The Novel Today (Summer)

Discuss major new work by today’s top writers, including emerging novelists, award-winners, and established favorites, all of whom are central to today's cultural conversation. We will investigate a variety of inventive narrative strategies, explore the psychology of numerous fascinating characters, and examine important topics within a context of changing times, changing lives and a changing world. We will explore tales of New York City and a Los Angeles tale of noir intrigue  involving the making of Gone with the Wind; an old man and a mysterious horse  in the high desert of central Nevada; a famous fraud and a sharp smart woman in London; a bat-mitzvah, a Christ­mas play, an inter­faith fam­i­ly, and a young girl’s coming of age in Italy; six cosmonauts traveling through space as they behold and record our blue planet; magic in the Mexican highlands. Readings: Amor Towles Table for Two; Willy Vlautin, The Horse; Anita Desai, Rosarita; Zadie Smith, The Fraud; AB Yehoshua, The Only Daughter;  Samantha Harvey, Orbital. Students should read Rosarita, by Anita Desai for the first class.