I would guess that most literature professors who have worked at Christian colleges have a similar list. On my list would be Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex, and Kaveh Akbar, Martyr! (The exclamation is part of the title.) My thinking has indeed been influenced (I think for the better) by these two novels, though there are elements I would and have criticized.
But the book I came here to not-recommend/recommend is Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Friday Black. At the time I read Friday Black, I had not read anything by George R Saunders. Adjei-Brenyah was a student of Saunders, and now that I have read Tenth of December, I see definite similarities.
Adjei-Brenyah is his own writer, though. Adjei-Brenyah is an immigrant, I think from Ghana. His stories, with one very short exception, are set in a dystopian United States, where the highest values are selfishness, safety, greed, and entertainment. And racism, though that is shown more as a result of those values than as their cause. These values will cause people who believe they are morally upright or justified to kill other people. There are Vance Boelters in these stories, as well as a father who doesn't get away with neglecting his child.
Not-recommend/recommend parallels sorry/not-sorry. The stories are violent, full stop, and f--k and other r-rated make frequent appearances. The stories are also significantly pro-life, if we can resist limiting the term to only one issue. When something good occurs, it is extraordinary.
I remember my third year of university I took my first english literature course--we were doing short stories and one included a graphic scene of gang rape and I was scandalised. The worst of it was that we were unprepared by the teacher--no warning, no nothing. It was inconsiderate but I found it interesting that no one commented on it and it was never discussed except by me and she was non-plussed by my feeble attempt obviously knowing that what she had assigned was not out of the norm and still considered great writing.
I don't think there are topics we can't read or write but handling such sensitive topics requires finesse and poetry to accurately portray them or else they are reduced to the brutalist shock treatment meant to force feeling, but miss the heart of the subject.
Daniel, I have an essay coming out this week that makes a similar point. There is a way in which a reader needs to be prepared (which covers a lot of different things) for challenging texts. (And there are lots of ways texts can be challenging.) Thank you for sharing this experience.
I appreciate your thoughtful take on this, and understand why you would find the narrative valuable. As a healthcare professional, I am familiar with all aspects of human sexuality, and can deal with those aspects at a professional distance. But there is no such distance while reading a narrative, and gratuitous graphic material risks reopening very old wounds.
I thought I understood the mindset of fundamentalists, but I am baffled about how that review got you crosswise with them. It’s a thought-provoking review that says nothing “scandalous.” Maybe it was just the fact that you would write about one of their (many) banned books.
Anyway, I followed the link to “Christian sexual ethic falls out of favor in our culture.” It took me to a fundraising campaign to give voice to Christian writers from around the world. Since I think much of the US church has lost the plot, I was happy to read about that initiative. But I’m still curious about what the “Christian sexual ethic” is considered to be. In light of how much harm fundamentalists have done (including to you), I’d like to see the fundamentalist version of a sexual ethic revisited. But I understand that that wasn’t the purpose of your review, which I enjoyed reading. So many people have been so wounded by family dysfunction.
Sorry about the link! Since the article is 10 years old, I guess the link changed. I don’t remember what it was to originally.
I was lambasted for even reading the book. But what I have learned since then (as most of us know now) is that most outrage is faux-outrage—designed for hits and clicks and unconcerned about the people maligned and hurt in the process.
Glad I’m out of those circles now. I’m still conservative but also (hopefully) still thoughtful and caring. I never knew those could be separated. But I was wrong.
This sounds like a fun series. Loved seeing mention of one of my favoritel college professors, Alan Jacobs.
Some of your thoughts regarding presenting literature in a Christian college setting or to a Christian audience, remind me of a 1997 piece in Books & Culture by Houghton College's Oregon Extension prof Sam Alvord titled "But is He a Christian?" discussing the works of author David James Duncan and Alvord's experience teaching them to Christian students.
Oh, the title of that essay alone says volumes … glad the mention of AJ was one you enjoyed. Did you see his guest post here on Paradise Lost? Let me grab the link for you. It was superb.
I'm not surprised that title struck a chord with you! I expect you'd appreciate the essay too, if you have access to old CT/B&C content. Thanks for sharing AJ's guest post, I have long admired the way he expresses himself and the clarity with which he writes.
