Anny P. (wolfnme) reviewed on 5/2/2006 + 3389 more book reviews

Set in a small, liberal arts college in out-of-the way upper New England, Blue Angel is a penetrating look at the petty politics and policies of the faculty and administration of such institutions and the perils that await a faculty member who violates standards of correctness in interpersonal relations with students regardless of rationale or circumstances.

Ted Swenson, conducting a seminar on creative writing, is a middle-aged, fairly happily married professor and novelist with a long case of writer's block. He is completely surprised when student Angela Argo with her punk motif exhibits a lot of raw writing talent. Maybe it is his own failures that make him receptive to Angela's insistent requests for assessment and reassurance of her work, but he frequently sees her after class and in his office and exchanges phone messages. Swenson is both wary of and drawn to Angela. He is puzzled by the similarity of the characters in Angela's novel and his own life. It is the supposedly guileless Angela that drives their relationship to a point that Swenson sees coming but is unable to stop.

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