The theme of The Education of Robert Nifkin is stated explicitly in its title, with the novel itself telling how a teenage misfit manages to be educated in spite of the educational system inflicted upon him. Nifkin explains, in response to an essay topic on a college application form, how he made his way through high school, eventually graduating with good grades in spite of poor attendance and a lack of interest in most of his courses. The key to The Education of Robert Nifkin is that the education takes place outside of high school where Nifkin makes friends, observes hectic city life, earns money as he learns about people, and pursues academic interests, especially American literature, on his own in libraries.

He even acquires a suitably weird girlfriend who becomes a sometimes schoolmate at Wheaton School (everyone is a sometimes schoolmate at Wheaton...