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About the Author

James Lasdun was born in London and now lives in upstate New York. He has published three story collections, most recently Besieged, of which the title story was made into a film by Bernardo Bertolucci. He is also the author of three poetry collections, including Landscape with Chainsaw. Lasdun has taught fiction and poetry writing at Princeton University, New York University, and Columbia University. His awards include a Dylan Thomas Award for short fiction, and a Guggenheim fellowship for poetry.

 

The Horned Man
Reading Group Guide
 

1. The Horned Man is fraught with ambiguity. How does this affect the reader's approach to the story? How does Lasdun manage to spin a satisfying tale from so much uncertainty?

2. After describing his first encounters with his stepsister Emily, Lawrence Miller reflects, "Was it really possible to be so catastrophically wrong in one's reading of a situation? The discovery that it was disturbed me profoundly. I have distrusted myself ever since." How do Lawrence's interactions with Emily elucidate the story of Lawrence's relationship with his wife?

3. At what point in the novel did you begin to question Lawrence's reliability as a narrator? How is the disintegration of his credibility rendered in Lasdun's writing stylistically and structurally?

4. How does shame affect Lawrence?

5. What messages do Lawrence Miller's and Bogomil Trumilcik's stories offer about the immigrant experience in America?

6. Lawrence is the model of British formality to an absurd, self-crippling degree. What exactly is so odd about Lawrence?

7. Describe the clash of anonymity and individuality in The Horned Man.

8. How is the narrative sequence of the Unicorn Tapestries mirrored in the structure of The Horned Man?

9. The concept of America as a land of limitless self-invention has been explored by our greatest writers, notably F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby and Mark Twain in Huckleberry Finn. What new resonance does Lasdun, an immigrant to the United States, add to this familiar theme?

10. Lawrence perceives of his compatriot and colleague Bruno Jackson as a sexual predator, and is repulsed at the thought that Jackson might call on him as a cohort. How might Jackson characterize Lawrence in turn?

11. Is Bogomil Trumilcik the doppelganger of Lawrence Miller?

12. Lawrence deceives everyone—his therapist, his neighbor, the women's shelter residents, his reader, and, ultimately, himself. Why do we still sympathize with him? Or do we?

13. Lawrence is a professor of gender studies, but women leave him at a loss. Describe the complexities of gender relations as depicted in The Horned Man.

14. Compare the psychological terrain of the suburbs to that of the city in The Horned Man.

15. How does humor factor in this deeply dark tale?

16. The Horned Man might be read as a portrait of sexual puritanism in contemporary America. What recent news events and popular trends does it draw upon, and why do you think Lasdun felt compelled to fictionalize this subject matter?

17. Lasdun gradually integrates a surrealist element into the novel, culminating with the growth of the horn. How does he accomplish this? Does it work for you as a reader?