What do you think?
Rate this book
Discipline
I have the sense that something is being drawn between us. Not drawn as in line but as in arrow pulled back. Yet I don’t know which of us holds the bow, and which of us faces the arrow.
Christine is on tour for her novel, a revenge fantasy based on a real-life relationship gone bad with an older professor ten years prior. Now on the road, she’s seeking answers—about how to live a good life and what it means to make art—through intimate conversations with strangers, past lovers, and friends.
But when the antagonist of her novel—her old painting professor—reaches out in a series of sly communiques after years of silence to tell her that he’s read her book, Christine must reckon with what it means to lose the reins of a narrative she wrote precisely to maintain control. When her professor invites her to join him at his house, on a remote island off the coast of Maine, their encounter threatens to change the very foundations of her life as she’s imagined it.
A pristine and provocative high-wire act toggling the fictions we construct for ourselves just to survive and the possibilities that lie beyond them, Discipline launches a spellbinding inquiry into the nature of art-making and rigor, intimacy and attention, punishment and release.
Christine is on tour for her novel, a revenge fantasy based on a real-life relationship gone bad with an older professor ten years prior. Now on the road, she’s seeking answers—about how to live a good life and what it means to make art—through intimate conversations with strangers, past lovers, and friends.
But when the antagonist of her novel—her old painting professor—reaches out in a series of sly communiques after years of silence to tell her that he’s read her book, Christine must reckon with what it means to lose the reins of a narrative she wrote precisely to maintain control. When her professor invites her to join him at his house, on a remote island off the coast of Maine, their encounter threatens to change the very foundations of her life as she’s imagined it.
A pristine and provocative high-wire act toggling the fictions we construct for ourselves just to survive and the possibilities that lie beyond them, Discipline launches a spellbinding inquiry into the nature of art-making and rigor, intimacy and attention, punishment and release.
203 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 20, 2026
189 people are currently reading
18779 people want to read
About the author
Larissa Pham
9 books127 followersLarissa Pham is a writer living in Brooklyn. She has written for Adult, Guernica, The Nation and Nerve. Pham studied painting and art history at Yale University.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews
October 6, 2025
It is lovely to see Larissa Pham blessing us with a novel. Like her nonfiction, the prose in Discipline is both lush and precise. There is a satisfying interiority to this novel and a fascinating structure as Christine goes on a book tour for her debut novel and then takes a detour to the Maine home of a former professor and lover who derailed her promising career as a visual artist. In some ways, this reads like a taut thriller even though it really is an elegant cerebral exploration of creativity and commitment to one’s craft and how when we don’t value our craft almost anything can rob us of it. The ending was particularly interesting. An admirable debut.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
love to read about women making messy decisions where the closest thing to a plot is their reflections on them
(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
(review to come)
(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
(review to come)
February 4, 2026
I'm always here for a story set in the art world, and Pham's debut novel gives us a clever twist on a by now stereotypical plot line: The older male mentor who abuses his power to sleep with the female mentee. Pham investigates the young woman's agency without diminishing the man's guilt, and the tension culminates in a well-crafted, surprising finale. Let's look at what happens before the stand-off: Protagonist Christine has given up on her career as a painter after she had a sexual relationship with her professor Richard. In her debut novel, Christine exacts revenge on Richard by telling the story of their inappropriate encounter how she wants to tell it. But during the book tour, Richard challenges her narrative with a simple e-mail: "That's not how I remember it."
The book is split in two halves: In part one, Christine re-connects with all kinds of people from her past during the book tour, the second part shows her traveling to a remote island off the coast of Maine where she visits the now elderly Richard and they tackle the question where the truth lies, and what to do about it. Throughout the text, Christine ponders what art means to her, which art she consumes, critiques and creates (writing is also art!) and why all this is important. Pham herself studied painting and the history of art at Yale, and we get plenty of references to Helen Frankenthaler, Vija Celmins, Edward Hopper et al. These ruminations lead to the question why she has written the book about Richard the way she did, and why she has stopped painting - questions the narrator struggles with. At one point, Christine tells her former classmate Frances that she lacked the discipline to become a successful artist, which is why she abandoned the profession - the classmate doesn't believe her, and the reader doesn't either. Challenged why painting does matter, Frances answers that it keeps her from killing herself. What keeps Christine alive?
We meet our narrator on a journey, both physically and psychologically: She tries to grasp what makes her tick, how to access her creative powers, and the inner turmoil is juxtaposed by Pham's quiet and restraint tone, and the crystalline quality of her sentences. The minimalist cover in black and white shows a woman immersed in a medium that holds her afloat, but also holds the power to kill her: Water (designed by Rachel Ake). Christine is looking for her medium, a way she can express herself - but often, the objects of art production are real people, and they will be affected. What responsibility does Christine carry, towards herself and others?
I was already intrigued by Pham's essay collection Pop Song: Adventures in Art & Intimacy, and her debut novel doesn't disappoint.
The book is split in two halves: In part one, Christine re-connects with all kinds of people from her past during the book tour, the second part shows her traveling to a remote island off the coast of Maine where she visits the now elderly Richard and they tackle the question where the truth lies, and what to do about it. Throughout the text, Christine ponders what art means to her, which art she consumes, critiques and creates (writing is also art!) and why all this is important. Pham herself studied painting and the history of art at Yale, and we get plenty of references to Helen Frankenthaler, Vija Celmins, Edward Hopper et al. These ruminations lead to the question why she has written the book about Richard the way she did, and why she has stopped painting - questions the narrator struggles with. At one point, Christine tells her former classmate Frances that she lacked the discipline to become a successful artist, which is why she abandoned the profession - the classmate doesn't believe her, and the reader doesn't either. Challenged why painting does matter, Frances answers that it keeps her from killing herself. What keeps Christine alive?
We meet our narrator on a journey, both physically and psychologically: She tries to grasp what makes her tick, how to access her creative powers, and the inner turmoil is juxtaposed by Pham's quiet and restraint tone, and the crystalline quality of her sentences. The minimalist cover in black and white shows a woman immersed in a medium that holds her afloat, but also holds the power to kill her: Water (designed by Rachel Ake). Christine is looking for her medium, a way she can express herself - but often, the objects of art production are real people, and they will be affected. What responsibility does Christine carry, towards herself and others?
I was already intrigued by Pham's essay collection Pop Song: Adventures in Art & Intimacy, and her debut novel doesn't disappoint.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
What a smart, engaging book. Wonderful plot design.
Pre-Read Notes: The title and cover grabbed me here, honestly. I'm glad I didn't read the description or I might not have read it.
