Read By: Jennifer Egan

The 92nd Street Y, New York · Aug 2, 2020 · 22m

Jennifer Egan on her selection: The House of Mirth was the first literary classic that I picked up entirely on my own, without prodding from a teacher or a parent, and adored. I read it as a teenager, during a stifling summer visit to my grandparents, when my literary tastes were unsophisticated (Archie comics were high on my list). I recall the experience as my coming-of-age as a reader—when I learned, years before discovering that I wanted to write, what transformative power a work of fiction can have. Because my attachment to The House of Mirth is so personal, I tend to reread it with…