The Philosophy of Magic

The novel is narrated by Martin, a former student looking back on his undergraduate years at Brown University and the lasting consequences of a pact he made with his professor. The story is told from adulthood, but it unfolds chronologically through his freshman year, focusing on his relationships, his desire for significance, and the irreversible outcome of his involvement with occult practices.

Martin arrives at Brown as a lonely, socially anxious freshman still grieving the death of his mother. He feels invisible and desperate to belong, haunted by insomnia and an intense need to be seen and remembered. Early in the semester, he enrolls in a first-year seminar called “The Philosophy of Magic, from Plato to Agrippa,” taught by Professor Juliann Kussnacht. At first, the course seems like an unusually stylish philosophy class, heavy on ancient texts and historical discussions of magic, but not overtly supernatural.

Professor Kussnacht quickly distinguishes herself from other faculty. She is charismatic, attentive, and unusually close to her students. She holds advising meetings not in her office but at a small independent movie theater café called Cable Car. Martin becomes intrigued by her personal warmth and by the intensity with which certain students respond to her, especially Rhoda Sorensen, a gifted writing student whose creative talent Kussnacht openly praises.