"And I can see , now, that he’s scared. That I’ve really taken something away from him. I’m filled—and I hate that I feel this way, but I feel it— with a sick, ugly pleasure. That I’ve ruined this. Are you proud of yourself? he asks." p138
Final Review
(thoughts & recs) I enjoyed this read, particularly the unique form. I normally write my reviews right away but it's been a few days, and my memory of this book is sort of vague. I do know I liked the second half of the book more than the first. For me, it pays off in character development reaching it's conclusion and a really compelling treatment of the theme of assisted suicide. Since that's an issue that affects the disabled community in an outsized way, I always like when I find this concept in fiction that treats it with gravity and nuance and even freshness.
This is a good selection for readers of litfic, revenge fantasies, and experimental form. I think you would like this if you enjoyed SKIM or maybe THE WHITE HOT.
My 3 Favorite Things:
✔️ She's both describing and critiquing contemporary fiction's chronic myopia. I agree; meta needs rescued from the first person writer POV.
✔️ She's sort of trying to decolonize fiction dang, bold as hell. It's working too, on a subtextual level at least.
✔️ She doesn't use quotation marks, but the execution is smooth and the effect meaningful, so I like it.
Content Notes: sexual coersion, sexual harassment, revenge, terminal illness, assisted su*c*de, su*c*de attempt, drowning, caregiving, grief,
Thank you to Larissa Pham, Random House, and NetGalley for an accessible digital arc of DISCIPLINE. All views are mine.
Pre-Read Notes: The title and cover grabbed me here, honestly. I'm glad I didn't read the description or I might not have read it.
"And I can see , now, that he’s scared. That I’ve really taken something away from him. I’m filled—and I hate that I feel this way, but I feel it— with a sick, ugly pleasure. That I’ve ruined this. Are you proud of yourself? he asks." p138
Final Review
(thoughts & recs) I enjoyed this read, particularly the unique form. I normally write my reviews right away but it's been a few days, and my memory of this book is sort of vague. I do know I liked the second half of the book more than the first. For me, it pays off in character development reaching it's conclusion and a really compelling treatment of the theme of assisted suicide. Since that's an issue that affects the disabled community in an outsized way, I always like when I find this concept in fiction that treats it with gravity and nuance and even freshness.
This is a good selection for readers of litfic, revenge fantasies, and experimental form. I think you would like this if you enjoyed SKIM or maybe THE WHITE HOT.
My 3 Favorite Things:
✔️ She's both describing and critiquing contemporary fiction's chronic myopia. I agree; meta needs rescued from the first person writer POV.
✔️ She's sort of trying to decolonize fiction dang, bold as hell. It's working too, on a subtextual level at least.
✔️ She doesn't use quotation marks, but the execution is smooth and the effect meaningful, so I like it.
Content Notes: sexual coersion, sexual harassment, revenge, terminal illness, assisted su*c*de, su*c*de attempt, drowning, caregiving, grief,
Thank you to Larissa Pham, Random House, and NetGalley for an accessible digital arc of DISCIPLINE. All views are mine.
January 27, 2026
Writing the Wrong
Larissa Pham's first novel, "Discipline," explores the intricate connections between trauma, artistic creation, and the search for purpose after a painful event. This striking work has been widely praised for its taut prose and philosophical depth.
The story follows Christine, a first-time author on a book tour for her novel—a thinly veiled revenge fantasy about her former painting professor, Richard, with whom she had a devastating, brief affair a decade earlier. This relationship derailed her promising career as a visual artist. The novel's structure mirrors Christine's journey, split into two distinct parts: the first tracks her book tour and reconnecting with past friends and lovers. In contrast, the second abruptly shifts to a remote Maine island for a tense confrontation with Richard after he reaches out with an ominous email– “That’s not how I remember it.”
The unexpected return of Richard completely disorients Cristine. She had painstakingly rebuilt her life, shifting her creative focus from painting to writing, and believed she had finally expelled his memory by fictionalizing his death in her novel. This hard-won peace came after years of silence; she had never told anyone about the trauma before her book's publication, a deliberate secret that had even sabotaged a later relationship. Given all this, her decision to accept his invitation to stay with him raises a central question: what outcome could she desire? Is she seeking closure, a confession, or simply a confrontation with the source of her pain?
The meeting culminates in an exchange that perfectly captures the lingering emotional warfare: “I have the sense that something is being drawn between us. Not drawn as in line but as an arrow pulled back. Yet I don’t know which of us holds the bow, and which of us faces the arrow.”
The book centers on the theme of artistic life. Christine feels she has been robbed of her creative capacity, no longer the artist she once was. To initiate her healing, she has shifted her focus from visual art to writing. This new medium enables her to fictionalize her experiences, thereby allowing her to regain mastery over her own story.
Pham's fiercely intelligent debut refuses to offer easy answers, instead focusing on a nuanced character study of a woman grappling with her past and seeking purpose. The author achieves this by examining the wreckage of trauma through the lens of creative output, all while maintaining a compelling sense of suspense.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #Discipline #NetGalley
Larissa Pham's first novel, "Discipline," explores the intricate connections between trauma, artistic creation, and the search for purpose after a painful event. This striking work has been widely praised for its taut prose and philosophical depth.
The story follows Christine, a first-time author on a book tour for her novel—a thinly veiled revenge fantasy about her former painting professor, Richard, with whom she had a devastating, brief affair a decade earlier. This relationship derailed her promising career as a visual artist. The novel's structure mirrors Christine's journey, split into two distinct parts: the first tracks her book tour and reconnecting with past friends and lovers. In contrast, the second abruptly shifts to a remote Maine island for a tense confrontation with Richard after he reaches out with an ominous email– “That’s not how I remember it.”
The unexpected return of Richard completely disorients Cristine. She had painstakingly rebuilt her life, shifting her creative focus from painting to writing, and believed she had finally expelled his memory by fictionalizing his death in her novel. This hard-won peace came after years of silence; she had never told anyone about the trauma before her book's publication, a deliberate secret that had even sabotaged a later relationship. Given all this, her decision to accept his invitation to stay with him raises a central question: what outcome could she desire? Is she seeking closure, a confession, or simply a confrontation with the source of her pain?
The meeting culminates in an exchange that perfectly captures the lingering emotional warfare: “I have the sense that something is being drawn between us. Not drawn as in line but as an arrow pulled back. Yet I don’t know which of us holds the bow, and which of us faces the arrow.”
The book centers on the theme of artistic life. Christine feels she has been robbed of her creative capacity, no longer the artist she once was. To initiate her healing, she has shifted her focus from visual art to writing. This new medium enables her to fictionalize her experiences, thereby allowing her to regain mastery over her own story.
