“The New Yorker” briefly reviews an interesting sounding book: “The Headmaster Ritual” by Taylor Antrim:

Set at an exclusive Massachusetts private school, this début novel addresses the angst—both teen-age and adult—that percolates on a prep-school campus. Dyer Martin, in crisis after a disastrous foray into real estate, has taken a position in the history department; one of his pupils, James, is the timid son of the formidable headmaster, once tenured at Harvard and now determined to shake up the conservative and complacent privilege of his new domain. James and Dyer, beset by the outrages of bullies and the bewildering behavior of women, triumph, inevitably, over both.

No mention of the paddle, but hey, I’m not picky. I’ll read school novels that don’t have any corporal punishment. Witness me digging into Enid Blyton.