Book Club: An Odyssey: A Father, A Son and an Epic

Exchange ideas, connect with like-minded people, and participate in engaging discussions and book reviews at our free virtual monthly Book Club. Gatherings include a presentation with PowerPoint/visuals, along with smaller group discussions in Zoom breakout rooms. Book reviewer: Beverley Fingerhut

An Odyssey: A Father, A Son and an Epic
Written by Daniel Mendelsohn

When eighty-one-year-old Jay Mendelsohn decides to enroll in the undergraduate Odyssey seminar his son teaches at Bard College, the two find themselves on an adventure as profoundly emotional as it is intellectual. For Jay, a retired research scientist, this return to the classroom is his ‘one last chance’ to learn the great literature he’d neglected in his youth, as well as a final opportunity to more fully understand his son, who is a writer and classicist. Through the sometimes uncomfortable months, the two men explore Homer’s great work of The Odyssey together, first in the classroom, where Jay persistently challenges his son’s interpretations, and then during a surprise-filled Mediterranean journey retracing Odysseus’s famous voyages. Throughout their journey together, it becomes clear that Daniel has much to learn, too, as Jay’s responses to both the text and the travels gradually uncover long-buried secrets that allow the son to understand his difficult father at last.