Pham's fiercely intelligent debut refuses to offer easy answers, instead focusing on a nuanced character study of a woman grappling with her past and seeking purpose. The author achieves this by examining the wreckage of trauma through the lens of creative output, all while maintaining a compelling sense of suspense.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #Discipline #NetGalley
November 15, 2025
[4.5 stars] If you enjoyed Intimacies or My Nemesis, I think you'll really enjoy Pham's debut. There's something very special about literary fiction that leverages tension from the onset -- it reads like a thriller, and I was very curious to see how the central conflict would resolve itself.
Discipline is about a former artist whose ill-fated affair with a professor in her MFA program results in her withdrawal from the program and inability to paint again. She turns to writing to try and make sense of her experiences, and her not-so-fictionalized debut novel mirrors her own experiences. We follow her on a book tour where she reconnects with former classmates, lovers, and artists.
There's a lot of substance and nuance in Pham's analysis of power, agency, gender, and artistry. Her book is aptly described as an 'exorcism of the past', and in her introspection, we are presented with meaningful questions about the act of creation itself. Her decision to turn away from painting is mulled over throughout the novel, and unearths philosophical questions about how we express ourselves through art. Her decision to publish the novel was intended to be an act of catharsis, but she is faced with the mirror image: in fictionalizing her exploitation, has she reduced her trauma to nothing more than a performance?
Despite the slim page count, there's a lot of meat in this story that I'll be reflecting on. I did find the second part to veer slightly into cliche territory (with a somewhat predictable ending). Still, there's enough self-awareness from both Pham and the narrator about this that I didn't find it egregious by any means. I'll credit this book for getting me out of a reading slump - a knockout of a debut from a writer to watch.
Thank you to PRH Canada for the e-ARC!
Discipline is about a former artist whose ill-fated affair with a professor in her MFA program results in her withdrawal from the program and inability to paint again. She turns to writing to try and make sense of her experiences, and her not-so-fictionalized debut novel mirrors her own experiences. We follow her on a book tour where she reconnects with former classmates, lovers, and artists.
There's a lot of substance and nuance in Pham's analysis of power, agency, gender, and artistry. Her book is aptly described as an 'exorcism of the past', and in her introspection, we are presented with meaningful questions about the act of creation itself. Her decision to turn away from painting is mulled over throughout the novel, and unearths philosophical questions about how we express ourselves through art. Her decision to publish the novel was intended to be an act of catharsis, but she is faced with the mirror image: in fictionalizing her exploitation, has she reduced her trauma to nothing more than a performance?
Despite the slim page count, there's a lot of meat in this story that I'll be reflecting on. I did find the second part to veer slightly into cliche territory (with a somewhat predictable ending). Still, there's enough self-awareness from both Pham and the narrator about this that I didn't find it egregious by any means. I'll credit this book for getting me out of a reading slump - a knockout of a debut from a writer to watch.
Thank you to PRH Canada for the e-ARC!
November 6, 2025
Where to even start with this one... I was immediately drawn to Discipline's central conflict, prompting me to do something that I don't do often: read an ARC knowing next-to-nothing about the novel or novelist. I’ve now read the novel -- and I have to admit, it feels much longer than its modest page count. Without spoiling anything, I can tell you that this is a book about the way time changes the people we once knew intimately (and warps our recollections of them)... It's also about the destabilizing experience being young and full of promise, only to have these aspirations derailed, #MeToo-style. After a traumatic and shameful encounter with her much-older academic advisor, narrator Christine abandons her career as a painter and struggles to rebuild her life. When Discipline opens, Christine is now a writer and is promoting her first book: a "revenge fantasy" loosely based on this affair -- only Christine's protagonist humiliates and kills the older male professor instead.
Needless to say, I was primed to enjoy this novel based on its plot and themes. But the style/voice was a massive obstacle to my enjoyment. There's something about the overwrought and emotionally-sterile prose that kept me detached from the main character and the minor (then major) dramas she witnesses/experiences. The narrative sets up character interactions that should be taut and interesting, one right after another: an oversharing stranger, an ex-boyfriend, a college friend / artistic rival. But these conversations felt utterly lifeless to me -- missing crucial vulnerability or realism as everyone in the scene prattles on and on with the singular, artificial voice of an MFA student. And then they just trail off...
For the first half of the book, I thought to myself that, surely, this was intentional -- the stilted writing, and Christine's subtly judgmental vibe, and the way that these character interactions kept building up to nothing, no kairotic moment. I kept waiting for there to be a point to it all. I assumed the crucial switch-flip would come during a confrontation between the narrator and the old painter. But these chapters also fizzle. As soon as the narrator and the painter get into unpacking their conflict -- what happened, and what he intended, and how she feels about it -- something ELSE happens that diffuses or cuts away from the situation completely -- culminating in the ultimate cut-away, which I suppose is the novel's "climax." Beyond two paragraphs at the 97% mark, this reckoning fell totally flat to me. There's extremely limited character growth and insight, in my opinion.
Is it so wrong to want to see blood on the pavement after idling in several miles of traffic? That is why I, personally, read literary fiction: for that scene at the end, with the family around the Thanksgiving Day table, where the characters finally go completely aggro on each other. I don't want a short volley of gunshots, I want a nuclear fucking bomb. And, by the end of this, I just did not get it. The main character makes a series of baffling decisions. She claims to want answers but, at every juncture, evades getting them. She insists that she doesn't want revenge, despite writing a revenge fantasy. She fixates on the notion that she has become a completely different person from the woman who was spurned by this old man and quit painting, but... there's no evidence of this in the text. Why give up painting? Why write the revenge fantasy? Why agree to meet this man? There are no answers to these questions.
There are so many moments in this novel where, in response to another character's monologue, the narrator intones: "I don't know what to say, so I don't say anything." That about sums it up.
Needless to say, I was primed to enjoy this novel based on its plot and themes. But the style/voice was a massive obstacle to my enjoyment. There's something about the overwrought and emotionally-sterile prose that kept me detached from the main character and the minor (then major) dramas she witnesses/experiences. The narrative sets up character interactions that should be taut and interesting, one right after another: an oversharing stranger, an ex-boyfriend, a college friend / artistic rival. But these conversations felt utterly lifeless to me -- missing crucial vulnerability or realism as everyone in the scene prattles on and on with the singular, artificial voice of an MFA student. And then they just trail off...
For the first half of the book, I thought to myself that, surely, this was intentional -- the stilted writing, and Christine's subtly judgmental vibe, and the way that these character interactions kept building up to nothing, no kairotic moment. I kept waiting for there to be a point to it all. I assumed the crucial switch-flip would come during a confrontation between the narrator and the old painter. But these chapters also fizzle. As soon as the narrator and the painter get into unpacking their conflict -- what happened, and what he intended, and how she feels about it -- something ELSE happens that diffuses or cuts away from the situation completely -- culminating in the ultimate cut-away, which I suppose is the novel's "climax." Beyond two paragraphs at the 97% mark, this reckoning fell totally flat to me. There's extremely limited character growth and insight, in my opinion.
