"Class Portrait" by Tobias Wolff (January 6, 2003, in The New Yorker)

I offer my great thanks to Max u for the gift of a New Yorker subscription which made it possible for me to read "Class Pictures" by Tobias Wolff.

"Class Pictures" is my first exposure to the work of a very distinqushed writer, Tobias Wolff (1945, Birmingham, Alabama, U S A).   The story is set in a very elite  private school that caters to the high school age sons of wealthy  Americans.  The time is around 1960.  Most of the students will go to Harvard, Yale, or Princeton.  Wolff does a fine  job of giving us a feel for the school.  The boys are quite competitive both in academic achievement and in letting others know of the wealth of their family.

Every year the school invites a famous writer to read his work and spend time with the students.  Each  year there is a writing contest among the senior class boys and the winner gets a private meeting with the visiting writer.  Robert Frost is the writer this year and all of the literary leaning boys have submitted poems for the contest.   I will leave the rest of the plot unspoiled.

I enjoyed reading this story.

It can be found here.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/01/06/class-picture-2