Racing Odysseus
is the story of a college president on sabbatical who, having narrowly escaped death by cancer, decides to enroll at a small liberal arts college and be a freshman for a quarter. He brings with him his obvious age, his identity as a college president (see below), and some special privileges such as living off campus with his wife. Otherwise, he signs up for classes — not very well, apparently– and studies like the other students.
The author chose to attend a rather peculiar college where the curriculum is built entirely on the classics. So the freshmen start with the Greek philosophers and historians and the seniors get to the 19th century. Sounds like heaven for classically-minded students (I have a nephew like that) but he also insists, bizarrely, that an education solely grounded in the classics is great preparation for success in the world. Please! To each his own, but what could possibly be wrong with adding some other topics like science, math, engineering, even (gasp!) modern languages?
The other annoying feature of the book is that the author never lets himself or the reader forget that he is a college president and should be treated as such. So when he signs up for crew (the racing part of the title) and gets upbraided for not rowing properly he immediately reverts to the loss of dignity caused by the upbraiding of a dignified college president by a “kid”. If he wanted to be a freshman again, then be a freshman and forget that gravitas!
That being said, it’s fun to see college from the eyes of a grownup: the disorganized students, the good professors, the coach who quotes Greek literature, and especially the rowing regatta.