Reading Peyton Place(The Book) In High School English Class Instead Of Listening To The Teacher

In 12th grade English class in 1958 I sat on the back row reading a paperback copy of PEYTON PLACE.
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peyton_Place_(novel)
Someone told me that I would not pass reading that book in class.
Mr. W our teacher spoke up and said, "Not so. In fact Joe after you finish that I would like to read it. And I will tell you of a book that is even more notorious. He told me to read The Decameron by Boccaccio.