Description
Book SynopsisPart epistolary memoir, part handbook, ""Teaching Life"" reflects on more than three decades of teaching literature and touching the lives of students. Both a reflection on a life in literature and a primer on teaching as a vocation, this soul-stirring work also provides behind-the-scenes stories of many of the authors who have influenced Dale Salwak's career.Written in response to the sudden death of one of his students, who died tragically in an automobile accident on her way to Salwak's office to talk over her career plans, ""Teaching Life"" is an effort to impart lessons to the next generation of teachers: ""It was the suddenness of her death, I think, along with the utter loss of so much potential, which struck me forcibly, and I found myself wondering if anything I had said in class had made a difference in her too-short life or, for that matter, in the lives of any of my students.""By turns analytical, reflective, and exhortatory, ""Teaching Life"" unselfconsciously captures the fascination, enlightenment, and sheer joy that literary studies can offer professors and students. It also implicitly speaks to society's prevailing - and disturbing - prejudice against the profession.
Trade ReviewI loved all of the incidents from Salwak's own experience as a teacher. They are richly described. There is a lively sense throughout of a working classroom instructor, a passionate man, and a well-educated one, a committed reader who communicates his love of literature to his students. I was applauding as I read these (numerous) passages. - Jay Parini, author, The Art of Teaching ""Dale Salwak has written a profoundly thoughtful and moving meditation on the joys and sorrows of the teaching profession. This book should interest all who teach and all who have had the privilege of learning from a caring teacher."" - John Halperin, University of San Diego
