Scott Johnston Discusses "The Sandersons Fail Manhattan" and Elite School Politics

The Sandersons Fail Manhattan: Plot Overview

• 🎯 The novel follows the seemingly perfect Upper East Side family, the Sandersons, as they navigate modern cultural and educational upheaval.
• 🔑 Will Sanderson is an investment firm executive aiming for "mega wealth," while his wife Ellie, an "army brat," longs to plant roots and fit into Manhattan society.
• 📚 Their daughters attend the Lennox School for Girls: Jenny is indifferent to Yale, while Zoe befriends Clover, who identifies as "ecosexual."
• ⚠️ The family becomes entangled in societal crosshairs after a trans student at the school disappears, leading to public scrutiny.

Inspiration and Themes

• 💡 Author Scott Johnston was inspired by viral blog posts about private school politics and frustrations with the erosion of values in elite institutions.
• 🗣️ He discusses the "descent into madness" at institutions like Yale and the impact of identity politics on private schools, citing a "Dalton" school incident.
• 🎭 Themes explored include status, moral courage, parental pressure, and the societal obsession with optics.
• 🧐 Johnston was fixated on the idea of "lovely people" presiding over the "overthrow of Western civilization" at schools due to a lack of moral courage.

Author's Background and Writing Process

• 💼 Johnston's background includes Wall Street, co-founding tech startups, and teaching at Yale.
• ✍️ He was inspired to write "Campus Land" (a send-up of Yale) and "The Sandersons Fail Manhattan" after witnessing perceived ideological shifts.
• 🎭 Johnston was inspired by Tom Wolfe's analysis of vanities and people's motives.
• 📖 For aspiring authors, he advises hooking readers early, ending chapters with a tease, writing down memorable phrases, and choosing outrageous yet plausible endings.

Future Projects

• 🎨 Johnston is working on a novel satirizing the art world.
• 🛣️ He is also writing a road novel titled "The Ashes," about two estranged brothers on a journey to spread their father's ashes, guided by his voice through a GPS-enabled speaker.