The Italian Teacher

by Tom Rachman
Oct 25-Nov 14, 2018

Ultimately, The Italian Teacher is a story about a son's desperate need for approval and acceptance from his selfish, egotistical father. It just took a while to get interesting. I ended up enjoying the book, but it took forever to gain momentum. Bear Bavinsky was a unique character that evoked a ton of rage from me because if his selfishness, jealousy and enormous ego. His son, Pinch, wanted nothing more than for this man to really "see" him, and when he never really did, it was heartbreaking.

I think the book could have been cut down by nearly a third. It tended to drag and I wasn't drawn to keep picking it up in between readings. It was good, not great, although the last portion was the best and easiest to read, and came with a satisfying ending.

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