Author Description

Diaries to an English Professor is a poignant study of the journals that students have written in Jeffrey Berman's college class on literature and psychoanalysis over the course of fifteen years. Introspective and ungraded, the diaries offer a unique glimpse into the personal world of students' lives. Again and again, they turn to similar struggles, including eating disorders, divorce, sexual activity, suicide, and interactions with others. The power of the book lies in the students' voices: articulate, honest, often eloquent. Berman's thesis is that by writing weekly diaries and hearing a few of these entries read anonymously to the class, students are often able to experience breakthroughs in aspects of their own lives they rarely discuss. Contrary to the fears expressed by a number of educators, the author demonstrates how, with proper safeguards, the classroom can be an appropriate opportunity for personal as well as intellectual growth and self-discovery.