught him to work hard and to respect others. Now look where that has taken him." After making the journey with Asgedom, you will find yourself as proud of him as his father would have been.If John Grisham had Gone to Harvard...

Equivocal Death

By Amy Gutman

Little, Brown & Co.

320 pp.; $24.95By Rebecca CantuContributing Writer

The title of the debut novel by Amy Gutman '83, HLS '93 (and former Crimson Editor) is not a term that most people are familiar with. It is an expression used among homicide investigators to describe an "ambiguous" crime scene, and a puzzling murder is what the reader finds in this novel.

Kate Paine, a Harvard Law School graduate and ambitious employee at the high-powered office of Samson & Mills, is at the center of this legal-thriller. She is a first-year associate looking to pay her dues and eventually move up in the firm's hierarchy. Assigned to a new and controversial case, Kate is thrilled to be working with some of the senior partners, until the unexpected murder of one of Samson & Mills' female partners, Madeline Waters. While Kate is busy navigating firm politics, she gradually realizes that Madeline's murderer may in fact be among those at the firm, and that her own life may be in danger.

Gutman's novel is definitely worth reading, and is an excellent break from studying for midterms. The two facets of the plot--the mysterious murder and the description of firm life--are expertly woven together and make for a fast-paced and involving story that is difficult to put down. The references to Harvard life are interesting, well thought-out and believable, while Gutman's own experiences as an associate at the law firm Cravath add to the realism that she infuses into her book.