The Final Club

Although Wolff describes the antisemitic social institutions of 1950's Princeton with bitterness, his book is a thinly-veiled, nostalgic reminiscence of college days at Princeton and commentary on the meaning Princeton in his later life. While the main character, Nathaniel Clay (class of '60), suffers at the hands social-elitists, over time he reconciles with Princeton, and his experience shows itself to be a valuable one. His real friends from Princeton prove to be friends for life. The changes in upper class society and American higher education are reflected in The Final Club. The Princeton of 1958 is not the same as that of 1970, 1980, or today. Clay's experiences will have resonance for any Ivy League graduate of that era and should invoke nostalgia in any alumni of Old Nassau. Unfortunately, Wolff often adopts a whiny tone in recounting the well-known story of antisemitism in elite society in the 1950s. Also, the reader will probably find himself extremely frustrated with Clay's naiviety on occasion. Nonethless, Clay matures, as does the institution. Clay's class reunions become milestones in his evolving relationship with Princeton. The Princeton attended by his children and his friends' children is different from that of their fathers, but they love the college, as well. This reviwer is unsure why a previous reviewer wrote, "Get a grip, Geoffrey; after all, it's not Harvard." I suspect that Harvard and all elite schools were similar in social ambiance during the late 1950s. Moreover, one can hardly claim that Wolff's Princeton was less prestigious than Harvard.