Free Press to Publish EXCELLENT SHEEP: Thinking for Yourself, Inventing Your Life, and Other Things the Ivy League Won't Teach You by William Deresiewicz

NEW YORK, April 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., has acquired EXCELLENT SHEEP:  Thinking for Yourself, Inventing Your Life, and Other Things the Ivy League Won't Teach You by former Yale Professor and author of A Jane Austen Education William Deresiewicz.  Free Press acquired World rights, including audio and first and second serial, in a deal negotiated by Senior Editor Alessandra Bastagli with literary agent Elyse Cheney.  EXCELLENT SHEEP is tentatively scheduled for publication in 2014.

In EXCELLENT SHEEP, Deresiewicz expands on the arguments in his widely read American Scholar pieces that the culture of elite education stifles risk-taking and independent thinking, and encouraging students to seek out the kind of insight on leading, thinking, and living that elite schools should be providing. The American Scholar pieces went viral and sparked widespread, ongoing debate.  Deresiewicz argues that college should be a time for self-discovery, when students can establish their own values and measures of success, their own morals and moral courage, so they can forge their own path.  In his book he will address parents, students, and educators, featuring quotes from real students and graduates he corresponded with over the years, frankly exposing where the system is broken, and clearly presenting the sorely-needed solutions.

Alessandra Bastagli says, "In the age of helicopter parenting, increasingly competitive environments from pre-school through to college, ivy league schools that can no longer deliver on the promise of jobs, and stressed-out kids, Deresiewicz's voice must be heard. College-age readers will be inspired to pause and think about what they really want, well-meaning parents will be compelled to do some soul-searching and educators will finally be sparked into action and address these longstanding issues."

William Deresiewicz was an associate professor of English at Yale University and a member of their admissions board until 2008.  He is a widely published book critic.  His reviews and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, The Nation, Bookforum, and The American Scholar.  He was nominated for National Magazine awards in 2008, 2009, and 2011, and the National Book Critics Circle's Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing in 2010, 2011, and 2012.  David Brooks gave one of his essays a "Sydney" award for magazine writing in 2010. He is a frequent speaker on college campuses, and his essay "Solitude and Leadership" has been taught across the U.S. military, in the corporate world, at schools of business, and at the Aspen Institute.

Free Press is an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc, a part of CBS Corporation.  Simon & Schuster is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats.  Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital, and international companies in Australia, Canada, India and the United Kingdom.  For more information visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com.

SOURCE Free Press