I homeschooled my 10 children who were extremely sheltered, which meant they were unprepared for so much reality they would eventually face. I regret not giving them more exposure to some things they would need to grapple with while still in the context of our home where there was the opportunity to have good conversations around those realities, though I'm afraid I was not prepared for that then.
Now I am a sexuality educator and therapist, and I have taught human sexuality to graduate psychology students at a Christian university. It was not easy as even there, where they were supposed to be learning how to be good therapists who could help people with difficult sexual problems, there was pressure to be more delicate than would be helpful for the realities they would face.
I am so glad you revisited this book honestly and that you are able to stop self-censoring in order to help us grapple with these issues. This is the world we live in and we need help to navigate it.
I used to teach English at a Christian university. Given the way the humanities are under attack broadly across our American culture, very few Christian institutions are really holding them up, and I cannot affirm the white defensive approach of semi-secular Christian-adjacent conservative Hillsdale (because of its being white defensive).
Of the homeschooled students I observed and taught, some flourished, some retrenched and magafied, and many more than Christian institutions care to admit lost their faith. There's no one way to evaluate the large last group; if the students had faith in the wrong things, I don't want to call it apostasy. But it would be a lesson to American Christians to have a broad sociological study of students who leave Christian educational institutions faithless and bitter.
I always appreciated Bechdel's "Bechdel Test." It is always in the back of my mind when reading or writing. It is such a good way to break free of the so-called "men write women" trope. That is to say, a recurring pattern in fiction where male authors, either consciously or unconsciously, portray female characters in ways that are stereotypical, one-dimensional, objectifying, or simply lack authenticity and depth from a female perspective. Its kind of one of those things that when you see it, you can't unsee it.
I would guess that most literature professors who have worked at Christian colleges have a similar list. On my list would be Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex, and Kaveh Akbar, Martyr! (The exclamation is part of the title.) My thinking has indeed been influenced (I think for the better) by these two novels, though there are elements I would and have criticized.
But the book I came here to not-recommend/recommend is Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Friday Black. At the time I read Friday Black, I had not read anything by George R Saunders. Adjei-Brenyah was a student of Saunders, and now that I have read Tenth of December, I see definite similarities.
Adjei-Brenyah is his own writer, though. Adjei-Brenyah is an immigrant, I think from Ghana. His stories, with one very short exception, are set in a dystopian United States, where the highest values are selfishness, safety, greed, and entertainment. And racism, though that is shown more as a result of those values than as their cause. These values will cause people who believe they are morally upright or justified to kill other people. There are Vance Boelters in these stories, as well as a father who doesn't get away with neglecting his child.
Not-recommend/recommend parallels sorry/not-sorry. The stories are violent, full stop, and f--k and other r-rated make frequent appearances. The stories are also significantly pro-life, if we can resist limiting the term to only one issue. When something good occurs, it is extraordinary.
I will have to check him out given how much I love Saunders.
I think you will find the collection memorable.
I remember my third year of university I took my first english literature course--we were doing short stories and one included a graphic scene of gang rape and I was scandalised. The worst of it was that we were unprepared by the teacher--no warning, no nothing. It was inconsiderate but I found it interesting that no one commented on it and it was never discussed except by me and she was non-plussed by my feeble attempt obviously knowing that what she had assigned was not out of the norm and still considered great writing.
I don't think there are topics we can't read or write but handling such sensitive topics requires finesse and poetry to accurately portray them or else they are reduced to the brutalist shock treatment meant to force feeling, but miss the heart of the subject.
Daniel, I have an essay coming out this week that makes a similar point. There is a way in which a reader needs to be prepared (which covers a lot of different things) for challenging texts. (And there are lots of ways texts can be challenging.) Thank you for sharing this experience.
Loved this!
I, too, find excellent books marred by explicit material.
As a mother to preteen girls, this is a problem with LOTS of YA books.
Oh, I have no doubt. A lot of it seems like boundary-pushing just for the sake of boundary-pushing.
Wow, this is excellent..
Thank you!
I appreciate your thoughtful take on this, and understand why you would find the narrative valuable. As a healthcare professional, I am familiar with all aspects of human sexuality, and can deal with those aspects at a professional distance. But there is no such distance while reading a narrative, and gratuitous graphic material risks reopening very old wounds.
Meant to add, by coincidence, I am working alon a review of books that I cannot recommend. It must be the season for it.
Perhaps so! I am going to DM you about something else, Holly.
