The Virgins: A Novel
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The Virgins is the story of Aviva Rossner and Seung Jung's erotic awakening at Auburn Academy re-imagined in richly detailed episodes by their classmate Bruce, a once-embittered voyeur, now repentant narrator, whose envy spurs the novel's tragic end.
* A New York Times Editor's Choice selection
* A Chicago Tribune Editor's Choice selection
* A Best Book of 2013, The New Yorker
* A Best Book of 2013, The New Republic
* A Critics' Choice selection for 2013, Salon
* A Best Indie Title of 2013, Library Journal
* One of Redbook's "Top Ten Beach Reads of 2013"
* One of O Magazine's "Ten Titles to Pick Up Now," August 2013
* Featured in The Millions's "Most-Anticipated" List 2013
* A "This Week's Hot Reads" selection, The Daily Beast
* A Vanity Fair Hot Type selection
* The Virgins was a finalist for the John Gardner Award
* Publishers Weekly named The Virgins one of the best boarding school books of all time
It’s 1979, and Aviva Rossner and Seung Jung are notorious at Auburn Academy. They’re an unlikely pair at an elite East Coast boarding school (she’s Jewish; he’s Korean American) and hardly shy when it comes to their sexuality. Aviva is a formerly bookish girl looking for liberation from an unhappy childhood; Seung is an enthusiastic dabbler in drugs and a covert rebel against his demanding immigrant parents. In the minds of their titillated classmates—particularly that of Bruce Bennett-Jones—the couple lives in a realm of pure, indulgent pleasure. But, as is often the case, their fabled relationship is more complicated than it seems: despite their lust and urgency, their virginity remains intact, and as they struggle to understand each other, the relationship spirals into disaster.
The Virgins is the story of Aviva and Seung’s descent into confusion and shame, as re-imagined in richly detailed episodes by their classmate Bruce, a once-embittered voyeur turned repentant narrator. With unflinching honesty and breathtaking prose, Pamela Erens brings a fresh voice to the tradition of the great boarding school novel.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Erens's (The Understory) second novel students Seung Jung and Aviva Rossner are widely known at Auburn Academy boarding school for flaunting their promiscuity. Despite the rumors about their sexual escapades, Seung and Aviva are virgins, unable to consummate their relationship. Set in 1979, Bruce Bennett-Jones, a fellow student, narrates this tale of a seemingly mismatched couple, Seung, a Korean-American boy experimenting with drugs, and Aviva, a Jewish girl trying to find her area of aptitude. From Bruce's perspective, the reader is shown the initial meeting between Seung and Aviva, their growing passion towards each other, the resulting drama and final tragedy. Meanwhile, Bruce's own desire for Aviva is apparent, but his failed initial attempt prevents him from pursuing her. Instead, Bruce uses Aviva as the focus of his sexual fantasies. Erens effectively depicts both Seung's frustration in being unable to satisfy Aviva physically and Aviva's desperation to let herself fully lose control. Adroitly capturing the anguish of adolescent desire, Eren's latest is a lesson in love, loss, and tragedy.
