Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme started by @Lauren’s Page Turners but is currently hosted by Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog. This meme is quite easy to follow – just randomly pick a book from your to-be-read list and explain why you want to read it. It is that simple.
This week’s book:
Black Bag by Luke Kennard
Blurb from Goodreads
An out-of-work actor accepts the role of a lifetime—sitting soundlessly in a lecture theater, zipped into a large leather bag—to aid a professor’s psychological experiment. What could possibly go wrong?
In Luke Kennard’s audacious new novel, a penniless actor picks up a job working for Dr. Blend, a university professor who is conducting a psychological experiment. Dr. Blend wants to how will his students react to someone zipped into an oversized bag, sitting at the back of the lecture hall over a series of Fall lectures?
The role, eagerly accepted, soon yields unexpected consequences, from a professor of post-humanism developing research questions of her own—in particular, can you love someone secreted away inside a black bag?—to the actor’s childhood friend forming a vision for monetizing this unique new situation. In the end, only Black Bag will be able to say what it all means . . .
A warped campus novel, an investigation into the crisis of masculinity, and an off-kilter love story, Black Bag is a firework of a blazingly funny and profoundly humane.
Why I Want To Read It
Happy Monday, everyone! Just like that, we are nearly through with the tenth month of the year. This means that the year is slowly inching toward its inevitable close. How time flies! As always, time takes its natural course, ever flowing forward with no regard for any of us. It does not wait for anyone. With less than three months to go, I hope the rest of the year flows in everyone’s favor. I hope the rest of the year will be kind to you all. I hope and pray that everyone is being showered with blessings and good news, especially during the final stretch of the year. With the year slowly approaching its inevitable close, I hope that you will be repaid for the hard work you have put in throughout the year. I also hope everyone has had a good start to the workweek. Wishing you continued success and happiness. I hope everyone is doing well in body, mind, and spirit.
I know not many people get excited about Mondays (though I’m sure a few are out there). Yet the new week beckons with hope and fresh starts, and I hope it unfolds in everyone’s favor. Here in the Philippines, the heat is once again making its presence felt after several damp weeks brought on by the monsoon season. The super El Niño looms, but I fervently hope and pray that it won’t be as devastating as initially forecast. Anyway, I hope you gradually gain some momentum as the week progresses. I hope everyone’s workweek goes smoothly. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well mentally, emotionally, and physically. In September, I commenced a journey across the American literary landscape. As I still have a lot of American books in my reading challenges, I am extending this journey into October. I hope this literary journey will be a memorable one.
However, I have already finished all the works by American writers on my reading challenges. This allowed me to go beyond American literature, although my current read, Rebecca F. Kuang’s Taipei Story, is technically written by an Asian American writer. This brings me to this week’s featured book. It was only this year that I first heard of British writer Luke Kennard. In fact, I first encountered him through an online bookseller, as his latest novel, Black Bag, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. I might have missed the book when I went through this year’s longlist. Anyway, I learned that Kennard is quite an accomplished poet, critic, and novelist. He made his literary debut in 2005 with the publication of The Solex Brothers, a poetry collection. His poetry collections have earned him several accolades.
In 2017, Kennard ventured into writing full-length prose with the publication of his debut novel, The Transition. This is unsurprising, as several successful novelists also started their careers as poets. Apparently, Kennard is renowned for his unique blend of absurdism, humor, and social commentary. His third novel, Black Bag, exemplifies all these qualities and has earned him critical acclaim. It chronicles the story of an anonymous, out-of-work actor who receives an unusual proposition. He gets a job that requires him to sit in lectures from inside a black bag. Dr. Blend, who employs the actor, insists that he remain silent and not move. He must not speak to the students and must preferably arrive and leave as a black bag. It is quite an interesting premise, and I am looking forward to securing a copy of the book.
How about you, fellow readers? How was your Monday? What books have you recently added to your reading list? Drop your thoughts in the comments!
For now—happy Monday, and as always, happy reading and keep safe!
