Encountering Disgrace by Bill Mcdonald

Encountering Disgrace by Bill Mcdonald

Ever since it was first published in 1999, Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee's novel Disgrace has provoked controversy. Set in post-apartheid South Africa, it follows Prof. David Lurie as he encounters disgrace through his sexual exploitation of a student and then through the shocking gang-rape of his only daughter. The novel's uncompromising portrayal of the new South Africa outraged many, who found the book regressive, even racist. It also challenged readers worldwide to confront its hard questions. This first book of essays devoted to the novel ambitiously brings together criticism and pedagogy. The ten critical essays and eight essays on teaching Disgrace grapple with the ethical issues the novel so provocatively raises: rape, gender, race, animal rights. Disgrace is widely taught in colleges and universities and read in book clubs; the debates it has given rise to will take on fresh life with the release of the upcoming film starring John Malkovich. Unusually, the eighteen contributors to the collection are all faculty members or graduates of the same institution, the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies at the University of Redlands, and have worked together closely in crafting their essays over the past two years. The volume will be exceptionally useful to teachers of literature, philosophy, and South African culture, to book club leaders, and to all readers of Coetzee. Contributors: Nancy Best, James Boobar, Bradley Butterfield, Jane Creighton, Matthew Gray, Pat Harrigan, Gary Hawkins, Rabbi Patricia Karlin-Neumann, Daniel Kiefer, Bill McDonald, Michael G. McDunnah, Kim Middleton, Kevin O'Neill, Raymond Obstfeld, Kathy Ogren, Kenneth Reinhard, Sandra D. Shattuck, Patricia Casey Sutcliffe, Julie Townsend. Bill McDonald is emeritus professor of English at the University of Redlands, Redlands, California.

[This collaborative writing project of professors and graduates of the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies at the University of Redlands, California] addresses some of the most pressing questions faced by the reader of Disgrace - in particular, the question of empathy with the central characters - and provides frequent insights into the finer points of Coetzee's writingThe volume is also testimony to the extraordinary richness of the novel . . . . Would that our educational institutions allowed more opportunities for this kind of extended collaborative engagement with great works of art. -- Derek Attridge * ENGLISH *

Bill McDonald was born on a farm near Nunda, South Dakota, in 1924. After a childhood on such farms and in one-room country schools, he served in the U.S. Army in Africa and Europe during World War II, and then took advantage of the GI Bill to attend college, graduating with a double major in physics and mathematics. He married a local girl; they raised four children who are now raising children of their own.

Bill has juggled careers--in industry, as an industrial physicist; in the military, as a now retired reserve colonel; in agriculture, as a lifetime part time farmer; and in local government. In addition, he attended law school late in life and was admitted to the Minnesota Bar in 1982, practicing primarily in Family Court, Juvenile Court, and as a Guardian ad Litem for juveniles. More recently, he returned to school and earned a master of fine arts degree in English, with a specialty in creative writing, from Mankato State University in 1995.

His previous publications include scientific papers as well as Dakota Incarnate, a collection of short stories published by New Rivers Press in 1999, and The Nunda Irish, a 1991 self published fictionalized history of a Dakota community. Dakota Incarnate was a 1997 Minnesota Voices competition winner. He has also published a number of poems, short stories, and essays in various literary journals. His poem, A Cosmic Villanelle, was nominated for the Pushcart Prize XXV anthology in 1999.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781571134400
ISBN 10	1571134409
Title	Encountering Disgrace
Author	Bill Mcdonald
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Camden House
Year published	2010-06-01
Number of pages	372
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable