New Portland: A Novel Exploring the Futility of Duplicating the American Experience

In the novel NEW PORTLAND, Beau Bergeron is fighting obsolescence at the school where he's taught for thirty years in Portland, Maine. Once an up-and-coming star in the old boys' network of New England prep schools - a future school president - a sustained pattern of problematic behavior has blocked his advancement and leaves him defending his work performance to the newly installed school president (who took the job Beau believes should have been his). With enrollment in Beau's French courses decreasing, he's given the chance to demonstrate his adaptability by teaching a special summer course for visiting Chinese exchange students. If all goes well, Beau will serve as the school's English as a Foreign Language teacher to future Chinese students wishing to study in America. It doesn't go well. In fact, the course goes so poorly that Beau is fired. Despite the tension with his own boss, he's managed to deeply impress the adult chaperones of the visiting Chinese students, who negotiate an offer for him to become an instructor of English Language and American Culture at their school. In a rush to preserve his dignity, Beau immediately accepts the job.