Couldn't Keep it to Ourselves - Wally Lamb Summary and Analysis

Couldn't Keep it to Ourselves is an introductory chapter written by Wally Lamb that explains the premise of the entire book.

Wally Lamb starts by explaining that from the age of eight he wanted to teach. He tried out his skills on his older sisters first, but they weren't very willing students. Then, he jumps ahead fourteen years to his first teaching job as a high school English teacher. Wally Lamb describes how teaching becomes a calling for him, not just a job. He takes particular interest in working with tough students. He calls these students the walking wounded.

Nevertheless, in 1999 Wally Lamb really does not want to go to York Correctional Institution, a maximum-security prison for women in Connecticut, to teach. He promised Marge Cohen, the...