High Society Fiction

The young aspiring poet Alexander Pope crosses paths with the coquettish Arabella and man-about-town Lord Petre at a masquerade ball. It's 1711, and the fashionable citizens of London, weary of recent political and social upheaval, are intent on simply pursuing enjoyment. But society in general is not accepting of any attraction that can't restrain itself behind at least a veneer of respectability, and Arabella and Lord Petre's intense attraction is both unacceptable and dangerous.

Probably the most famous of Edith Wharton's novels, Ethan Frome contrasts sharply with her usual ironic contemplation of the fashionable New York society to which she herself belonged and whose strengths and weaknesses she understood so well. Ethan Frome is a keenly-etched portrait of the simple inhabitants of a 19th-century New England village.

For Chicago's Oak Park and River Forest High School's Spoken Word Club, there is one phrase that reigns supreme: Respect the Mic. It's been the club's call to arms since its inception in 1999. As its founder Peter Kahn says, "It's a call of pride and history and tradition and hope." This vivid new collection of poetry and prose - curated by award-winning and bestselling poets Hanif Abdurraqib, Franny Choi, Peter Kahn, and Dan "Sully" Sullivan - illuminates just that, uplifting the incredible legacy this community has cultivated.