Is it so wrong to want to see blood on the pavement after idling in several miles of traffic? That is why I, personally, read literary fiction: for that scene at the end, with the family around the Thanksgiving Day table, where the characters finally go completely aggro on each other. I don't want a short volley of gunshots, I want a nuclear fucking bomb. And, by the end of this, I just did not get it. The main character makes a series of baffling decisions. She claims to want answers but, at every juncture, evades getting them. She insists that she doesn't want revenge, despite writing a revenge fantasy. She fixates on the notion that she has become a completely different person from the woman who was spurned by this old man and quit painting, but... there's no evidence of this in the text. Why give up painting? Why write the revenge fantasy? Why agree to meet this man? There are no answers to these questions.
There are so many moments in this novel where, in response to another character's monologue, the narrator intones: "I don't know what to say, so I don't say anything." That about sums it up.
October 19, 2025
ARC for review. To be published January 20, 2026.
3 stars
Christine is a former painter, now a first time author and she’s starting her book tour. Is it fair that she gets to have both artistic and literary talent? No. No, it is not.
Her book is a loosely fictionalized version of a weekend affair she had with a professor in her MFA program; this relationship affected her deeply and caused her to give up art completely and it totally changed nearly everything about her life and sense of self. While she is on the book tour the professor reaches out to tell Christine he has read the book.
I have to be honest, I didn’t relate to Christine very much. There’s no doubt the professor was wrong to take advantage of the situation, and there’s no telling how someone in Christine’s position is going to react to that, I guess, but Christine’s life and growth essentially stopped at that point. Over one weekend, it wasn’t even like the had a full on relationship. I felt like there must have been a lot of blank or hurting spaces that Christine brought to that weekend to have it affect her in the way that it did, for as long as it did. But I’m no psychologist, or anything useful, really. Interesting book (though there was a point I would have cheerfully killed Christine, I don’t care what she went through.)
3 stars
Christine is a former painter, now a first time author and she’s starting her book tour. Is it fair that she gets to have both artistic and literary talent? No. No, it is not.
Her book is a loosely fictionalized version of a weekend affair she had with a professor in her MFA program; this relationship affected her deeply and caused her to give up art completely and it totally changed nearly everything about her life and sense of self. While she is on the book tour the professor reaches out to tell Christine he has read the book.
I have to be honest, I didn’t relate to Christine very much. There’s no doubt the professor was wrong to take advantage of the situation, and there’s no telling how someone in Christine’s position is going to react to that, I guess, but Christine’s life and growth essentially stopped at that point. Over one weekend, it wasn’t even like the had a full on relationship. I felt like there must have been a lot of blank or hurting spaces that Christine brought to that weekend to have it affect her in the way that it did, for as long as it did. But I’m no psychologist, or anything useful, really. Interesting book (though there was a point I would have cheerfully killed Christine, I don’t care what she went through.)
January 31, 2026
Power, art, and the fine line between the two.
4.5 stars rounded up.
Books about women reckoning with past #MeToo moments are no longer rare, but in Discipline, Larissa Pham proves that familiarity doesn't preclude originality. Her debut novel transforms a well-worn premise - a young student's encounter with an older professor and the reverberations a decade later - into something exquisitely introspective, precise, and quietly unnerving.
Christine, now an author on book tour, has written a revenge novel thinly veiled as fiction, based on her former relationship with her mentor when she was an art student. As she travels, she begins to unravel her own myth-making - until her professor reaches out to say he's read the book. Their ensuing correspondence becomes a mirror maze of control, shame, and desire, forcing Christine to confront how art both distills and distorts truth.
Pham's prose is elegant, coolly intelligent yet emotionally exacting, shifting effortlessly between theory and confession. Drawing from her own background in painting and art history (she studied both at Yale), Pham threads Christine's reflections on art, gaze, and discipline through the narrative with ease, and I regularly found myself Googling the artists and paintings she referenced.
If some of the set pieces feel a bit too orchestrated - Christine's conveniently timed reflections about certain pieces artworks that fit the story, for instance - the overall effect is still mesmerizing. Christine's actions often surprised, sometimes baffled, and occasionally infuriated me, but the insights into art and the making of it, Pham's stunning prose, and the wonderful ending elevated the novel far above the cliché it might have been, turning it into an unsettling study of power, art-making, and the stories women tell to survive.
A complex, moving, and sometimes infuriating account of a woman's reckoning with her past, Discipline is, unlike Christine’s novel-within-the-novel, less about revenge than reclamation: of narrative, of art, and of the self.
Many thanks to Random House for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
"Discipline" was published on January 20, 2026, and is available now.
4.5 stars rounded up.
Books about women reckoning with past #MeToo moments are no longer rare, but in Discipline, Larissa Pham proves that familiarity doesn't preclude originality. Her debut novel transforms a well-worn premise - a young student's encounter with an older professor and the reverberations a decade later - into something exquisitely introspective, precise, and quietly unnerving.
Christine, now an author on book tour, has written a revenge novel thinly veiled as fiction, based on her former relationship with her mentor when she was an art student. As she travels, she begins to unravel her own myth-making - until her professor reaches out to say he's read the book. Their ensuing correspondence becomes a mirror maze of control, shame, and desire, forcing Christine to confront how art both distills and distorts truth.
Pham's prose is elegant, coolly intelligent yet emotionally exacting, shifting effortlessly between theory and confession. Drawing from her own background in painting and art history (she studied both at Yale), Pham threads Christine's reflections on art, gaze, and discipline through the narrative with ease, and I regularly found myself Googling the artists and paintings she referenced.
If some of the set pieces feel a bit too orchestrated - Christine's conveniently timed reflections about certain pieces artworks that fit the story, for instance - the overall effect is still mesmerizing. Christine's actions often surprised, sometimes baffled, and occasionally infuriated me, but the insights into art and the making of it, Pham's stunning prose, and the wonderful ending elevated the novel far above the cliché it might have been, turning it into an unsettling study of power, art-making, and the stories women tell to survive.
A complex, moving, and sometimes infuriating account of a woman's reckoning with her past, Discipline is, unlike Christine’s novel-within-the-novel, less about revenge than reclamation: of narrative, of art, and of the self.
Many thanks to Random House for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
"Discipline" was published on January 20, 2026, and is available now.
September 7, 2025
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!
I am particularly excited for the release of Discipline. I wasn’t familiar with Larissa Pham before reading this, but I think Discipline has the potential to be a big book in the literary community.
