Old School (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780375701498)

The protagonist of Tobias Wolff's shrewdly--and at times devastatingly--observed first novel is a boy at an elite prep school in 1960. He is an outsider who has learned to mimic the negligent manner of his more privileged classmates. Like many of them, he wants more than anything on earth to become a writer. But to do that he must first learn to tell the truth about himself.

The agency of revelation is the school literary contest, whose winner will be awarded an audience with the most legendary writer of his time. As the fever of competition infects the boy and his classmates, fraying alliances, exposing weaknesses, Old School explores the ensuing deceptions and betrayals with an unblinking eye and a bottomless store of empathy. The result is further evidence that Wolff is an authentic American master.

Author: Tobias Wolff
ISBN-10: 0375701494
ISBN-13: 9780375701498
Publisher: Vintage
Language: English
Published: 09/01/2004
Pages: 195
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.45lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.10w x 0.60d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times 09/26/2004 pg. 28
Kliatt 01/01/2005 pg. 18