““The boarding school memoir or novel is an enduring literary subgenre, from 1950s classics such as The Catcher in the Rye to Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep. Doust’s recognisably Australian contribution to the genre draws on his own experiences in a West Australian boarding school in this clever, polished, detail-rich debut novel. From the opening pages, the reader is wholly transported into the head of Jack Muir, a sensitive, sharp-eyed boy from small-town WA who is constantly measured (unfavourably) against his goldenboy brother. The distinctive, masterfully inhabited adolescent narrator recalls the narrator in darkly funny coming-of-age memoir Hoi Polloi (Craig Sherborne)—as does the juxtaposition of stark naivety and carefully mined knowingness.’ — Bookseller+Publisher””
![“[On The Catcher in the Rye] “This Salinger, he’s a short story guy. And he knows how to write about kids. This book though, it’s too long. Gets kind of monotonous. And he should’ve cut out a lot about these jerks and all that crumby school. They depress me. — James Stern” quote by The New York Times](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/da9/the-new-york-times-59987_bad-reviews_on-the-catcher-in-the-rye-this-salinger_2493117.jpg)
![“[The Outsiders] was all new to me. It's been fun to be a part of that ride, where it's become on the level of Catcher In The Rye in terms of people's required reading in schools.” quote by Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bf2/rob-lowe-855_catcher-in-the-rye_the-outsiders-was-all-new-to-me-it-s-bee_1234356.jpg)
