Princes of New York Paperback – October 29, 2013

Not the Great American Novel but a loving portrait of a great city and the conflicts inherent in running a leading private school in NYC. I studied with Lester at Collegiate and thought the world of him but I did not rush to read this novel. The distance between truly great literature and this leaves it in a somewhat pedestrian and everyday mold, but one through which I was able to relate hundreds of memories, a sense of truth, and the insistent context of how curricula in these schools become embodied in their graduates. If you are just looking for conflict, watch "Billions." But everything about the outlook of this work is warm and real. It is a little wrenching to see myself in its pages so much more as one of the throng of young faces, trying to define confusions I still work to parse to this day. Despite what it isn't, Robin Lester's literary voice here should be trusted and enjoyed.

With his delightful and well paced novel, Lester grabs you by the lapels and plonks you into the hallowed halls of a NYC private school. No better guy to experience it with than Tom West, the thoroughly decent headmaster who champions his students while ducking the slings and arrows hurled by some very bolshie board members. The best of Tom's mentors is a bishop in his twilight years who offers the Head refreshingly realistic advice on how to deal with the Machiavellian Princes in his world. "Revenge is a dish that people of taste prefer to eat cold, Tom". And then there's the love story......A former headmaster, Lester would have had a lot of laughs writing this "fictional" account. You'll take away more than West's hot cocoa recipe from this rollicking good read.

Princes of New York by Robin Lester, a former Headmaster at Trinity School in New York. This is an insightful and thought provoking fiction about intrigue and politics taking place at a top private independent school. You will not be able to put it down once you start reading it.

Princes of New York gives an entertaining, satisfying glimpse into the world of elitist education (the pinnacle of which seems to be the New York City private school scene). Having worked as a Head of School in New York, Robin Lester knows that world intimately and he has written a fast-paced, fun book which brings to life characters we hope don't really exist but fear they probably do.

Fun novel set in a private NYC private school. Some great insider stories. Easy read - you will enjoy it.

Robin Lester gives us a compelling story about a school headmaster, a decent man, who became an educator because he cares about kids and their families, who soon learns that one of the skills he must develop is how to contest with evil. I cared about him and read eagerly to find out whether he won or lost.

Very well written . This is a novel but Im thinking that the real world was a major influence on the writing. Lots of intrigue ,humor, and people jousting for power in their world of New York. Robin Lester is a excellent writer. I hope he will do another novel in less than the twelve years that created Princes of New York.

The premise for this novel-the inside story of the machinations and maneuverings within an elite NYC private school-interested me. I have sent four children to similar schools, and served for many years on three different Boards of Trustees. But I found the characters and the subplots in Princes to be grossly stereotyped and predictable. All the main characters were either too good or too bad to be taken seriously. The main tension, over whether the Headmaster would be able to raise enough money to keep his job, just didn't keep me on the edge of my seat. I became bored early on. There were some well written, humorous snippets, but they were drowned out by the choppy, superficial depictions of board room politics and the one-dimensional characters. Too bad because the author clearly knows this world. I wish he had written a more nuanced and entertaining story.