Never Fade Away: A Novel
Hart puts an unusual spin on the relationship between student  and teacher in this promising debut novel, which begins when a  Vietnamese student named Tina Le signs up for an ESL language  course taught by disgruntled, deeply damaged Vietnam vet John  Goddard at a California state college. Goddard is totally  immersed in publishing his own collection of war stories as the  course starts, but slowly he turns his attention to Tina's gifts  when she pens a graceful, heartfelt story based on the suffering  of her family back in her homeland. His attempts to develop her  talent and that of the other students is hindered by the  bureaucratic agenda of Goddard's boss, an authoritarian  administrator whose primary goal seems to be keeping most of the  minority student population from passing the ESL courses. Push  comes to shove when the rebellious Goddard challenges the  administrator and gets himself fired, setting up a contentious  hearing that takes place as teacher and student edge closer to a  romantic relationship. Hart finds a nice prose rhythm as he  shifts back and forth between Goddard and his student, and he  avoids the obvious cliches as he explores the nuances of their  relationship and the inherent inequities of the academic system  that brings them together. But the author seems so intent on  pushing his story forward that he misses numerous opportunities  to delve deeper into his characters' motivations and add  atmospheric details that would have made this a deeper, richer  book. Still, this is a solidly impressive debut by a writer  worth watching. (Mar.)Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.