The Magic Circle, Jenny Davidson
The Magic Circle, Jenny Davidson
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The Magic Circle

Author: Jenny Davidson

Narrator: Emily Beresford

Unabridged: 5 hr 21 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download (DRM Protected)

Published: 03/26/2013

Synopsis

Three smart young women—the scholarly Ruth, her poet roommate Lucy, and their exotic, provocative neighbor Anna—are obsessed with games of all kinds. They’ve devoted themselves to both the academic study of play and the design of games based on the secret history of the neighborhood around Columbia University, from Grant’s Tomb to the former insane asylum that once stood where the campus is now.When Anna’s mysterious brother Anders gets involved and introduces live-action role-playing based on classic Greek tragedy, theory goes into practice and the stakes are raised. Told in a variety of formats—including Gchat and blog posts—that bring the fraught drama of Euripides screaming into the 21st century, The Magic Circle is an intellectual thriller like no other.

About Jenny Davidson

Jenny Davidson is a professor of English at Columbia University. She is the author of the novel Heredity (2003); two YA novels, The Explosionist (2008) and Invisible Things (2010); and several academic books. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship and blogs at Light Reading (jennydavidson.blogspot.com).

Reviews

Goodreads review by karen on October 02, 2020

fulfilling my 2020 goal to read (at least) one book each month that was given to me as a present that i haven't yet gotten around to reading because i am an ungrateful dick. this book had so many opportunities to earn a third star, but it staunchly refused to even try. it could have been really good,......more

Goodreads review by Kelly on February 22, 2013

The Magic Circle by Jenny Davidson is the story of three young women in academia, all of whom become involved in a particular type of game that combines urban exploration with LARPing (live-action role-playing). Logical Ruth is primarily interested in games as teaching tools. Anna, a more right-brai......more

Goodreads review by Blair on July 28, 2013

This book confused me. The premise is fine - better than fine, even - but the execution left me wondering whether it had been within several miles of an editor, let alone actually received anything more than a cursory glance from one. Having bought it cheap from the Kindle store, I had to check whet......more

Goodreads review by Abigail on June 10, 2021

The only thing the author seems to enjoy more than jerking off to her overuse of SAT vocab words is fruit jam.......more

Quotes

“Davidson deftly orchestrates a startling collision between the classical and the contemporary, reality and play.” —Kirkus“There’s an adventurous imagination at play and Davidson’s formidable intelligence is like an electric current running through the pages of this compendious book.” —Los Angeles Times“Jenny Davidson’s The Magic Circle is an intriguing and rewarding novel that follows the friendship and immersion of three smart young women in live action role playing games. Comparisons to the work of Muriel Spark and Donna Tartt (Megan Abbott called the book A Secret History as directed by Whit Stillman) are wholly deserved” —LargeHeartedBoy

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