Acting Class

A brilliant and suspenseful follow-up to the Booker-nominated Sabrina, about alienation and connection, performance and fantasy.

Every single person has something unique to them which is impossible to re-create, without exception. - John Smith, acting coach

From the acclaimed author of Sabrina, Nick Drnaso's Acting Class creates a tapestry of disconnect, distrust, and manipulation. Ten strangers are brought together under the tutelage of John Smith, a mysterious and morally questionable leader. The group of social misfits and restless searchers have one thing in common: they are out of step with their surroundings and desperate for change.

A husband and wife, four years into their marriage and simmering in boredom. A single mother, her young son showing disturbing signs of mental instability. A peculiar woman with few if any friends and only her menial job keeping her grounded. A figure model, comfortable in his body and ready for a creative challenge. A worried grandmother and her adult granddaughter; a hulking laborer and gym nut; a physical therapist; an ex-con.

With thrumming unease, the class sinks deeper into their lessons as the process demands increasing devotion. When the line between real life and imagination begins to blur, the group's deepest fears and desires are laid bare. Exploring the tension between who we are and how we present, Drnaso cracks open his characters' masks and takes us through an unsettling American journey.

About the Author

Nick Drnaso was born in 1989 in Palos Hills, Illinois, and now lives in Chicago. His debut, Beverly, received the LA Times Book Prize for Best Graphic Novel. His second book, Sabrina, was a New York Times Notable Book of 2018 and received nominations for the 2018 Booker Prize, the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction and the Eisner Award, among other awards. Sabrina has been published in fifteen countries. Acting Class is his third book.