Dear Great Book Guru, I'm spending the upcoming Columbus Day weekend in Vermont with a group of friends. There will be plenty of time for reading so please recommend a good book for me- something that will keep my interest, stimulate my mind- and, yes, be available on my Kindle. Point Lookout Reader Extraordinaire

Dear Point Lookout Reader, I have just the book for you- YOU DESERVE NOTHING by Alexander Maksik. The topic is a familiar one: a beloved high school teacher is betrayed by his students, but Maksik offers us so much more than this. Set in Paris in the International School of France, the novel begins six years after graduation and we learn about the past from the alternating perspectives of Will Silver, the charismatic teacher; Gilad, a young boy with an abusive father; and Marie, the daughter of a wealthy Parisian family. Moral questions about good and evil, desire versus action, the definition of a good life, and the quest for social justice are all discussed in Will's literature class. While he transforms his students' lives with these questions, it is his life that is most irrevocably altered. Will is a good man trying to live a moral life, but his flaws become all too apparent to the school administrators, the students, and yes, the reader. The title comes from a point he makes in class: existence does not confer rewards or punishments- a moral life is no guarantee of happiness. The city of Paris plays an important role here as does the year: 2002- when Europe first confronted its role in the Iraq War. Indeed, Will's moral lapses seem slight compared to the evil he observes in the world. This is a difficult but worthwhile read.