“Merely the most excellent and truthful picture of a contemporary American teacher’s life that we are likely to have for a long time to come.” -Life Magazine Product Details The book was based on Kaufman's own teaching experiences. public schools in history.” - Time Magazine In 1964, she published Up the Down Staircase, a novel about an idealistic young honors college graduate who becomes an English teacher in a New York City high school and deals with the gritty realities of her colleagues and students. “Easily the most popular novel about U.S. “The seminal book on the hardships and joys of teaching.” - The New York Times It has been translated into sixteen languages, made into a prize-winning motion picture, and staged as a play at high schools all over the United States its very title has become part of the American idiom. The novel tells the story of a young, idealistic teacher named Sylvia Barrett. Bel Kaufman (19112014) was a bestselling writer, dedicated teacher, and lecturer best known for her novel Up the Down Staircase (1965), a classic portrayal of life in the New York public. Sylvia Barrett arrives at New York Citys Calvin Coolidge High fresh from earning. A bestseller, it was adapted into a 1967 film and later on a stage play. Read Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman available from Rakuten Kobo. “The most enduring account we have of teachers’ lives. Bel Kaufmans Up the Down Staircase is one of the best-loved novels of our time. Up the Down Staircase is a 1964 Epistolary Novel by Bel Kaufman. A stunningly accurate portrait of life in an urban school.” - The New York Times Shot through with despair and hopefulness, violence and levity.