Scattergood

The teacher that changed your life

The one who brought those old dead words on the page suddenly to life

The charmer, the inspirer, the cajoler, the bearer of all wisdom

Professor John Scattergood is all these things

But most of all he's a liar

Scattergood's lectures on the Medieval Romances are always oversubscribed

Rumors of a tragic affair in his youth only add to the man's mystique

A master of wit, king of the turn of phrase, fountain of timely quotes and pop references. All the time Scattergood's purpose is clear: "not the making of intellects, the shaping of men"

Brendan Hillard is the student teachers dream of. Chronically shy with a voracious appetite for knowledge, the brilliant boy has defied his working-class roots to end up at Dublin's prestigious Trinity College

At his very first lecture, with the famous Scattergood in full flight on the danger of love

Brendan encounters Miss Regan, a vivacious American student as sassy as he is shy

She invites him to her birthday party. She smiles. She touches his arm. What is that look in her eye?

The boy needs advice and courage

He goes to the expert

"Women are pamphlets, an easy read"

Scattergood becomes the boy's confidant and coach in a game of love and honor

A series of beautifully crafted letters reveal the depth of Miss Regan's attraction for Brendan

But there's a problem -"Lancelot's problem, Tristan's problem"

She has a boyfriend

What started out as a romantic comedy spirals to a tragic ending as Scattergood uses his own past as the spur to push the boy down a dark path of half-truth and self-delusion

In the end his ivory tower comes crumbling down under the weight of his own deceptions

REVIEWS

"This suspenseful drama features what might be the most provocative student-teacher relationship since David Mamet's Oleanna beautifully melds hardheaded cynicism with the fleeting thrill of a crush " ~ Time Out

"There is something warm and delighting in the relationship between the two men, as if Don Quixote were passing along his Quixoticness to the next generation" ~ NY Times