Books

Average customer rating:

Frightening Honesty
The Flipside of "Dead Poet's Society."
The Teacher Who Couldn't Tow The Line
Phenomenal
a great variation on a "being there" book

Brief Intervals of Horrible Sanity
Elizabeth Gold
Manufacturer: Tarcher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

High School | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Lives on the Boundary: A Moving Account of the Struggles and Achievements of America's Educationally Underprepared
Voices of the Mind: Sociocultural Approach to Mediated Action
No Contest: The Case Against Competition

ASIN: 1585423777
Release Date: 2004-10-07

Book Description

Hailed as "original and superb" by the Chicago Tribune, here is an acerbic, humorous account of one poet-cum-teacher's experience at a "New Visions" high school in Queens, New York.

Called "required reading" by Booklist, and one of the best nonfiction books of 2003 by the Detroit Free Press, Brief Intervals of Horrible Sanity is Elizabeth Gold's memoir of four months spent at the pseudonymous School of the New Millennium, where the idealism of a progressive school and the reality of a city classroom collided. Charged with taking over three classes of ninth-grade English in the middle of the year, Gold arrived with lofty dreams of sharing her love of literature with her students. Instead, she teetered on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

Provocative and hilariously eye-opening, this is a book for parents, for teachers, for the precocious misfits who sit in every high school classroom-and the brilliant adults they grow up to become.

Customer Reviews:

Frightening Honesty.......2006-05-21

OK, I can see how this offends some of the reviewers. They have an idea about how things "should" work, have read "Stand by Me" etc., and this shakes up their world view. Reality is so uncomfortable.

This is a totally honest look in the mirror by an untalented teacher, but talented writer. I know I could not have written it, been that honest. And yes, it is obvious that she is more of a poet than prose writer. Part of who she is.

The Flipside of "Dead Poet's Society.".......2005-11-11

We all know the stories of teachers who, armed with lofty dreams and unconventional ways, manage to inspire and bring out the best in their students. Those teachers do exist. On the flipside lies teachers like Elizabeth Gold.

In "Brief Intervals of Horrible Sanity," (hereafter, BIHS)we get the story of a teacher who comes in to her first 9th grade class with those same lofty goals. Lucky for her, or so she thinks, her new employer, the School for the New Millenium, shares those lofty goals.

But unlike Dead Poet's Society and Dangerous Minds, this is a story of how lofty goals can quickly be deflated in the classroom. BIHS is the story of how Elizabeth Gold's dreams of inspiring her 9th graders to love english (or at least do their work mindfully) dissipate into frustration and dispair.

Thus, BIHS is in many ways the flipside of Dead Poet's Society. For this reason, many teachers and general readers will have strong reactions against this book. After all, books on teaching are SUPPOSED to be inspiring tales of teachers helping students overcome obstacles, right? Instead, we get a tale of students BECOMING an obstacle for the teacher!

Elizabeth Gold writes of feelings that teachers can relate to (albeit ones that teacchers woulid rarely admit to in public). She writes of students who don't want to do work of any kind. She writes of students who obstinately refuse not to learn or have to think. She writes of students who don't want to be reached.

One can argue with much justification that Elizabeth Gold's recounting focuses only on one side of the picture. But the value of BIHS lies in the fact that while it is one sided, it is articulating a legitimate aspect of teaching that is hardly ever broached: the one showing not only that teaching is hard, but that it doesn't always have a happy ending!

I give Gold three stars for her iconoclastic honesty, for her ability to tell a story that all teachers can relate to, but to which few would ever admit. The other two stars are taken away because of the book's lack of clarity. The author jumps around from one scene to another frequently enough that the story becomes jumpy, chock full of stops and starts. The author, a professional poet, also becomes so "poetic" at times, that her tale often lacks that journalistic quality necessary for an autobiographical account.

Overall, though, I think the book is one worthy of being read by teachers if for no other reason than to provide a good counterweight to those "feel good" accounts of teaching. There are (at very least) two sides to every story. BIHS offers us that oft ignored second side.

The Teacher Who Couldn't Tow The Line.......2005-08-31

Elizabeth Gold loves literature and believes in education. She graciously accepted a teaching job at a school that was realy a dumping ground for lousy kids. The problem is that she doesn't know how to make the learning attractive to children. Kids in these schools are angry, neglected, unschooled in following rules, and don't want to be in school. You need to work hard to make these kids want to come to school and not play hookey.

