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Book Review By Susanna Marlowe
Old School by Tobias Wolff

The narrator, whose name is never given, is a scholarship student at an unnamed New England all male prep school in 1960-61. The school's primary emphasis is literature. Each year, three famous writers come to the school. The students, including the narrator, compete for a chance to have a private conversation with each visiting writer. The competition consists of writing a story or poem. The best one wins. Robert Frost, Ayn Rand and Ernest Hemingway are the three writers for the year 1960-61. The narrator comes to realize that he will not be a good writer until he can be honest about himself, both in his life and in his writing.


Plot & Themes
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - 1960's-1970's
Kids growing up/acting up? Yes
Life of a profession:
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Job/Profession/Status story Yes
Age group of kid(s) in story: - high school

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - a teen
Ethnicity/Nationality

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status:
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 7 ()
United States Yes

Writing Style
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
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