Description
In the first part of this rambling ode to the durability of St. Benedict’s prep school, the author sets the stage of the violent streets of Newark, New Jersey. However, as the story shifts to inside the school, the focus of the street struggle becomes muddied by stories of students, financial difficulties, administration and the Catholic hierarchy. The book’s blurb about St. Benedict’s being the “toughest prep school in America” is not sustained by these various anecdotes. In addition, the crushing poverty and racial tensions do not seem to be a major part of this story. When, briefly, a student is profiled, his story becomes interesting, but undeveloped. In addition, the laissez faire administrator of the school is an enigma; the story would be well served by discovering his struggles for the sustainability of his school.
Any malfeasance within the school is treated briefly and shrugged off even though the reader is well aware of the mistreatment of youth by Catholic priests and monks. St. Benedict’s may well be a lifeline for the youth of Newark, but that case is not presented in this book. lack Hills and the manifest destiny which drove them away from their spiritual center, the focal point of these historical myths which Mt. Rushmore represents.
