Eliot Schrefer's debut novel about tutoring the children of the
wealthy, Glamorous Disasters, was an international bestseller. Schrefer has been profiled in Newsweek, USAToday, and New York Magazine, and has appeared on Today in New York and WNYC's "Leonard Lopate Show." For more information, please visit www.eliotschrefer.com.

Blog Entries by Eliot Schrefer

Despite Reports, Gay Cheating Elves Haven't Quite Rocked the Video Gaming World

Posted December 7, 2009 | 04:00 PM (EST)


Oh my God, Zevran's seeing someone else.

That was my reaction when I first read the New York Times article yesterday about the controversy surrounding the gay romance option in the popular new video game Dragon Age Origins.

The article included a screenshot from the game, a beefcake...

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A Governor is a Governor Isn't a Governor: Palin's 2006 Campaign From the Ground

Posted September 25, 2008 | 12:59 PM (EST)


Truth: Palin won the race to become Governor of Alaska.

Truth: The number of registered voters in Alaska is smaller than the population of Staten Island.

Palin won the election through speeches given in fields and door-to-door canvassing. Without a doubt, she did both effectively....

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Five Scientific Reasons Not to Commit Suicide

Posted September 18, 2008 | 02:20 PM (EST)


Dismayed by the recent news of David Foster Wallace's death, I've been wondering about suicide prevention. The traditional messages we offer to those who are suffering - you are not alone, help is always available, don't let temporary mindsets seem like life sentences - are crucial but clearly don't work...

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The Anxiety Business

Posted July 12, 2008 | 01:12 PM (EST)


With admissions rules and testing procedures changing seasonally as colleges struggle to adjust to the introduction of the new SAT in 2005, it's easy for the press to grow numb to the details. But this summer the College Board quietly announced a new policy that will allow students to take...

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The Death Expert?: Apocalypto and the Bravado of Expertise

Posted December 28, 2006 | 01:10 PM (EST)


As I watched, and failed to enjoy, Apocalypto, I realized that Mel Gibson was producing a spectacle of death that he himself didn't have to endure - after all, he got to wipe away the fake blood and have lunch with the actors after he killed them. The audience,...

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The Working Class SAT

Posted August 29, 2006 | 11:19 PM (EST)


Elite private school educations leave students unprepared for a standardized test with which their public school counterparts are innately familiar.

My high school English teacher liked to read Elle while she graded our final exams. There was nary a red pen involved in the process. The Scan-Tron machine puttered...

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The Disability Gap

Posted July 6, 2006 | 12:48 PM (EST)


Nationwide, under 2% of students have learning disabilities severe enough to qualify for extra time on the SAT. In private school Manhattan, the percentage is substantially greater. And that means dramatically higher scores.

At Horace Mann high school in affluent Riverdale, New York, one of the top schools in the...

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Tutors Take Manhattan

Posted June 12, 2006 | 07:32 PM (EST)


In New York City, a year of SAT tutoring can carry a price tag of $25,000, all to secure a competitive edge over middle class America.

In my business -- SAT tutoring -- you get used to sighs. A client's mother frets over the sheer amount of work her...

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