Reading with Thomas C. Spear: Les mascarades du Wisconsin In-Person
In a small Midwestern town that embodies the wholesome prosperity of the baby boom years, a foul-mouthed, wisecracking father rules over his brood. He is a gregarious eccentric who buried existential secrets when leaving behind his urban East Coast roots.
In this novel, one of his sons addresses his father directly and posthumously to uncover their shared heritage and expose the patriarchal myth. It is a story of social imperatives that constrain and define masculinity in the American Heartland and the son's resistance to a predetermined destiny.
Thomas C. Spear is Professor Emeritus of French in the Languages and Literatures Department at Lehman College and the CUNY Graduate Center
Note: This reading about a book in French will be conducted in English.