J. Arthur Weber
ASIN: B07V6P7C5Z
Publisher: SRCLB Press (July 31, 2019)
Pages: 479
A mash-up of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller and Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman, the author (a former teacher) attempts to lay bare the dystopian bureaucratic nightmare enveloping the public school system in the US in an at-times humorous and at-times poignant fashion. Niles is a idealistic new teacher entering into a system that seems made to wreck him, but he finds unlikely allies as well as unlikely enemies. He struggles with the bureaucratic nature of modern American education while working hard to be what he believes is an "effective" teacher.