The Life of the Mind: a Reading, Conversation, and Celebration with Christine Smallwood
Join us Thursday, April 1st, as we explore, and celebrate the publication of, BISR faculty (and co-founder) Christine Smallwood’s debut novel The Life of the Mind. In a multi-part event, Christine will read selections from The Life of the Mind, discuss with fellow BISR faculty Abby Kluchin the novel’s themes and techniques, and finally, with Abby and fellow faculty Rebecca Ariel Porte, Ajay Singh Chaudhary, Michael Stevenson, and Suzanne Schneider, examine the crisis in academia, pregnancy and writing about the body, and the ideal, reality, and value (if any), of a life of the mind.
A piercing, and very funny, exploration of malaise and lost illusion, The Life of the Mind narrates the ordeals of Dorothy, an adjunct professor of English in New York City. Toiling fruitlessly in the halls of academia, Dorothy is also experiencing the prolonged effects of a miscarriage—the fact of which she keeps secret from her boyfriend Rog, her friend Gaby, her two therapists, her mother, and her semi-sadistic mentor. How do we cope with failure—professional, social, and bodily? Can we make sense of, and find meaning in, the world outside the mind, where bad things happen, but where there is no plot?
Held in partnership with n+1, the event is free attend and will stream to the BISR Facebook page. To receive any updates, a reminder, and enter a raffle to receive a free copy of The Life of the Mind, please RSVP below.
And, of course, you can purchase The Life of the Mind here.
Event Schedule
Thursday, 7:00pm ESTApril 01, 2021
$0.00
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