Never Fade Away

In William Hartâe(tm)s Never Fade Away an English Department offers writing courses that jettison from school immigrant and minority students who canâe(tm)t meet the departmentâe(tm)s narrow standards of competency. The students have entrance-level SAT scores, but theyâe(tm)re disappearing in droves through the trap-door of their introductory English classes.An untenured and unruly instructor refuses to cooperate when the Department fails one of his students, a Vietnamese math major...
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In William Hartâe(tm)s Never Fade Away an English Department offers writing courses that jettison from school immigrant and minority students who canâe(tm)t meet the departmentâe(tm)s narrow standards of competency. The students have entrance-level SAT scores, but theyâe(tm)re disappearing in droves through the trap-door of their introductory English classes.An untenured and unruly instructor refuses to cooperate when the Department fails one of his students, a Vietnamese math major with a genius for storytelling. The teacher manages to keep the woman in school, but is fired for his defiance. To fight back he files a grievance, which mushrooms into a public hearing. From day one interested students cram the auditorium.The story in Never Fade Away is told through alternating entries from two journals. One is kept by the teacher, a Vietnam vet and novelist; the other by the student he defends, a refugee from South Vietnam devoted to her studies, to Buddhism, and to her familyâe"alive only as ghosts. Privy to the pairâe(tm)s intimate thoughts, we watch a deep symbiotic friendship develop. Their involvement reaches a crux at the hearing, when their relationship is painted as a romance, and teacher and student are forced to examine the basis of their friendship.