Discipline centers a disillusioned artist who claims she quit painting due to the misconduct of her MFA professor and the twisted relationship they had. The plot begins by following her as she talks to people around the U.S. on a book tour for a novel she wrote about the professor ordeal. I would describe her narration as cold and distant, but reachable through the prose.
I think the only thing I wanted more from this one was a clearer meditation on the protagonist’s difficult logic. As in, a clearer break of what she refuses to see in herself and others. For example, I couldn’t tell whether she knew what she wanted by the end of the novel or whether she actually knew why she quit painting. She was both detached and childish, which played more awkwardly for me than compelling.
At only 140 pages, I was able to read this in one sitting, though I feel it would be enjoyable over a longer period since the novel covers a lot of time. There are a lot of ways to interpret both the plot and the protagonist, so I’d be super interested in discussing this one with others. The sort of disconnected narration reminded me of Katie Kitamura’s writing, particularly Intimacies. It is my understanding that Pham has been mostly writing nonfiction, so I am excited to read more novels from her.
I am particularly excited for the release of Discipline. I wasn’t familiar with Larissa Pham before reading this, but I think Discipline has the potential to be a big book in the literary community.
Discipline centers a disillusioned artist who claims she quit painting due to the misconduct of her MFA professor and the twisted relationship they had. The plot begins by following her as she talks to people around the U.S. on a book tour for a novel she wrote about the professor ordeal. I would describe her narration as cold and distant, but reachable through the prose.
I think the only thing I wanted more from this one was a clearer meditation on the protagonist’s difficult logic. As in, a clearer break of what she refuses to see in herself and others. For example, I couldn’t tell whether she knew what she wanted by the end of the novel or whether she actually knew why she quit painting. She was both detached and childish, which played more awkwardly for me than compelling.
At only 140 pages, I was able to read this in one sitting, though I feel it would be enjoyable over a longer period since the novel covers a lot of time. There are a lot of ways to interpret both the plot and the protagonist, so I’d be super interested in discussing this one with others. The sort of disconnected narration reminded me of Katie Kitamura’s writing, particularly Intimacies. It is my understanding that Pham has been mostly writing nonfiction, so I am excited to read more novels from her.
September 17, 2025
This book was a fascinating, thrilling, exciting, well written read. I love how we learn bits and pieces from Christine as she reflects on them. Her story and what she seeks now is so relatable. With references to art and through conversations with others she’s seeking answers and trying to work on herself. I was yelling at some of the decisions she made but that just made everything that much more relatable.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
November 15, 2025
This is a bizarre but beautiful book about a novelist whose muse in college was her professor. and she writes a novel about it. But odd things begin happening. As she looks back at her college years she realizes so many things she should have "seen" but refused to The most lovely line was, "The book stopped being an exorcism and became a project of craft and form." It's bewitching in its innocence and depravity but such an unusual novel that I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
December 10, 2025
I have the sense that something is being drawn between us. Not drawn as in line but as in arrow pulled back. But I don’t know which one of us holds the bow, and which of us faces the arrow.
Christine is a former painter and first-time author whose debut novel is a lightly fictionalized revenge fantasy that recounts the affair she had with her college painting professor ten years ago. Despite her literary success, Christine feels unsettled and adrift in her life, searching for a sense of purpose. And that’s when the painting professor reaches out to her after a decade of no communication, letting her know he’s read her novel and inviting her to his cabin in Maine.
I don’t know exactly why – maybe the use of the phrase “revenge fantasy” and the setting in a remote Maine cabin – but I was expecting Discipline to veer in the direction of a thriller. It doesn’t, although that’s not to say it’s without tension. Instead, it’s a cerebral, thoughtful portrait of a woman whose life was derailed and her desperate efforts to get back on track, even though she has no idea how to do so. It’s melancholy, poignant, and nuanced in its exploration of agency and art, performance and power.
The last third of the book, it must be said, becomes a bit cliché plot-wise, but both Larissa Pham and her protagonist have enough self-awareness to understand and acknowledge this – and it doesn’t by any means detract from the book’s message. In some ways, it enhances it. Discipline is a quiet but resounding war-cry about creation and healing – and the lingering consequences when an artist doesn’t create and doesn’t know how to heal. Thank you to Random House for the early reading opportunity.
January 25, 2026
(rounded down from 4.25)
This was my introduction to the writing of Larissa Pham, and it's exactly up my alley. The prose is both precise, thoughtful, and appropriately lyrical, while the subject matter, despite the mundanity of the blurb, remains deeply focused on the interiority of this young woman's mind and what was taken from her as an artist when she was used by a much older artist professor and then discarded. If you don't enjoy a leisurely examination of periods of time, relationships, and events in the life of a person on their way to getting over a traumatic event when they were young, this may not be for you, because the plot is necessarily sparse here.
Deeply focused on the mind of an artist and how she interacts with the world, with a background of her writing a revenge fantasy book about the trauma, and then dealing with the person in question and trying to come to terms with the trauma. I really enjoyed this and will definitely check out her othe works!
This was my introduction to the writing of Larissa Pham, and it's exactly up my alley. The prose is both precise, thoughtful, and appropriately lyrical, while the subject matter, despite the mundanity of the blurb, remains deeply focused on the interiority of this young woman's mind and what was taken from her as an artist when she was used by a much older artist professor and then discarded. If you don't enjoy a leisurely examination of periods of time, relationships, and events in the life of a person on their way to getting over a traumatic event when they were young, this may not be for you, because the plot is necessarily sparse here.
Deeply focused on the mind of an artist and how she interacts with the world, with a background of her writing a revenge fantasy book about the trauma, and then dealing with the person in question and trying to come to terms with the trauma. I really enjoyed this and will definitely check out her othe works!
January 21, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC. Today (1/20/26) is publication day!
In Discipline, Christine is on book tour for a novel she wrote about her past relationship with a former professor. As the tour unfolds, she reconnects with people from her life—friends, ex-boyfriends, and eventually the professor himself. Each encounter pushes her to reflect on who she was then, who she is now, and how much control we really have over our own narratives.
This was my first book by Larissa Pham, and I really enjoyed the writing. It’s sharp, introspective, and emotionally thoughtful. The novel does a great job exploring memory, power, art, and self-examination, especially how we reinterpret the past as we grow. A strong, thought-provoking debut that stayed with me after I finished.
In Discipline, Christine is on book tour for a novel she wrote about her past relationship with a former professor. As the tour unfolds, she reconnects with people from her life—friends, ex-boyfriends, and eventually the professor himself. Each encounter pushes her to reflect on who she was then, who she is now, and how much control we really have over our own narratives.
