Colin Preston Rocked and Rolled by Bert Murray

Meet Colin Preston.
19 years old and a student at Elerby University in upstate New York.
He drinks too much.
Lives for the Beatles, John Lennon and classic rock.
Falls for the most beautiful sophomore on campus.
His life is about to change forever.
Funny. Moving. Honest. Raw.
An entertaining coming of age novel about friendship,
music, first love and betrayal.

From Kirkus Reviews-

Murray charts a lustily tormented story of first love and heartbreak.

It's September 1985 in the bosky precincts of Elerby University (though it conveys the intimacy of a small liberal arts college) in upstate New York. Colin is entering his sophomore year with a lousy love life and a lousy relationship with his father, but he does have a good friend in Karl (a handsome natural athlete who has a way with women) and in the Beatles—"when you love a band so much that its songs fill the empty spaces inside your head and heart." But along comes Jasmine, a serious dish with lips like butter, who really gets inside Colin's head and steals his heart.

Good Reads Summary

Need a good summer read?  Colin is a typical sophomore in college.  The reader will be immediately immersed in the novel.  Colin is one of those characters that a reader will be unsure about.  Is Colin a sympathetic character?  Is he too neurotic?  Yes, to both questions in this case.  Colin isn't the most mature character, but that is actually a great quality to this novel.  Colin shouldn't be extremely mature, he's still a kid in many ways.  He does, however, show flashes of maturity throughout the novel; this gives the reader the impression that Colin is making progress and growing up to be an adult. 

The reader is also introduced to Jasmine, a girl that Colin lusts after.  She won't gain the reader's trust or sympathy.  However, she makes for a good addition as well.  Imperfect characters are essential to a novel.  They make the novel seem that much more real.  She is what many may refer to as "easy" during her college years and she whines a fair amount.  Colin believes this "paragon of virtue" to be his soul mate, even though he is warned by several of his friends against her.  This belief causes many problems for Colin through the course of the novel. 

The characters are all pretty easy to identify with in one way or another.  The plot is pretty good, will keep the readers' attention for the most part.  The dialogue varies from the humorous to the serious-especially the dialogue in Colin's own head.  The ending is a good one, the reader will not be disappointed or left on a huge cliff-hanger.  This novel will be enjoyed by young adults/adults.

4 Stars