Welcome, summer '25 MALA 6050 students

 We have just six weeks, so our plates are full. Lucky us!

We'll all read three novels* together, and each of us will additionally read and report on either a fourth novel or on a specific author's life and works.** 

"Philosophy" = searching for wisdom, clarity, enlightenment, meaning, perspective, purpose, reality, truth, understanding, ... especially with regard to the human impact on nature, the environment, other species, & other humans.

"Recent" = 21st century

*The three novels:

1. Richard Ford, Be Mine
2. Richard Powers, Playground (see below #) 
3. Barbara Kingsolver, Demon Copperhead

 

**Possible fourth choices, for individual reports: 

• The Sellout by Paul Beatty (2015) - A satirical look at race and identity that won the Man Booker Prize.
• The Candy House by Jennifer Egan (2022) - Explores themes of memory, connection, and digital surveillance. 
• Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner (2024) - Considers whether the path to emancipation from what ails modern life is not revolt, but a return to the ancient past. 
• Any of the earlier Frank Bascombe novels by Richard Ford...
• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016) - Explores the lasting impacts of slavery and the search for identity across generations.
• Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver (2012) - Explores climate change, ecological disruption, and human responsibility. 
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006) - A harrowing journey through a post-apocalyptic landscape, meditating on survival, love, and morality.
• A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet (2020) - Set in a near-apocalyptic world, it examines generational responsibility and environmental collapse.
• Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (2022) - Dystopian fiction about cultural repression and familial bonds.
• The Overstory by Richard Powers (2018) - A Pulitzer Prize-winning novel weaving interrelated stories about trees, nature, and activism. 
• Bewilderment by Richard Powers (2021) - This novel delves deeply into themes of ecological awareness and the human condition through the story of a father and his neurodivergent son.
• Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid (2019) - Investigates issues of race, privilege, and morality in contemporary America.
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (2022) - This narrative explores human creativity and relationships within the context of gaming and artificial intelligence.
• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (2004) - A profound exploration of faith, mortality, and legacy in small-town America.
• Your suggestions...

**Possible authors,  for individual reports:

• Michael Chabon
• Jennifer Egan
• Richard Ford
• Jonathan Franzen
• Barbara Kingsolver
• Rachel Kushner
• Ann Patchett
• Richard Powers
• Marilyn Robinson
• Philip Roth
• Your suggestions...

# And although it's not by an American, this--with its aquatic theme and broadly humane scope--is a great companion to Playground: 

• In Ascension by Martin MacInnes (2023) - "reaches outward to confront the greatest questions of existence, looks inward to illuminate the smallest details of the human heart, and shows how – no matter how far away we might be and how much we have lost hope – we will always attempt to return to the people and places we call home."