ONCE0770 - Beyond Whodunnit: Mysteries of Identity (book discussion)

Course Description

Identities go through startling permutations in this session’s readings of mystery novels, in which intricate puzzles of identity draw our protagonists far beyond the unmasking of criminals into self–encounters of the first kind. First we read Strangers on a Train, a psychological thriller, and the debut novel of Patricia Highsmith which inspired the 1951 Alfred Hitchcock movie of the same name. Then we turn to Gangsterland, a darkly humorous account of an undercover splicing of crime and spirituality by New York Times bestselling author Tod Goldberg. We conclude by reading master storyteller Thomas Cook’s Evidence of Blood, an explosive tale of initiation illuminated through the masque of a fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood. Feel free to bring a snack or bag lunch.