It s very interesting for me to hear what other people think. When the book came out, I heard people say, Well, things on campus are much better than they were years ago when no one cared if you slept with students except the students. Let me add that I certainly think professors sleeping with students is a bad idea, but the sort of political correctness where if you say a dirty word in the classroom you re out of a job is excessive. If you look back through history, the line has always been fuzzy. In our country s history, the forces of Puritanism and righteousness surface again and again.
Some people just desire to morally condemn other people.
Blue Angel is one of several novels set in academia that has attracted a substantial general readership in recent years. The list includes Richard Russo s Straight Man and Michael Chabon s Wonder Boys . Prose does not find this surprising. There has always been an audience for comedies of manners, she said. In a way, it s just one of the structures available.