A Station for Everyone
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Check It Out: Vladimir by Julia May Jonas

This is Michael Maxwell with the Sioux City Public Library and you’re listening to Check It Out.

Today, I am recommending Vladimir by Julia May Jonas- a twisted campus novel that may wind up being my favorite book I read this year.

Vladimir has some standout cover art- featuring a beguiling half-dressed masculine torso presumably belonging to the titular Vladimir. But don’t let this saucy cover fool you, this book is not a romance. Vladimir is an erotic thriller blended with a campus novel, all served up by an author with an unforgettable voice. Jonas writes with a keen understanding of contemporary sexual politics, and her wit is both brutal and provocative without being too abrasive or contrived.

In Vladimir, Jonas tells the story of two comfortably tenured Baby Boomer college professors who are weathering a Me Too-era scandal involving their open relationship and possible abuses of campus power structures. The unnamed narrator must decide how she engages with her husband’s scandal while also pondering her own transgressive desires. You see, the new, young, and married assistant professor in her department, Vladimir, has caught her eye.

What ensues is like a soap opera written by Bret Easton Ellis. Suffice to say, the characters in Vladimir make some chaotic and downright sadistic choices that send the narrative into what feels like the reading equivalent of a weekend bender. If you like books that build up to a wildly climactic series of events that you can’t stop reading, then Vladimir may be just the book for you.

Check out Vladimir by Julia May Jonas and other thrilling novels like it at the Sioux City Public Library today!

Support for Check It Out on Siouxland Public Media comes from Verde Outdoor Media.

Stay Connected