Tracy Flick Can't Win

A big movie starring Reese Witherspoon is in the works.

"Tom Perrotta is among the greatest authors of our time. This book is amazing.” — John Coben

A book about ambition, adult coming-of-age, and never truly putting high school politics behind, described by People as "engrossing and mordantly funny" and features the most iconic character ever created by New York Times bestselling author Tom Perrotta.

Tracy Flick is a hardworking assistant principal at a public high school in suburban New Jersey. Tracy, who is still driven but feels a touch undervalued in her middle years, receives excellent news when longstanding principle Jack Weede unexpectedly announces his retirement, giving Tracy a once-in-a-lifetime chance to take the helm.

Energized by the prospect of her long-overdue promotion, Tracy throws herself into her work with renewed zeal, determined to prove her worth to the students, faculty, and School Board, while also managing her personal life—a ten-year-old daughter, a needy doctor boyfriend, and a burgeoning meditation practice.

But no matter how hardworking or competent she is, Tracy Flick never finds anything easy. The resolve of her male coworkers to celebrate Vito Falcone—a prominent quarterback with questionable morals who had a short, uneventful NFL career—brings up memories and makes Tracy consider the course of her own life. Tracy notices storm clouds gathering in the present as she thinks back on the past. Is she really a lock for the lead role? Is the Chief Executive preparing a scheme to harm her? Why is the wife of the school board president attempting to befriend her so much? Why is it that she never seems to receive what she deserves?

A sharp, darkly comic, and pitch-perfect chronicle of the second act of one of the most memorable characters of our time, Tracy Flick Can’t Win “delivers acerbic insight about frustrated ambition” ( Esquire ).