Staggerford
Encyclopedia
Staggerford is Jon Hassler's
first novel
, published
in 1977.
Named for its setting in a quaint, mid-western small town, Staggerford is told mainly from the point of view of seasoned English
teacher
Miles Pruitt, a bachelor, age 35. Employing a third-person narration sometimes omniscient, sometimes limited, the novel chronicles the daily life, memories, and insights of the competent but ironic Miles, along with those of a handful of his colleagues, friends, and students, during a single, increasingly eventful week, starting on Friday October 30 and ending on Saturday November 7.Passing references to the American Indian Movement (265) place the action firmly in the mid-1970s. By turns poignant and humorous, the novel affectionately satirizes academia and the narrowness of American small-town life while sympathizing with the struggles and successes of a wide variety of "ordinary" people.
Jon Hassler
Jon Hassler was an American writer and teacher known for his novels about small-town life in Minnesota. He held the positions of Regents Professor Emeritus and Writer-in-Residence at St...
first novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, published
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
in 1977.
Named for its setting in a quaint, mid-western small town, Staggerford is told mainly from the point of view of seasoned English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
Miles Pruitt, a bachelor, age 35. Employing a third-person narration sometimes omniscient, sometimes limited, the novel chronicles the daily life, memories, and insights of the competent but ironic Miles, along with those of a handful of his colleagues, friends, and students, during a single, increasingly eventful week, starting on Friday October 30 and ending on Saturday November 7.Passing references to the American Indian Movement (265) place the action firmly in the mid-1970s. By turns poignant and humorous, the novel affectionately satirizes academia and the narrowness of American small-town life while sympathizing with the struggles and successes of a wide variety of "ordinary" people.