For my taste, too much hinting and behind-the-scenes action seen through the eyes of an unreliable narrator, that ultimately doesn't really make sense, narrative or otherwise. And for a book like this, where DelвЂ™s academic perseverance is at war with her inner demons of failure, that is a useful method of plunging us deeper and deeper into her scary world and creating an unforgettable character.ДЄcademic novel: woman, with imposter syndrome (seemingly justified in her case!) going up for tenure, slowly being driven insane by her background, imposter syndrome, and academic bullying. Scenes can be revisited and new nuggets of information can be dropped without lapsing into contrivance. What I took away from the device of using a frenetic and rambling narrator is that it provides an opportunity for selective revelation. I also found my pet peeve of CanLit prevalent here: no location is mentioned, although LeBec is mentioned as hailing from Idaho-is this clever positioning for sales in the USA? But there is no way through in this book and its dilemmas, and the narrative subsides into admitting that sexual and power abuse just leads one way: to the complete annihilation of the victim. For the fresh and punchy language? For the subtle exposГ© of academic life? As a cautionary tale about the long term effects of sexual abuse? Perhaps. There is no hope in this book, and I wondered why we would read it. But second chances do not mean better outcomes. When the attraction between Del and Cody bubbles over into physical contact, the past is set to replay itself. We also discover that Del has used her previous abuse to her advantage to advance in academia to the position she now holds.

The world of academia is laid bare for its shifting flavours of the month, for its abusive faculty, for its petty politics-it is not a nice place, and yet we wonder why people pay so much and strive so much for its approbation and credentials. Cody represents her unborn (and probably never to be born) child he shares her loneliness, her fear of doom and defeat, and is the marginalized outsider with a dark secret just as Del is.Дriven by DelвЂ™s paranoia, the narrative circles and plumbs deeper into the past, where we discover that she has been the victim of sexual abuse. Del finds herself coming under LebecвЂ™s crosshairs.Дel is also drawn to a hobo, Cody, who hangs out under a stairwell in the university. Gradually, faculty who donвЂ™t find favour with LeBec get fired or retire.

LeBec has cultivated a social media persona and is quietly seducing the department head, Denke, who holds the reins to DelвЂ™s tenure. She is envious of a younger faculty member, Helene LeBec, who has just arrived on the scene after publishing her first book to critical acclaim. Academia is her way out of an impoverished upbringing. A kid from the sticks with an over-critical mother, she has no relationships, abhors human touch, and is maniacally focused on publishing her second book of philosophy and obtaining tenure at the university she has been teaching at for the last six years. Academia is her way out A dark tale uncovered by a frenetic journey through the mind of an unreliable narrator is a welcome change from the more sugar coated tomes of CanLit I have been reading recently.Дel Hanks is forty, frenetic and fearful. Del Hanks is forty, frenetic and fearful. It is at once poetic, tragic, disturbing and funny.moreДЄ dark tale uncovered by a frenetic journey through the mind of an unreliable narrator is a welcome change from the more sugar coated tomes of CanLit I have been reading recently.

Medved's new novel is a searing critique of a world we all know too well, one of sexual exploitation, manipulation, and the subtle machinations of power that Black Star filters through the lens of academia. Medved's Del Hanks is on the verge of academic tenure, but at forty she's also perched on the precipice of either the beginning or the end of the rest of her life.Д«lack Star is a dark comedy, both bitingly funny and transgressive, an unflinching and unsentimental exploration of the female experience, academia, and the idea of power that burns in the mind as white as acid. Black Star is a dark comedy, both bitingly funny and transgressive, an unflinching and unsentimental exploration of the female experience, academia, and the idea of power that burns in the mind as white as acid. Del Hanks is on the verge of academic tenure, but at forty she's also perched on the precipice of either the beginning or the end of the rest of her life.

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