Anisha Lakhani, "Schooled"

            While shuffling around Anisha Lahkani’s website for her novel, “Schooled,” I was struck by the multifaceted image of commodification that Lahkani presents. In the novel, elite schooling—as seen in the microcosm of Langdon, an East Side private school—is treated as a luxury product, to be bought only be those capable of doing so. Later, the tutoring market becomes an asset to be purchased. Underlying the events throughout the novel, there is a persistent premise about class: if you have money, you don’t need knowledge to progress. Rather, like almost anything else in the book, you can buy it.

            The dedication of the book is to one Harold Moscowitz, which appears legitimate and acceptable until reaching the back cover, where her bio proudly explains, “She lives in Manhattan with her beloved Shih Tzu, Harold Moscowitz.” And, indeed, under the tab of “Class Mascot” on her website, there is her dog with a large, decorative book propped up in front of him and the cutesy caption: “Harold Moscowitz prefers encyclopedias.” Aside from schooling and tutoring, Lahkani commodifies pets as a symbol of status. Thorstein Veblen examined the topic, stating that dogs are “nearly ideal tokens of wealth and the owner’s capacity to waste large amounts of economic resources.” With the designer labels and dropping names of New York City venues, Lahkani positions her dog at the forefront to commodify him as a possession. She uses Harold to display social position and wealth, just as she engages elite schools as a luxury for those who can afford them.

            Within the world of the privileged, there is an impeding sense that money can buy anything. Indeed, Lahkani solidifies this idea when, on her website she says, “Welcome to Schooled, where even homework has a price.” Even homework has a price. Just as the seventh graders flaunt and wealthy parents pay five-figure tuition bills, homework can be bought with the commodity of a private tutor. For a sky-high hourly wage, these parents can buy their children’s essays and homework. In essence, as “Schooled” presents, money can buy anything, even knowledge.