This was my first book by Larissa Pham, and I really enjoyed the writing. It’s sharp, introspective, and emotionally thoughtful. The novel does a great job exploring memory, power, art, and self-examination, especially how we reinterpret the past as we grow. A strong, thought-provoking debut that stayed with me after I finished.
February 14, 2026
Short novel about art and agency. It reminded me of Aysegul Savas's thoughtful works, and in fact she blurbed this.
The narrator is a woman on a book tour. In her novel she fictionalized her autobiographical experience as an art student in a relationship with an older professor. In the second part of the book, the woman meets the old man after more than decade.
I am a bit tired of this theme to be honest. It also felt a bit distant at times and some will find it pretentious, but there were enough interesting observations for me to keep going.
3,5
The narrator is a woman on a book tour. In her novel she fictionalized her autobiographical experience as an art student in a relationship with an older professor. In the second part of the book, the woman meets the old man after more than decade.
I am a bit tired of this theme to be honest. It also felt a bit distant at times and some will find it pretentious, but there were enough interesting observations for me to keep going.
3,5
January 23, 2026
4.5. Thought I didn’t need/want any other writing on this subject manner. Turns out, I did with Pham’s prose.
November 27, 2025
My exhaustion with this book is mainly due to the fact that I’m just tired of reading about relationships between women and their higher education professors. I just am! Even if the writing is technically good, and there’s interesting side characters, the story beats are the same. There’s a reunion, there’s resentment, there’s a woman left broken, watching an older man grow older and leave her with a new trauma. Christine, in this book, barely felt like a character. I understood the outlines of her life, but her growth stopped at a point in her life that predates this book’s events, making her feel deeply uninteresting. Consider this my lesson learned, I will not read books with this plot anymore.
February 25, 2026
That's not how I remembered it.
this is a gorgeous + emotionally exacting read. it is cerebral, atmospheric, and leverages tension from the start. woman grappling with her past + finding purpose is one of my favorite themes. in this novel, it is christine examining the decision to drop out of her MFA program and quit painting . as she comes to accept her part in a decision that derailed her artistry and ambition, her insights on power, agency, gender, and creativity are neatly intertwined with known artists.
christine's artist shoutouts:
an-my-lê ( a good picture is one that is surprising)
clyfford still
edward + josephine hopper
robert henri
helen frankenthaler (mountains and sea!)
alex katz
agnes martin
jackson pollock
robert motherwell
vija celmins (oceans, night skies and deserts!)
senga nengudi (her sculptures made of pantyhose!)
christina quarles (LOVE!)
this is a gorgeous + emotionally exacting read. it is cerebral, atmospheric, and leverages tension from the start. woman grappling with her past + finding purpose is one of my favorite themes. in this novel, it is christine examining the decision to drop out of her MFA program and quit painting . as she comes to accept her part in a decision that derailed her artistry and ambition, her insights on power, agency, gender, and creativity are neatly intertwined with known artists.
christine's artist shoutouts:
an-my-lê ( a good picture is one that is surprising)
clyfford still
edward + josephine hopper
robert henri
helen frankenthaler (mountains and sea!)
alex katz
agnes martin
jackson pollock
robert motherwell
vija celmins (oceans, night skies and deserts!)
senga nengudi (her sculptures made of pantyhose!)
christina quarles (LOVE!)
September 21, 2025
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the ebook. A young novelist cobbles together a small book tour to celebrate her first novel, but also to get away from her real life and examine the huge turn her life has taken. Namely, that she was a much admired painting student, whose painting career came to an abrupt halt after she had a brief affair with an older professor who happens to be her largest fan. But no more. She eventually drops out of graduate school, switches to writing and failed relationships, that all led to this book, basically about her college life, except in this book, she kills her professor. Now retired from teaching, the professor invites her to Maine so they can talk. Feeling that maybe she needs this before she can move forward in her life, the author agrees.
February 24, 2026
This is an interesting debut novel by a skilled author. The protagonist, Christine, is a young writer on a book tour promoting her first novel, which is based on something that transpired between her and her art professor years earlier. As readers, early on we don't know if they had an affair or if she was a victim of some kind of sexual assault...as the novel progresses, there is some clarification of what may have transpired between them. In any case, it's apparent from the start that whatever occurred between them was traumatizing for Christine and resulted in her abandoning her studies as an artist and ultimately writing the novel as a way to subconsciously process her feelings about what happened and how it has changed her and the trajectory of her life. So the novel begins as something of a mystery but really it's literary fiction. The novel explores how Christine still struggles to process how her time with this art professor essentially robbed her of her creativity as a visual artist while also impacting her ability to maintain a healthy, honest relationship with other men in her life moving forward. I don't want to give too much away here, but she does encounter the professor again and this novel explores what happens when their paths cross. The prose here is rich and descriptive. I liked this writer's style but I was left wanting a bit more here in terms of some of the characterization and exploration of themes. This novel is somewhat dark but I did enjoy the author's use of detail and imagery here.
February 11, 2026
I loved this book. The way the author expertly walked the line between beautiful prose and pretentious intellectualism was brilliant. I felt fully immersed in the main character’s internality, the complex emotions and relationships, and the unsavory parts of our humanity. The author didn’t shy away from an ounce of it.
Another debut that has me seated for every future book the author will write.
4.5, rounded up.
Another debut that has me seated for every future book the author will write.
4.5, rounded up.
February 4, 2026
I literally did not have to read this
November 4, 2025
3.5 stars
For some, hindsight is 20/20. For Christine, a look back is not enough. She has some major past issues that have made lasting impacts, so her approach to return to them through art and IRL is both brave and at least a little bit bonkers.
Christine's initial commitment is to painting, but that falls apart via a challenging encounter with a mentor/professor. She's forced to face this critical change in her life in several ways. By comparing herself to a former peer, she has an automatic measurement for exactly how far from her artistry she's fallen. There's also Christine's book, where she's used some very true-to-life inspo to not only engage her audience but to also process some of her personal challenges. And finally, there's a reckoning that may help her heal or could help her devolve into writing a revenge fantasy sequel.
I have a particular distaste for the mentor/mentee relationship turned gross because it's so common in life and in art, and I hate it. As a result, I had some challenges with this book, but those are more about me than about the writing or conceptualization. Since I'm a whole person, it's tough for me to separate the motif from the art. While this is her trauma to process as she likes, I also found Christine's outcomes frustrating.
What I love about this speedy read is the depiction of the tie between an individual and their art and how tenuous any part of our sense of self or identity can be when we have a challenging interaction with another person. There is some really impactful discussion here about Christine seeing herself literally and metaphorically, and that scene on its own made this worth the read (not that the rest didn't - this was just particularly well devised).
This book, like all literary fiction, isn't going to be for everyone, but there's an undeniable spark in this writing and a message that will resonate with the artists among us.
