Based on his experience as an educator and on the anecdotes of colleagues, Wintermote explores the trials and tribulations of the first five years of teaching in his debut novel.
Jim Fisher is embarking on his third career as an English teacher at the newly built Manicomio High School. On his first day, the tone for the next five years is set as Mr. Fisher must contend with a student drinking beer in class while others mouth off, call him "dude" and come to class unprepared. It is clear from the outset the author has enough familiarity with his subject to authentically capture the experiences of a novice teacher. The novel is filled with incidents that seem unbelievable, yet one has no doubt they either happened to Wintermote himself or someone he knew. When a cocky star wrestler fails to do the work on an assignment, his parents only make excuses for their son, and unwilling Fisher lets the boy make up the presentation. But he makes it clear that lying for their son and not holding him accountable for his actions is more detrimental to him than not being able to wrestle. The idea that parents are as responsible for the failings of their children as much as the children themselves is prevalent throughout. It is clear that Wintermote sees a lot wrong with the educational system. From the lowering of standards to ineffective administrators, the author uses this novel as a soapbox. While one may agree with his assessments, the novel would feel more rounded if it included a deeper exploration of Fisher’s personal life. The chapters spent on his failed relationship with a fellow teacher and his courtship of an unavailable neighbor add depth and complexity to Fisher’s character. In the classroom, Fisher never fails to get the upper hand on a student and rarely feels like he did not make the right choice in any given situation. In his fifth year of teaching, a new administrator, intent on making it easier for students to do the bare minimum to pass, may lead to the end of Fisher’s tenure at Manicomio High. An in-depth, yet underdeveloped, look at the life of an educator struggling against unwilling students and falling standards to teach the best he can.
Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2010
ISBN: 978-1449068974
Page Count: 348
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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