Reading Noir: a Five Session Course, will commence at the Jefferson Market University at the Jefferson Market Library. Five novels will be read and five discussion sessions will be held on Wednesdays, 6 to 7:30p.m. The course examines "the forces at play during the 1930's and 40's which gave rise to cynical depictions of American society and culture in literature, to which Hollywood responded with the creation of film noir."
The novels chosen reflect social and political issues of the times: gender, economics, and race. The courses will discuss and watch a scene or two from each film, as participants consider literary adaptation.
The Professor: Susan Barile is an adjunct Assistant Professor in the English Department of Hunter College. She has a PhD from the Graduate Center and is presently editing the letters of Edith Wharton and art historian Bernard Berenson.
Registration begins October 9 at the Jefferson Market Library lobby desk. The library is located at 425 Avenue of the Americas at 10th Street. Copies of the first book will be given out at registration. You can attend as many sessions as you like. Books will be available two weeks before class. The following is the course schedule of classes:
October 23 - THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett
November 6 - THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE by James M. Cain
November 20 - THE BIG SLEEP by Raymond Chandler
December 4 - LAURA by Vera Caspary
December 18 - IN A LONELY PLACE by Dorothy Hughes
Classes will be presented in the first floor Willa Cather Room. For additional questions, contact the library at 212-243-4334.