Posh - Softcover

Jackson, Lucy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312377983 ISBN 13: 9780312377984

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, 2007

Synopsis

Lazy Hoffman is the headmistress of Manhattan's "posh" Griffin School and in the midst of an affair with a faculty member she almost can't remember why she started. Lazy's cross to bear is the parents: from the imperious head of the board of trustees to the masters of the universe who don't understand why Lazy can't get their kids into Harvard. Michael Avery is headed for Cambridge: he's whip-smart, but also so troubled he can hardly get through the tedium of daily life. And that's all-too-hard on his girlfriend, Julianne, a compassionate middle class child of divorce who happily wears hand-me-downs from her Barneys-card-carrying best friends. But Julianne is all Michael has - he doesn't have the attention of-his mother, who finds it easier to love her Chinese Crested hairless than her own brilliant and tortured son. Fast-paced, gently satirical and incisive, "Posh" is a poignant and knowing novel.

About this title

About the Author

Lucy Jackson is a pseudonym for an acclaimed short story writer and novelist. Her last novel was a New York Times Notable Book. Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Best American Short Stories, and many other magazines and anthologies. She lives in New York City.

From the Back Cover

It' s a world of over-the-top entitlement and tribal customs, a world of surface interactions and deep needs-- a world of private schools and privilege. Griffin is a preparatory school on Manhattan' s Upper East Side with the best students-- and the richest parent body-- the city has to offer. The emotionally charged lives of the teenagers and adults that collide and intersect at Griffin include those of:

--Kathryn " Lazy" Hoffman is the headmistress at the Griffin School, in the midst of an affair she almost can' t remember why she started. Lazy ministers to children, but her cross to bear is the parents-- especially those who wonder why their little darlings aren' t going to Harvard

--Michael Avery, smart driven, and clearly on the fast track to Cambridge, but so troubled that he becomes a burden to his girlfriend

--Julianne Coopersmith, a sweetly compassionate child of divorce who happily wears designer hand-me-downs from her best friend, and adores Michael even in the face of his neediness and meltdowns

--Susan Avery, who is detached from her brilliant but tortured son, and finds it' s easier to love her Chinese Crested Hairless than her own child

--Dee Coopersmith, whose life driving a cab couldn' t be a bigger contrast to the rest of the parent body at Griffin, but whose sense of self and fierce protection of her daughter have unexpected consequences

Fast-paced, gently satirical, yet deeply felt, POSH is a surprisingly poignant and knowing novel distinguished by its spare and elegant prose.

Edition details

• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312377983
• ISBN 13: 9780312377984
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256