I just read a great review of this book in this month's issue of the Atlantic! Here is a gift link so y'all can read it. :)
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/06/alison-bechdel-spent-comic-review/682583/?gift=0lZr23DqdjBKu8ZbUXtY3GE-M_1KJBtLo6VdoQLmeOw&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
Oh wow! Thank you! I have the current print issue but haven’t opened it yet. What a coincidence!
I thought I understood the mindset of fundamentalists, but I am baffled about how that review got you crosswise with them. It’s a thought-provoking review that says nothing “scandalous.” Maybe it was just the fact that you would write about one of their (many) banned books.
Anyway, I followed the link to “Christian sexual ethic falls out of favor in our culture.” It took me to a fundraising campaign to give voice to Christian writers from around the world. Since I think much of the US church has lost the plot, I was happy to read about that initiative. But I’m still curious about what the “Christian sexual ethic” is considered to be. In light of how much harm fundamentalists have done (including to you), I’d like to see the fundamentalist version of a sexual ethic revisited. But I understand that that wasn’t the purpose of your review, which I enjoyed reading. So many people have been so wounded by family dysfunction.
Sorry about the link! Since the article is 10 years old, I guess the link changed. I don’t remember what it was to originally.
I was lambasted for even reading the book. But what I have learned since then (as most of us know now) is that most outrage is faux-outrage—designed for hits and clicks and unconcerned about the people maligned and hurt in the process.
Glad I’m out of those circles now. I’m still conservative but also (hopefully) still thoughtful and caring. I never knew those could be separated. But I was wrong.
This sounds like a fun series. Loved seeing mention of one of my favoritel college professors, Alan Jacobs.
Some of your thoughts regarding presenting literature in a Christian college setting or to a Christian audience, remind me of a 1997 piece in Books & Culture by Houghton College's Oregon Extension prof Sam Alvord titled "But is He a Christian?" discussing the works of author David James Duncan and Alvord's experience teaching them to Christian students.
Oh, the title of that essay alone says volumes … glad the mention of AJ was one you enjoyed. Did you see his guest post here on Paradise Lost? Let me grab the link for you. It was superb.
https://open.substack.com/pub/karenswallowprior/p/paradise-lost-book-10?r=90e4e&utm_medium=ios
I'm not surprised that title struck a chord with you! I expect you'd appreciate the essay too, if you have access to old CT/B&C content. Thanks for sharing AJ's guest post, I have long admired the way he expresses himself and the clarity with which he writes.
Same. He is an outstanding thinker and writer.
I homeschooled my 10 children who were extremely sheltered, which meant they were unprepared for so much reality they would eventually face. I regret not giving them more exposure to some things they would need to grapple with while still in the context of our home where there was the opportunity to have good conversations around those realities, though I'm afraid I was not prepared for that then.
Now I am a sexuality educator and therapist, and I have taught human sexuality to graduate psychology students at a Christian university. It was not easy as even there, where they were supposed to be learning how to be good therapists who could help people with difficult sexual problems, there was pressure to be more delicate than would be helpful for the realities they would face.
I am so glad you revisited this book honestly and that you are able to stop self-censoring in order to help us grapple with these issues. This is the world we live in and we need help to navigate it.
P.S. I ADORE Flannery now. Old me would have been shocked by her. ❤️
👊
I used to teach English at a Christian university. Given the way the humanities are under attack broadly across our American culture, very few Christian institutions are really holding them up, and I cannot affirm the white defensive approach of semi-secular Christian-adjacent conservative Hillsdale (because of its being white defensive).
Of the homeschooled students I observed and taught, some flourished, some retrenched and magafied, and many more than Christian institutions care to admit lost their faith. There's no one way to evaluate the large last group; if the students had faith in the wrong things, I don't want to call it apostasy. But it would be a lesson to American Christians to have a broad sociological study of students who leave Christian educational institutions faithless and bitter.
I always appreciated Bechdel's "Bechdel Test." It is always in the back of my mind when reading or writing. It is such a good way to break free of the so-called "men write women" trope. That is to say, a recurring pattern in fiction where male authors, either consciously or unconsciously, portray female characters in ways that are stereotypical, one-dimensional, objectifying, or simply lack authenticity and depth from a female perspective. Its kind of one of those things that when you see it, you can't unsee it.