'School' honors craft of writing

OLD SCHOOL: A NOVEL, by Tobias Wolff, Knopf, 195 pages, $22.

Tobias Wolff, the author of "Old School," experienced an atmosphere as an intellectual teenager at a male boarding school that is similar to his novel, but he maintains that this excellent novel is not his own story.

Suffice it to say Wolff knows what he's talking about. "Old School," set in the 1960s, focuses on the narrator, a senior at an elite East Coast male boarding school. He is an earnest young man, enthralled with fervent aspirations of becoming a writer.

In fact, this book could be considered a primer on how to both succeed and fail as a writer.

The major tradition of the school promotes his goal by inviting famous writers several times a year to visit the school after judging a writing contest. The winner of the contest then sits down, one-on-one, with the famed writer, to be "anointed" — or at least to learn whatever he can at the hands of a master.

It is a thrilling contest for the many students who enter, inspired as they are by ambition and the chance to be the chosen one.

In this particular year, Robert Frost, Ayn Rand and Ernest Hemingway have each accepted an invitation to visit. They are as beloved as rock stars would be in a succeeding era. Talented students scramble to write an original story that might impress each of these celebrity writers.

Not only is Wolff an inveterate reader of these and other great writers, he has read a multitude of materials — including books, diaries and letters — to prepare his climb into the minds of Frost, Rand and Hemingway.

The result is impressive, showing the novelist's flair for both understanding the minds and philosophies of each writer, and a chilling ability to inhabit their bodies. The writers come to life with startling vitality.

Wolff also portrays diverse and interesting students, all of whom have different approaches while carefully protecting their writing from the prying eyes of their fellows.

It is a gigantic, competitive match that takes the place of both athletics and even the potential affection of the absent opposite sex. In the process, Wolff deftly introduces the reader to the clash over values bound to overwhelm any such contest. Each student wants to produce something that is good, yet it must be original, resulting in temptations to cheat.