Old School, Tobias Wolff

Old School is the story of a boy's prep school and of one boy's literary aspirations. Our hero is a scholarship boy who works hard to fit in, masking his personality and hiding a secret he seems to feel will have serious social repercussions. During a school literary competition, things go first very right and then very wrong. Will our hero ever become a writer? Wolff's book is beautifully written and his descriptions of life at a boy's school are lyrically beautiful. Nevertheless the book has some plot flaws that distract from the main thrust of the theme, and the book ties up just a little too neatly in excusing the main character's misdeeds. Wolff is to be admired for creating a character a very real set of fears and secrets. The cameo appearances by Ayn Rand and Robert Frost are highly comical.
Posted by supersusie at January 14, 2004 9:24 PM