This book tells the story of an American teacher who went to New Zealand with the intention of helping children learn the joys of mathematics. What he encountered was beyond his worst nightmares.
From the US Review of Books review by Carol Davala(http://www.theusreview.com/reviews/Swimming-Smith.html):
"I never expected to be ATTACKED for trying to make someone's life richer by sharing my knowledge of mathematics with him, yet that's exactly what I encountered in Dannevirke."
In vivid detail Smith recounts the verbal abuse, physical assaults, sexual harassment, and mob-like intimidation he suffered at the hands of students, parents, and the Dannevirke community.
Swimming in the Cesspool is Smith's effort to make public the truth about his own personal experience at Dannevirke High School. As the saying goes "the truth will set you free." Hopefully Smith's truth will serve as an enlightening resource to help bring secondary education in New Zealand to a higher ground.