The Topeka School

NIKKI SHANER-BRADFORD, THE PARIS REVIEW

"The Topeka School weaves a masterful narrative of the impact that mental illness, misogyny, homophobia, politics, and religion have on children who want to be men ... though The Topeka School is heavily steeped in mid-90's American liberalism and home phone lines, Lerner plots history with a contemporary eye to reconcile where we were then with where we stand now. It's rare to find a book that is simultaneously searing in its social critique and so lush in its prose that it verges on poetry"

MICHAEL MAGRAS, BOOKPAGE

"... brilliant ... The importance of speech in the novel lets Lerner comment on the state of politics, from glancing references to some people's inability to decode irrational arguments to more direct critiques ... 'How do you keep other voices from becoming yours?' is a key question of our time, or, for that matter, any era. The Topeka School provides no clear answers, but it memorably demonstrates how hard it can be to recognize insidious utterances for what they are."