Chris Bohjalian on The Amateur: Guilt, Privilege and a Fatal Golf Shot

About this episode

What if one seemingly random moment changed the entire course of your life? In Chris Bohjalian’s gripping new novel, The Amateur, eighteen-year-old Mira Winston is a gifted golfer with a promising future. Then, on a hot summer day in 1978, a ball she hits tears through a practice net at an affluent Westchester country club and kills a teenage caddy named Kenny Foster. At first, everyone agrees it was a terrible accident. But questions soon emerge—about the net, about Mira and about the secrets concealed behind the club’s polished manners. Before long, Mira is on trial. Chris joins Irene Rawlings to discuss the personal experiences that inspired The Amateur, including his own years as a…