An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic

nternationally bestselling author, critic, and classicist Daniel Mendelsohn reads from and comments on his new award-winning memoir about a father and son’s journey through Homer’s great epic. 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. Through the sometimes uncomfortable months that the two men explore Homer's great work 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 –it becomes clear that Daniel has much to learn, too. 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.

A book signing and reception will follow the program.