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Sunday 27 May 2012

Blues - 2

I still think one of the best books written about the place is Rosa Ehrenreich's "A Garden of Paper Flowers", a jaundiced account of her first year as a graduate student. Just before publication, back in the mid-90s, I took the train up to Yale Law School to interview her. As luck would have it, however, the book's appearance coincided with Walter Ellis's polemic "The Oxbridge Conspiracy", and my piece ended up being spiked, although, if truth be told, Ehrenreich's book was a better read. (Yes, she is Barbara Ehrenreich's daughter, in case you were wondering. "A Garden" is out of print now, which is baffling, as it has a lot of wise things to say about the tutorial system, class divisions and the lure of tradition.  

I lost my copy soon after the interview, in the confusion of packing up in New York and moving back to the UK, so I've just treated myself to a secondhand copy on Amazon. How well has it aged, I wonder?

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