"Tell the administration what they want to hear, then do what is best for your students." That's Barry Garelick's philosophy in a nutshell. As the Mark Twain of education writing, this collection of essays chronicles Garelick's experiences at two schools, teaching math. With essays such as, Not Making Sense, and a Conversation I Never Had; "Math Talk", Stalin's Hemorrhoids, and Murder of Crows; and The Parole Officer's Check List, the Dialectic of Competition, and Gnarly Problems, Garelick gives the reader a glimpse into the daily routines of math taught in a verite style and exposes a lot of the edu-crap that teachers hear they are supposed to do, and feel guilty about when they teach in the way they see fit.