The Class is about the generation of people that entered college, not just Harvard where the book is set, but everybody that was eighteen in 1954 and was in his mid forties in 1983, when the 25th reunion occurs. “This book is my life, it’s my experience from the time I was eighteen till the time I was forty-six. It is not until their dramatic 25th reunion that the men must confront their classmates, and the value of their lives. But with ruthless determination he masters not only the language but the power structure of his new country.Īndrew is haunted by three centuries of Harvard ancestors who cast giant shadows on his confidence. George, a Hungarian refugee, comes to Harvard with the barest knowledge of English. Only in tragedy will he find his true identity. Jason, the golden boy – handsome, charismatic, athletic – learns at Harvard that he cannot ignore his Jewish background. He is obsessed with climbing to the top of the academic ladder, whatever the cost. Yet his real problems are too much fame too soon – and too many women. They were Harvard ’58, the class who thought they could change the world.ĭanny, the musical prodigy, risks all for Harvard, even a break with his domineering father. Now a tragic accident – and one fateful phone call – will change Bob and Sheila’s life forever… What Bob didn’t know was that his brief affair had produced a son.

For what Sheila didn’t know was that Bob had once been unfaithful – only once, ten years ago during a business trip to France.

How do you go about getting back into life? How do you ask somebody out on a date after eight years?”īob and Sheila Beckwith had everything: rewarding careers, two wonderful daughters, and a perfect marriage. “I think it’s a much sadder book than the first…It’s the story of a boy coming to grips with a love that’s died. Oliver’s Story in Erich Segal’s own words Their love was magical, exhilarating…though heartbreakingly brief, it was enough to last a lifetime. Oliver Barrett IV found his true soulmate when he met and fell in love with Jenny Cavilleri. The relationship between Jenny and Phil contrasted sharply with that of Oliver and his father, and I think that the universal appeal may have lain in the reconciliation of the generations at the end of the book.” When I wrote it America was in the midst of a total generation war (Vietnam, Woodstock, Haight Ashbury etc.). “Actually, I have always felt this to be a book about a young couple, but even more about a father and son.

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Erich segal books