Gold's few months in the school are a long parade of failure. She is unable to bridge the gap between herself, an upper middle-class intellectual, and the kids, most of whom are from the streets. She has no interest in the students lives, which is a shame. As a writer she should have more interest in them. These kids could have some great stories for her. But Gold spends all her time talking AT them, not TO them. Poets and intellectuals don't belong in a rough public school.

This book was clearly written by a poet. The structure is poor, the sentences ramble, and much or it is incoherent. The story is important as a cautionary tale, but I had to give it 1 star because it was a pain to read.

Phenomenal.......2005-04-15

Elizabeth Gold is gold. This book was astounding and hilarious. I actually attended an event where Ms. Gold read not one but two excerpts from this book. You cannot ask for anything more than for an author to read their own works for you. It was an extremely rewarding experience. Every teacher or prospective teacher should read this book...and everyone else as well.

a great variation on a "being there" book .......2005-01-30

"Brief Intervals of Horrible Sanity" provides a few hours of sweet and funny insight into the life of someone at loose ends while trying carry out a very tough job. The author doesn't pretend to be a hero or a know-it-all. She admits to failing in her gig as a long-term substitute teacher to a few dozen difficult teenagers at a school that labels itself as "progressive." Gold is wizardly in her use of words, offering extended and compelling accounts of what's going on inside her head--at school, at home, and even on the subway. She writes not only as a teacher, but also as a woman, as an American struggling to make a living in the early 21st century, and as an intellectual artist who's striving to find a comfortable, rewarding place for herself in this world. I urge you to pick up this book and read it, not for answers but for entertainment and as a window into the life of one particular human being, at a particular place in time in America.

High school: tales from the inside.(Another Planet: A Year in the Life of a Suburban High School)(Brief Intervals of Horrible Sanity: One Season in a Progressive ... review) : An article from: Education Next

Average customer rating:

High school: tales from the inside.(Another Planet: A Year in the Life of a Suburban High School)(Brief Intervals of Horrible Sanity: One Season in a Progressive ... review) : An article from: Education Next
David Ferrero
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Education Next, published by Thomson Gale on March 22, 2006. The length of the article is 3547 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: High school: tales from the inside.(Another Planet: A Year in the Life of a Suburban High School)(Brief Intervals of Horrible Sanity: One Season in a Progressive School)(Class Dismissed: A Year in the Life of an American High School, a Glimpse into the Heart of a Nation)(School of Dreams: Making the Grade at a Top American High School)(Wonderland: A Year in the Life of an American High School)(Book review)
Author: David Ferrero
Publication: Education Next (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 6 Issue: 2 Page: 76(5)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Brief Intervals of Horrible Sanity: One Season in a Progressive School.(Book Review): An article from: Radical Teacher

Average customer rating:

Brief Intervals of Horrible Sanity: One Season in a Progressive School.(Book Review): An article from: Radical Teacher
Bob Blaisdell
Manufacturer: Center for Critical Education, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00096Z3V6
Release Date: 2005-07-13

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Radical Teacher, published by Center for Critical Education, Inc. on December 22, 2004. The length of the article is 868 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Brief Intervals of Horrible Sanity: One Season in a Progressive School.(Book Review)
Author: Bob Blaisdell
Publication: Radical Teacher (Refereed)
Date: December 22, 2004
Publisher: Center for Critical Education, Inc.
Issue: 71 Page: 38(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Average customer rating:

One of the year's best
The Lady Can Write!

Intervals of Horrible Sanity
Michelle Scalise
Manufacturer: Medium Rare Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Look Inside Horror Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 0972915745

Customer Reviews:

One of the year's best.......2003-12-20

Michelle Scalise is one of the best newer female horror writers to hit the circuit in years. Pick up her first collection and you'll see just how creative and unique her fiction can be. She moves easily in her voice and theme from Southern weird gothic fiction to smooth and sultry dark erotica that will melt your brain. Pick this book up now! Highly recommended!

The Lady Can Write!.......2003-09-02

Michelle Scalies makes one heck of a statement, weaving a tapestry of several different prose styles, including a pretty hot erotic "girl on girl" tale that is sure to raise your eyebrows (at the very least). Yet she cut her teeth on horror prose, and it shows. Elegant, disturbing, fluid, nasty--altogether quite an impressive debut.

Books:

Books