Pictures from an Institution

Pictures from an Institution is a 1954 novel by American poet Randall Jarrell. It is an academic satire, focusing on the oddities of academic life, in particular the interpersonal relationships among the characters and their private lives. The nameless narrator, a Jarrell-like figure who teaches at a women's college called Benton, makes humorous observations about his students and, especially, his fellow academics, in particular the offensively tactless novelist Gertrude, modeled on Mary McCarthy.

Pictures from an Institution
First edition
AuthorRandall Jarrell
Cover artistJohn Sandford
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreSatire
PublisherAlfred A. Knopf
Publication date
1954
Media typePrint
Pages277
OCLC285285

Some believe Benton was modeled after Sarah Lawrence College, where Jarrell taught. However, in an interview with the New York Times, Jarrell stated that "Benton is supposed to be just a type ... I've taken things from real places, but mostly have made them up."[1]

Characters
  • Unnamed narrator, a professor of literature
  • Gertrude Johnson, a visiting novelist
  • President Robbins, a former Olympic diver
  • Gottfried Rosenbaum, composer in residence

Awards

Pictures from an Institution was a finalist for the National Book Award.[2]

gollark: Anyway, you can get all your one-time pads from here: https://osmarks.net/random-stuff/random/bytes/1024
gollark: For security, you understand.
gollark: Those are disabled on the bees.
gollark: Well, the underlying processing substrate *is* actually nanoscale bees.
gollark: Randomness.

References
  1. Nichols, Lewis. "Talk With Randall Jarrell", "The New York Times", May 2, 1954, accessed April 1, 2011.
  2. National Book Foundation. "National Book Awards - 1955" 2007, accessed April 1, 2011.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.