Look SharpFor comic novels with more bite, turn to “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” Muriel Spark’s novel about one unconventional teacher’s influence over her small circle of handpicked students, and two novels by Tom Perrotta. In both “Election” and “The Abstinence Teacher,” Perrotta features the perspectives of educators — and other members of the community — as he wryly plumbs the pathos of the suburbs. First Person PluralThe wealth of memoirs by teachers seems to spring from a well-worn career path — so many writers are also educators; they know the allure of the natural narrative arc of the school year. Mark Salzman’s “True Notebooks” charts his time teaching writing to a group of young men in a juvenile detention center in East Los Angeles. Both books are honest and beautifully crafted, but it is through the students’ writing — generously reproduced — that readers can learn the most.

Source: New York Times September 11, 2018 09:00 UTC