Down and Across
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Average rating4.3
Scott Ferdowsi has a track record of quitting. Writing the Great American Novel? Three chapters. His summer internship? One week. His best friends know exactly what they want to do with the rest of their lives, but Scott can hardly commit to a breakfast cereal, let alone a passion.
With college applications looming, Scott's parents pressure him to get serious and settle on a career path like engineering or medicine. Desperate for help, he sneaks off to Washington, DC, to seek guidance from a famous professor who specializes in grit, the psychology of success.
He never expects an adventure to unfold out of what was supposed to be a one-day visit. But that's what Scott gets when he meets Fiora Buchanan, a ballsy college student whose life ambition is to write crossword puzzles. When the bicycle she lends him gets Scott into a high-speed chase, he knows he's in for the ride of his life. Soon, Scott finds himself sneaking into bars, attempting to pick up girls at the National Zoo, and even giving the crossword thing a try--all while opening his eyes to fundamental truths about who he is and who he wants to be.
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this book literally felt like a comedy to me. it was really good and I loved that in so many ways I could relate to the main character. He was so relatable and I honestly love when I can connect with any character in a book. I loved Fiora and Scott's friendship. I also loved Trent and Scott's friendship. I smiled and laughed so many times reading this and I couldn't even help it. it was that good
Why aren't I allowed to be indefinitely incomplete, too?
“Our lives aren't so different from a crossword puzzle, sure. But the thing about life is we don't get to draw the grid; we take the rows and columns we're given. Our bodies, parents, mental health issues, all that. What we do get to do is fill the cells. And rather than filling mine with anxiety over medical school or Greek politics—instead of feeling trapped by my circumstance—I fill them with arbitrary words. An eight-letter word for ‘snowstorm' or a three-letter word for ‘soda.' Silly shit that's true but doesn't mean anything. I can live with my downs and acrosses; I accept the larger truths of my life. But I don't take the cells so seriously.”
It was the opposite of a walk of shame. It was a walk of game. Stride of pride. Pace of Ace.
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