Kevin, I agree that the bitter, angry quality is part of what makes all Yates’ work so attractive and powerful (for me at least). I don’t think either book suffers in the comparison.

I also have a bit of good news for you: I thought In Pharaoh’s Army to be his weakest, followed by The Barracks Thief (though I did like each book). Up there with Old School is This Boy’s Life, which is just brilliant.

I agree about the “gentler” comment with this book. Yates’ school book has a bitterness to it (that isn’t a criticism — in fact it is part of what makes it a good novel). And the word I would use for Skippy Dies is “irreverance” — be it students, staff or parents, Murray chooses everything between a stiletto and a broad axe to have his fun.

I’ve read A Good School (brilliant, like all Yates) for “school novel” comparison, and I’ve read In Pharaoh’s Army for a “Wolff” comparison. This is really top drawer, gentler then the Yates and in my view superior to In Pharaoh’s Army for being perfectly, completely realised (I liked the latter but thought it petered out at the end).

I’ll add my voice to previous praise for the Frost and Rand sequences: I was practically purring reading them.

I think John Self mentioned Wolff as someone you read and then know you have to read everything else by him: I agree completely. It’s a nice little synchronicity to find this review but refreshing the pleasure the novel gave me makes it harder not to reach straight for more Wolff from the TBR shelf.

I really enjoyed both the book, Old School, and your review. I join you in fully endorsing the book. I think you captured the essential elements of the book and Wolff’s incredible skill in weaving some of the larger issues together with the personal, as in your quote about Bill.

I would rank this along with A Separate Peace as one of my two favorite “school” novels. I will be reading Frankie Landau-Banks sometime in the not-too-distant future.

I’m currently reading “American Wife” by Curtis Sittenfeld. I wonder if you know about this book. It’s a fictionalized life of Laura Bush. I’m high on the list of Bush haters so it took me a while to get around to reading it and this despite the fact that I very much enjoyed Sittenfeld’s two previous books. The book carries an endorsement from Richard Russo. That along should have told me I was in for something good. I’ve been enjoying the hell out of this book. As I write, I’m about three quarters through with it. It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed anything as much.

I haven’t read the other Wolff’s that you mention, so I can’t comment. I’d say my penchant for school novels definitely provided Old School with some bonus marks.