Disgrace

By (author): "J.M. Coetzee"
Publish Date: 1999
Disgrace
ISBN0143036378
ISBN139780143036371
AsinDisgrace
CharactersDavid Lurie, Lucy Lurie, Petrus, Bev Shaw, Melanie Isaacs
Original titleDisgrace
Set in post-apartheid South Africa, J. M. Coetzee’s searing novel tells the story of David Lurie, a twice divorced, 52-year-old professor of communications and Romantic Poetry at Cape Technical University. Lurie believes he has created a comfortable, if somewhat passionless, life for himself. He lives within his financial and emotional means. Though his position at the university has been reduced, he teaches his classes dutifully; and while age has diminished his attractiveness, weekly visits to a prostitute satisfy his sexual needs. He considers himself happy. However, when Lurie seduces one of his students, he sets in motion a chain of events that will shatter his complacency and leave him utterly disgraced.