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Around Harvard Square

Around Harvard Square

Current price: $15.70
Publication Date: April 1st, 2019
Publisher:
Black Sheep
ISBN:
9781617757143
Pages:
288

Description

Race, class, and hormones combine and combust when a Harvard freshman and his two friends attempt to join the staff of the Harpoon, the school’s iconic humor magazine.

Around Harvard Square is the winner of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work (Youth/Teens)

“This coming-of-age novel, set in the ’90s, follows Jamaican-American Tosh Livingston and his group of friends — Lao, Meera, and Zippa — on their quest to land coveted spots on the staff of the Harvard Harpoon, Harvard’s humor magazine . . . The characters’ clever dialogue challenges privileged and stereotypical thinking.” —Publishers Weekly

“In this throwback coming-of-age novel, an ensemble of freshmen on the margins struggle for self-definition amid the race and class complexities of Harvard . . . Through the whirlwind of their journey, they begin to question the purpose of jokes and the consequences of laughter — when it’s not just about the joke, but also about who’s making it and why (a significant, timely exploration as comedy culture today struggles to demarcate ethical boundaries) . . . The diverse ensemble of core characters defy and refuse reductive stereotypes . . . For those who would like to take a trip through the hallowed Harvard halls of the past, this goes out to you . . .” —Kirkus Reviews

Tosh Livingston, superstar student-athlete from small-town USA, thinks he’s made it big as a rising freshman at Harvard University. Not so fast! Once on campus, he’s ensnared in a frenzied competition to win a spot on Harvard’s legendary humor magazine, the Harpoon. Tosh soon finds that joining the Harpoon is a weird and surprisingly dangerous pursuit. He faces off against a secret society of super-rich kids, gets schooled by a philosophy professor who loves flunking everyone, and teams up with a genius student-cartoonist with an agenda of her own. Along the way, Tosh and his band of misfit freshman friends unearth long-buried mysteries about the Ivy League that will rock the Ivory Tower and change their lives forever . . . if they can survive the semester.

With its whip-smart humor and fast-paced narrative, Around Harvard Square will appeal to readers of all ages interested in exploring the complicated roles that race and class play in higher education.

About the Author

C.J. FARLEY was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and lives in New Rochelle, NY. A graduate of Harvard University, Farley is the author of the acclaimed fantasy adventure novel Game World and the best-selling biography Aaliyah: More Than a Woman, which was adapted into a hit Lifetime movie. Farley’s young adult novel Around Harvard Square won an NAACP Image Award and was named a 2020 Honor Book by the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People. His latest novel is Zero O’Clock.

Praise for Around Harvard Square

In his new novel, Around Harvard Square, Farley writes about a scandal strikingly similar to how Singer helped parents and coaches allegedly exploit athletic programs of schools like Yale, Georgetown, and USC.

— Fox 5 NY

This former Lampoon editor, journalist, and now satirical novelist, has lots of insight into the discrepancies around race and gender that remain present in the comedy industry.

— CityLine (WCVB-TV Boston)

Around Harvard Square brings social commentary to college life, approaching the issues in a humorous attitude . . . Farley makes the injustices more tangible to a younger audience who may be future students at such institutions, and he shows how little progression has been made in the educational system regarding institutional racism.

— Prism Review

A smart, satirical novel about surviving the racial and cultural tensions ratcheted up in the elite Harvard hothouse. Farley has created a marvelously engaging and diverse set of characters, at the center of which is a nerdy Jamaican American with a philosophical bent and his cohort of oddballs struggling to win a spot on Harvard’s brainy humor magazine, which provides a springboard for Farley to dive into the ethics of comedy, among other subjects.

— National Book Review, included in Monday’s 5 Hot Books