High school teacher Oliver MacDuff pulls an old vaudeville prank on another teacher and accidentally discovers that he will not be reappointed. Accepting his fate and disenchanted with the politics of teaching in America, MacDuff decides to teach his mind, think out loud, and dispense with all hypocrisy inherent in the profession, while falling in love, pursuing the perfect chowder, and engaging a cast of characters certain to make his transition into a Flamenco dancer one of great success. Part satire, part essay, part literary experimentaion, "Teacher on Rye" is a passage through a profession that is misunderstood, but revealed in Morneau's book with tenderness, a bit of lunacy, a critical eye, but a loving embrace of the capacity children have to change.