Come and Join the Dance: A Novel

The daring debut of the Beat Generation’s first woman novelist

It’s 1955. Seven days before her graduation from Barnard College, Susan Levitt asks herself, “What if you lived your entire life without urgency?” just before going out to make things happen to her that will shatter the mask of conformity concealing her feelings of alienation. If Susan continues to be “good,” marriage and security await her. But her hunger is rising for the self-discovery that comes from existential freedom.

Afte...