*Special thanks to NetGalley and Madison Dettlinger at Random House Marketing for this widget, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
For some, hindsight is 20/20. For Christine, a look back is not enough. She has some major past issues that have made lasting impacts, so her approach to return to them through art and IRL is both brave and at least a little bit bonkers.
Christine's initial commitment is to painting, but that falls apart via a challenging encounter with a mentor/professor. She's forced to face this critical change in her life in several ways. By comparing herself to a former peer, she has an automatic measurement for exactly how far from her artistry she's fallen. There's also Christine's book, where she's used some very true-to-life inspo to not only engage her audience but to also process some of her personal challenges. And finally, there's a reckoning that may help her heal or could help her devolve into writing a revenge fantasy sequel.
I have a particular distaste for the mentor/mentee relationship turned gross because it's so common in life and in art, and I hate it. As a result, I had some challenges with this book, but those are more about me than about the writing or conceptualization. Since I'm a whole person, it's tough for me to separate the motif from the art. While this is her trauma to process as she likes, I also found Christine's outcomes frustrating.
What I love about this speedy read is the depiction of the tie between an individual and their art and how tenuous any part of our sense of self or identity can be when we have a challenging interaction with another person. There is some really impactful discussion here about Christine seeing herself literally and metaphorically, and that scene on its own made this worth the read (not that the rest didn't - this was just particularly well devised).
This book, like all literary fiction, isn't going to be for everyone, but there's an undeniable spark in this writing and a message that will resonate with the artists among us.
*Special thanks to NetGalley and Madison Dettlinger at Random House Marketing for this widget, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
February 20, 2026
Thanks PRH & Goodreads for this giveaway/ARC!
The premise gave me great intrigue, and Phram didn’t disappoint. The conversational style wrapped in Christine’s search for closure made for a thought-provoking and captivating read. A few times, during her earlier journey with past lovers and strangers, I reflectively sat in the beauty of everyday experiences we often think as mundane. Phram really captivated my attention. I’ll be curious to reread in the future after sitting with my thoughts on this one.
The premise gave me great intrigue, and Phram didn’t disappoint. The conversational style wrapped in Christine’s search for closure made for a thought-provoking and captivating read. A few times, during her earlier journey with past lovers and strangers, I reflectively sat in the beauty of everyday experiences we often think as mundane. Phram really captivated my attention. I’ll be curious to reread in the future after sitting with my thoughts on this one.
November 10, 2025
My favorite part about this book is: 1. The cover. My favorite part, but also the part that made me roll my eyes, is: 1. When Christine met many new people in the city and talked about life. The part I hated about this story is: 1. The lack of quotation marks in every conversation. WHY???? But either way, I felt that this was a beautiful book that perfectly captured the mood the main character was going through.
January 21, 2026
Wow, wow, wow. Discipline by Larissa Pham is a masterclass in writing a novel on longing, grief, desire and the quiet moments in life. The novel takes place over a few weeks as we watch Christine, an author and former painter, who is on tour for her novel that focuses on relationship between a student and older professor—reminiscent of Christine’s own experiences ten years ago. While on tour, her ex-professor reappears and she must confront truths she’s held dear for years.
I’ve never highlighted so many passages in a book, maybe in my entire life. Pham’s writing style is slow, methodical and made me reflect on the little in between moments in life - when I’m looking up at the sky or watching waves crash against the rocks. I was so grateful to sit with her words. And while a quieter novel in terms of plot, it did tie together threads that I wasn’t sure would become resolved by the end. However, if you’re looking for a book to answer every question this isn’t that, and in my opinion, it does a beautiful job toeing that line. So much of our lives have unanswered questions and this novel felt acutely human. Pham’s writing gorgeously embodies how our lives are lived, for better or worse.
As someone who is not a painter, I had a little difficulty getting fully into the hyper specific scenes detailing the craft of painting, but it didn’t take away the beauty of the writing. An area I especially loved beyond the reflection on the relationship between Christine and her previous professor was that of her friends and ex-boyfriend. Showing even glimpses of their lives and illuminating the faults and moments of love between them really filled in the color of the life Christine loved before the opening of the novel.
I was lucky enough to get an arc of this last year thanks to NetGalley and immediately ordered a copy for myself. Pham is now officially on my automatic buy list and I can’t wait to see what she puts out next.
I’ve never highlighted so many passages in a book, maybe in my entire life. Pham’s writing style is slow, methodical and made me reflect on the little in between moments in life - when I’m looking up at the sky or watching waves crash against the rocks. I was so grateful to sit with her words. And while a quieter novel in terms of plot, it did tie together threads that I wasn’t sure would become resolved by the end. However, if you’re looking for a book to answer every question this isn’t that, and in my opinion, it does a beautiful job toeing that line. So much of our lives have unanswered questions and this novel felt acutely human. Pham’s writing gorgeously embodies how our lives are lived, for better or worse.
As someone who is not a painter, I had a little difficulty getting fully into the hyper specific scenes detailing the craft of painting, but it didn’t take away the beauty of the writing. An area I especially loved beyond the reflection on the relationship between Christine and her previous professor was that of her friends and ex-boyfriend. Showing even glimpses of their lives and illuminating the faults and moments of love between them really filled in the color of the life Christine loved before the opening of the novel.
I was lucky enough to get an arc of this last year thanks to NetGalley and immediately ordered a copy for myself. Pham is now officially on my automatic buy list and I can’t wait to see what she puts out next.
January 27, 2026
“What was the core pain of nostalgia—that it wasn’t true, or that it didn’t last?”
Larissa Pham’s superb debut unfolds in two movements. In the first, Christine, an author on book tour, moves from city to city, her days shaped by encounters with strangers and people she once knew — an ex-lover, an estranged friend. She has written a novel drawn from her own life: years earlier, while in an MFA program, something happened between her and an older professor, a rupture that caused her to stop painting. That unresolved event ripples throughout, giving the book its tension.
These early chapters are remarkable. Each feels complete in itself, carried by conversations that invite intimacy and raise questions about Christine’s presence in the world. A portrait emerges of a woman cleaved from her former self, trying to account for a decade of loss — of ambition, of identity — through the relationships that have shaped and undone her.
The second half shifts to an island in Maine, where the former professor, now dying of cancer, has retreated. Here, the power dynamic changes, and the novel grows more unsettling. Christine’s desire to reclaim authority over her story sharpens into something more self-serving. She is a contradiction: analytical rather than openly emotional, yet guided by impulse as much as restraint. Her guardedness is not incidental but a pattern — one that forces her to confront her own reflection as much as anyone else’s.
