5.2 /10 1 Votes
Language English Media type Print, e-book Country United States of America | 2.6/5 Goodreads Publication date 2007 Originally published 2007 Publisher Random House Preceded by The Graduate | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar The Graduate, New Cardiff, Slow Train to Suburbia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Home School is a novel by Charles Webb that is the sequel to The Graduate. It was published by Random House in the United Kingdom in 2007.
Contents
Background
In the 1970s, Webb himself had fought to have his boys homeschooled. The sequel was written about 40 years after the original book.
Webb completed writing the book around January 2005. Originally he stated that he would not have the entire book published while he remains alive, because Canal Plus would have published an unauthorized sequel to the book.
However Webb arranged to have the book published after his financial situation had deteriorated; his family was facing the threat of eviction. Due to the situation, he could not continue negotiations over the book.
Random House published it in the United Kingdom. The book deal was worth £30,000 (US$56,000, €44,000). As part of the deal Random House was going to negotiate the sale of United States rights and other non-UK rights of the book. Due to the deal, Webb paid a French lawyer to check if he could retrieve the publishing rights.
On May 2, 2006 The Times published an extract of the book.
Plot
In Home School Benjamin "Ben" Braddock and Elaine, now married and living in Westchester County, New York, are fighting to allow for their children to be homeschooled. They turn to Mrs. Robinson to help them. The novel is set in the 1970s. Webb stated that Ben chose to do homeschooling because he felt disenchanted with education, a message that was in the previous novel.
Characters
Reception
David L. Ulin of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Ben, Elaine, and Mrs. Robinson "are just names, for the people here bear virtually no relation to the ones in The Graduate." Ulin also described the three in Home School as "flat and lifeless, caricatures with no heart." Ulin stated that Home School "is such a bad book on so many levels", a "failure", and that it was a book which does not give reasons for the readers to care about the characters. Ulin concluded, "After reading Home School I wish we'd never seen Benjamin and Elaine get off that bus."
Kirkus Reviews wrote that Home School is "A bit of fluff sure to satisfy those clamoring for a Graduate sequel."
Favorable reviews included those of Dennis Lythgoe, in Deseret News, describing the book as "very well-written and very funny". Jonathan Beckman reviewed the work for the Daily Mail, describing it as a "witty and bitingly accurate tale of suburban frustration whose slightness is integral to its charm." Jerry Dowlen, writing for Books Monthly, opined that "The story gives us two "families from hell" who defiantly insist upon normalising their cranky lifestyles and behaviour. It's a recipe once again for bittersweet comedy and edgy tension."