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Rating: 
Summary: Utter tosh
Review: Bruce Feiler was "Looking for Class" at Cambridge University - he didn't get it. Well, in the sense of seeking out a location at which to study, he seemed to get the hang of that, gaining an M.Phil degree in a year as a mature student. A member of The Class of Sometime in the Early 90's, I presume. But the fact that he entitles this book "Looking for Class", and that one suspects he means "Searching for Social or Economic Status", implies that he missed the point of the institution altogether. Feiler is a professional author, and uses language competently (although some of his metaphors are clumsy - "Feeling as lonely as a chimney in a burning wooden house..."). He would be able to make comparison with an American university, having attended Yale. And whilst his descriptions of Cambridge University life are perhaps factually accurate, the spin he puts on them result in a book about a place I scarcely recognise. I should say that I am an American citizen and attended Cambridge University as an undergraduate, albeit in the late 70's rather than the early 90's. By over-emphasising perceived eccentricities and peccadilloes, he populates his Cambridge with chapter upon chapter of stereotypes and caricatures. Whilst I recall some unconventional types, most of the people I met were as normal as... well, as only Feiler seems to be in the book. In consequence, an air of his superiority permeates. He is well travelled and educated, but he uses a faux naiveté as a device to highlight the cultural differences which bemuse him. The one sequence which rang true was his drubbing at the Union debate. And whilst he appreciates sarcasm, inevitably he fails to grasp the ironies. Above all, it is outrageous that this book perpetuate the myth that modern Oxbridge is a world of "the British upper class, a world romanticized but rarely seen". Yes, in the late 70's, the Cambridge student intake did not fully reflect the socio-economic structure of the country, with a preponderance of students from private schools. But 95% of my colleagues were "upper class" in only one aspect, that of being academically bright. The true nature of the British class system totally escaped Feiler after a year long scrutiny. "Brideshead Revisited".... yeah, right. The book gets one star because I did finish it, despite never being so annoyed at a book before. This is not journalism; it is either an inept investigation or an arrogant hatchet job. Read something else if you wish to "part the curtains on the mysterious firmament of British education".
Rating: 
Summary: Exposing "The Game" in grand style
Review: This gem of book begins, in Feiler's self deprecating style as he finds himself somewhat increduously accepted for his Master's at Cambridge (certainly not because he doubts his own abilities but more because of the imposing wall between Oxbridge and the rest of us). Feiler journals his year with a selective and at times detached air. Snapshots and glimpses of Cambridge float by as he makes his way towards his degree. Yet, this is no mismatched mosaic, but rather an expressionistic view of a year well spent in "the game." Academia is, of course, a construct built much for its own purposes and the two institutions of Cambridge and Oxford represent the grandest of these constructs. Feiler seems to know this starting out, and nevertheless, he dives into life at Cambridge with all the eagerness of a ten year old embarking on a day at the Magic Kingdom. Throughout his year of study he is frequently caught up in the juxtoposition of very high ideals and very low life; very fine minds with very little common sense. All is not what the romantics might imagine along the banks of the Cam. But Feiler is no anti-intellectual detractor aiming for a cheap expose. So, while the layers are peeled back in what is at times a very private journal, revealing both the ironic and the farcical, he never loses respect for, and never insults the tradition that is Cambridge. In the end, it is a very humane and forgiving look at what is at once both a place of lofty thoughts and grimy academia. It is in essence a lovingly realistic journal of one man's ride through what remains for most us, intellectual Oz.
Rating: 
Summary: Looking for class, finding an education
Review: This is an imminently readable, well-written and informative book. Bruce Feiler did a wonderful job of describing his experience at Cambridge in 1990-1991, sometimes in incredibly lucid detail. You won't learn much about what he actually learned pursuing his master's of philosophy in international relations, but you will learn volumes about British upperclass society (through the eyes of an American), their social interactions, and most importantly, about how higher education shapes people's lives indirectly. An excellent book.
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