Jesse Kavadlo invites you to explore the Great American Novel

Hi,

I’m writing to invite you to my upcoming class, Reading The Great American Novel: Visions, Voices, and Identities. With a topic as controversial as the Great American Novel, you might wonder why I selected these books. Each can stand alone, but together they represent an effective cross-section of the 20th- and 21st-century American novel: some are short and sketch-like, others are encyclopedic and comprehensive. Some are surreal, symbolic — others are realist, almost journalistic. A few, somehow, occupy contradictory positions. There are social novels and personal novels and novels that straddle those distinctions. Each novel explores different perspectives and identities, while exhibiting its own unique style. Each is someone’s potential Great American Novel, but not all will be for everyone, inspiring conversation and even debate. You may have heard of most of these books, but you might not have read them. My hope is that this course will give participants the nudge to finally discover these masterpieces. And then enjoy what I consider to be just as rewarding as reading: the fun of the discussion that comes after.

I hope you’ll join us for this lively, discussion-driven course!
Professor Jesse Kavadlo

Syllabus:

• Sessions 1 – 3: Miss Lonelyhearts (1933) and The Day of the Locust (1939)

• Sessions 4 – 6: Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)

• Sessions 7 – 9: The Catcher in the Rye (1951)

• Sessions 10 – 13: Invisible Man (1952)

• Sessions 14 – 15: House on Mango Street (1984)

• Sessions 16 – 19: The Corrections (2001)

• Sessions 20 – 23: Manhattan Beach (2017)

• Session 24: Wrap-up conversation

Reading The Great American Novel: Visions, Voices, and Identities with Jesse Kavadlo

24 SESSIONS | STARTS SUN, AUG 16 | 12 PM ET | ONLINE

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