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October 2020 Book Pick

Published by USC Bedrosian Center on

The Auctioneer was released in 1976 with a campaign that likened it to “The Lottery.” The novel has been in and out of print since then, betraying an ongoing fascination with the broken dream of a peaceful rural life.

Set in a farming community in New Hampshire, the novel features a town of residents bracing for something as a sense of unease settles in the town. Farmers know that as city dwellers continue their flight to the interiors … the land they farm is worth more than the history of their town, the generations lived, or all the crops sewn.

The arrival of Perly Dunsmore, an auctioneer, takes that unease to new levels. Yet … he’s simply helping the townsfolk to sell off unwanted items. What is wrong with that?

Joan Samson’s The Auctioneer is a classic. Her characters live in a very different time, the horror they face remains one we may all face one day. One day soon.

Read along with us!

The Auctioneer  by Joan Samson

 

Bedrosian Center