In 'Trust Exercise', Susan Choi weaves a labyrinth of intrigue within the confines of a performing arts high school in the 1980s. Here, friendships blur into rivalries and the line between reality and performance becomes increasingly murky. As secrets unfold, the students grapple with betrayal, identity, and the complexities of love. Choi's narrative flips perspective, forcing readers to question the reliability of memory and truth. This compelling tale challenges the nature of trust and the haunting repercussions of a single moment.
By Susan Choi
Published: 2019
""In the theater of our lives, who writes the script and who performs is often a tangled web of truths and illusions.""
WINNER OF THE 2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION “Electrifying” (People) • “Masterly” (The Guardian) • “Dramatic and memorable” (The New Yorker) • “Magic” (TIME) • “Ingenious” (The Financial Times) • "A gonzo literary performance” (Entertainment Weekly) • “Rare and splendid” (The Boston Globe) • “Remarkable” (USA Today) • “Delicious” (The New York Times) • “Book groups, meet your next selection" (NPR) In an American suburb in the early 1980s, students at a highly competitive performing arts high school struggle and thrive in a rarified bubble, ambitiously pursuing music, movement, Shakespeare, and, particularly, their acting classes. When within this striving “Brotherhood of the Arts,” two freshmen, David and Sarah, fall headlong into love, their passion does not go unnoticed—or untoyed with—by anyone, especially not by their charismatic acting teacher, Mr. Kingsley. The outside world of family life and economic status, of academic pressure and of their future adult lives, fails to penetrate this school’s walls—until it does, in a shocking spiral of events that catapults the action forward in time and flips the premise upside-down. What the reader believes to have happened to David and Sarah and their friends is not entirely true—though it’s not false, either. It takes until the book’s stunning coda for the final piece of the puzzle to fall into place—revealing truths that will resonate long after the final sentence. As captivating and tender as it is surprising, Susan Choi's Trust Exercise will incite heated conversations about fiction and truth, and about friendships and loyalties, and will leave readers with wiser understandings of the true capacities of adolescents and of the powers and responsibilities of adults.
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“"In the theater of our lives, who writes the script and who performs is often a tangled web of truths and illusions."”
Trust Exercise
By Susan Choi
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Susan Choi is an acclaimed American author known for her insightful exploration of complex human emotions and relationships. Her notable works include the National Book Award finalist "American Woman," the suspenseful novel "Trust Exercise," which won the 2019 National Book Award for Fiction, and the critically praised "My Education." Choi's writing style is characterized by its lyrical prose, deep psychological insight, and a keen focus on the intricacies of identity and interpersonal dynamics.
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