The American public school classroom was never portrayed more honestly or realistically. A cross between Frank McCourt's Teacher Man and Justin Halpern's Sh* My Dad Says, Paul Bentley's narrative is an unvarnished look at life in a suburban high school and the utterances and mental ramblings of a non-traditional, quirky, sometimes shocking English professional. It's a memoir of sorts taking the reader through the last year in Bentley's teaching career. Organization is chronological, and the narrative is full of irreverent ...
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The American public school classroom was never portrayed more honestly or realistically. A cross between Frank McCourt's Teacher Man and Justin Halpern's Sh* My Dad Says, Paul Bentley's narrative is an unvarnished look at life in a suburban high school and the utterances and mental ramblings of a non-traditional, quirky, sometimes shocking English professional. It's a memoir of sorts taking the reader through the last year in Bentley's teaching career. Organization is chronological, and the narrative is full of irreverent humor, flashbacks, sidebars, snippets, and true life dialogue. The journey is episodic like a Seinfeld show with the emphasis on the natural drama of the day-to-day with little or no attempt at segues/transitions. One never knows what's coming next and the true life vignettes come fast. The book is an amalgam of funny, and obscene, and touching, with wit and humor the dominant lasting impressions. Students, teachers, administrators, and indeed anyone who experienced public school life in the last 40 years should recognize many of their own moments here. This is the way it was, and still is in Bentley's world.
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