A Good School

Problems arise for the inhabitants of a failing Connecticut prep school as the U.S. enters WWII in this novel by the author of Revolutionary Road.

"A first-class work of the imagination marked by an interest in real history. . . . [A Good School] is enriched with many fine touches." ―The New York Times Book Review

Yates's spare and autumnal tale of a New England prep school is at once a meditation on the twilight of youth and an examination of America's entry into World War II. A Good School tells the stories of William Grove, the nervous boy who becomes an editor of the school paper; Jack Draper, the crippled chemistry teacher; and Edith Stone, the schoolmaster's young daughter, who falls in love with the most celebrated boy of the class in 1943 . . .

Richard Yates, who died in 1992, is today ranked by many readers, scholars, and critics alongside such titans of modern American fiction as Updike, Roth, Irving, Vonnegut, and Mailer.

"A graceful and articulate narrative . . . affectionate, witty, and wry." —The New Yorker

"[Yates] is an expert. . . . This is acute and poignant." —Time

"[Yates's] small-scale tapestry is rich in intricate detail—much of it wonderfully droll."―Newsweek

"Written in measured, precise prose, it deals out mortification and humiliation with an even hand. Cynical about most of his characters from corporate types to would be bohemians Yates sums up 1940s America in seven chapters." —The Independent (UK)