Swan Court
37-41 Mortimer St, Fitzrovia, London W1T 3JP
UK
The inaugural Cerebral Gym Fiction Book Club kicks of with Douglas Copeland’s Generation X (1991), a novel that defined post-Baby Boom America and captured the mood as the Cold War came to an end.
Andy, Dag, and Claire have dropped out of the rat race, and moved to the desert-town of Palm Springs in California, where they tell each other surreal fables of what it means to grow up in the shadow of the mushroom cloud, and in a “Life after God”.
English professor Michael Mellor will lead readers through themes in the iconic novel, weaving in historical and literary context to get to the heart of the text.
Order and read the book to get the most of the session – but it’s not essential.
Timings
You are welcome to arrive from 3pm for tea, coffee, pastries and mingling beforehand.
The class will be hosted from 3.30pm – 4.45pm, after which guests can stay on in the venue or move down to Mortimer House’s restaurant and bar.
About Michael
Michael Mellor has a background leading postgraduate seminars and reading and creative writing groups, alongside his MA in Literature and Issues in Modern Culture at University College London, and PhD at King’s College London.
His areas of academic expertise include British and American Modernism and Postmodernism, Surrealism, Magic Realism and Gothic Fiction of the 19th Century.
Michael has reviewed for The Observer and the Times Literary Supplement, and has been commissioned by Manchester University Press to write a monograph on William T. Vollmann, one of the most critically acclaimed and prolific living U.S. authors.