Beyond its lush prose, what interested me is how DISCIPLINE complicates the notion of agency. Christine has long blamed her abandonment of painting on what was done to her, but the novel suggests it’s also rooted in her own estrangement from the medium. Art, identity, and personal history are inseparable here — and the question becomes whether it’s possible to find her way back to the self she left behind.
There’s a chapter early on — an encounter with her ex, Colin — so perfect and fully realized it could stand on its own (in fact I read it twice), and after that I was in Pham’s hands. This is a book of exceptional control and intelligence — it should be on everyone’s radar.
Larissa Pham’s superb debut unfolds in two movements. In the first, Christine, an author on book tour, moves from city to city, her days shaped by encounters with strangers and people she once knew — an ex-lover, an estranged friend. She has written a novel drawn from her own life: years earlier, while in an MFA program, something happened between her and an older professor, a rupture that caused her to stop painting. That unresolved event ripples throughout, giving the book its tension.
These early chapters are remarkable. Each feels complete in itself, carried by conversations that invite intimacy and raise questions about Christine’s presence in the world. A portrait emerges of a woman cleaved from her former self, trying to account for a decade of loss — of ambition, of identity — through the relationships that have shaped and undone her.
The second half shifts to an island in Maine, where the former professor, now dying of cancer, has retreated. Here, the power dynamic changes, and the novel grows more unsettling. Christine’s desire to reclaim authority over her story sharpens into something more self-serving. She is a contradiction: analytical rather than openly emotional, yet guided by impulse as much as restraint. Her guardedness is not incidental but a pattern — one that forces her to confront her own reflection as much as anyone else’s.
Beyond its lush prose, what interested me is how DISCIPLINE complicates the notion of agency. Christine has long blamed her abandonment of painting on what was done to her, but the novel suggests it’s also rooted in her own estrangement from the medium. Art, identity, and personal history are inseparable here — and the question becomes whether it’s possible to find her way back to the self she left behind.
There’s a chapter early on — an encounter with her ex, Colin — so perfect and fully realized it could stand on its own (in fact I read it twice), and after that I was in Pham’s hands. This is a book of exceptional control and intelligence — it should be on everyone’s radar.
February 12, 2026
“Every book I write seems to have this thing where you’re moving forward in time, but then there’s also this deep movement into the past at the same time, this excavation that’s happening as there’s forward momentum. Figuring out a way to combine those things was an interesting way of thinking about how to move the book forward and how to keep a sense of discovery for the reader.
I think I was really interested actually in thinking about pacing and thinking about plot and thinking about subtle ways of suggesting that things are changing or that there’s a development of some kind or that there’s more information to be revealed, which is not something that I had studied before, but I was like, all right, let’s write a thriller or let’s write the most thriller-y thriller I can write, which is not that much of a thriller…”
~ Larissa Pham
The most thriller-y thriller Larissa Pham could write was an absolute joy to read.
Christine, ex-MFA student, ex-painter, ex-lover, is on book tour for her first novel, a fantastical take on a past relationship gone wrong with an older professor. From city to city and through the lens of famous paintings encountered on the way, she slowly makes her way into the world of self-explanation.
Until the old professor resurfaces.
A highly controlled, razor-sharp take on the stories we tell ourselves in order to create, “Discipline” is an impossibly elegant debut novel that surfs from Oregon to Maine, from paintings to words, from a past reimagined to the wildest of all futures.
Larissa Pham is a deep, seductive thinker, a highly sensitive artist who raises beautiful question after beautiful question with this book and left me a little bit stunned by the power and perceptiveness of her prose.
“Discipline” is a a storm on the horizon, a prismatic and haunting story about art, about how it can save us, how it can entrap us and how it can fool us into thinking that we are done with real life.
I think I was really interested actually in thinking about pacing and thinking about plot and thinking about subtle ways of suggesting that things are changing or that there’s a development of some kind or that there’s more information to be revealed, which is not something that I had studied before, but I was like, all right, let’s write a thriller or let’s write the most thriller-y thriller I can write, which is not that much of a thriller…”
~ Larissa Pham
The most thriller-y thriller Larissa Pham could write was an absolute joy to read.
Christine, ex-MFA student, ex-painter, ex-lover, is on book tour for her first novel, a fantastical take on a past relationship gone wrong with an older professor. From city to city and through the lens of famous paintings encountered on the way, she slowly makes her way into the world of self-explanation.
Until the old professor resurfaces.
A highly controlled, razor-sharp take on the stories we tell ourselves in order to create, “Discipline” is an impossibly elegant debut novel that surfs from Oregon to Maine, from paintings to words, from a past reimagined to the wildest of all futures.
Larissa Pham is a deep, seductive thinker, a highly sensitive artist who raises beautiful question after beautiful question with this book and left me a little bit stunned by the power and perceptiveness of her prose.
“Discipline” is a a storm on the horizon, a prismatic and haunting story about art, about how it can save us, how it can entrap us and how it can fool us into thinking that we are done with real life.
February 9, 2026
TeaTime: Februarys book pick of the month
This book is very different than what I am used to reading but I think that’s why I enjoyed it so much. There is a lot that goes into this book that you really unpack while reading. This book is based around the art world and how Christine’s life had changed because of her involvement with her art professor. Christine LOVES art, specifically, paintings and Thur the way this book was written I feel like I got a great sense of who Christine is by the way she talks about paintings. In a lot of ways I feel bad for Christine. Throughout this book she goes on a book tour of a novel she has writing and along the way we get to met some people that she has known over the past couple of years. Christine gave up painting after she had a thing with a professor bc she could never fully believe in her work because she thought the professor was just giving her special treatment so he could get something else in return. When a matter of fact is that I know Christine was probably a BEAUTIFUL painter but he fucked with her head so hard. When i got to the end of this book I really didn’t know how it was going to end but i think i am satisfied with how things turned out. I hope now Christine is able to start painting again and continue writing books bc she is a great storyteller in both ways.
This book is very different than what I am used to reading but I think that’s why I enjoyed it so much. There is a lot that goes into this book that you really unpack while reading. This book is based around the art world and how Christine’s life had changed because of her involvement with her art professor. Christine LOVES art, specifically, paintings and Thur the way this book was written I feel like I got a great sense of who Christine is by the way she talks about paintings. In a lot of ways I feel bad for Christine. Throughout this book she goes on a book tour of a novel she has writing and along the way we get to met some people that she has known over the past couple of years. Christine gave up painting after she had a thing with a professor bc she could never fully believe in her work because she thought the professor was just giving her special treatment so he could get something else in return. When a matter of fact is that I know Christine was probably a BEAUTIFUL painter but he fucked with her head so hard. When i got to the end of this book I really didn’t know how it was going to end but i think i am satisfied with how things turned out. I hope now Christine is able to start painting again and continue writing books bc she is a great storyteller in both ways.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews