{{short description|Novel by Rachel Cusk}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox book | italic title = <!--(see above)--> | name = Outline | image = File:15635 books origjpg.jpg | caption = First edition (UK) | border = | alt = | author = [[Rachel Cusk]] | audio_read_by = | title_orig = | orig_lang_code = | title_working = | translator = | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = | language = English | series = | release_number = | subject = | genre = Fiction | set_in = | publisher = [[Faber and Faber]] (UK) | publisher2 = [[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]] (US) | pub_date = 2014 (United Kingdom), 2015 (United States) | english_pub_date = | published = | media_type = | pages = 256 | awards = | isbn = 978-0-374-22834-7 | isbn_note = | oclc = | dewey = | congress = PR6053.U825 O68 2015 | preceded_by = | followed_by = Transit | native_wikisource = | wikisource = | notes = | exclude_cover = | website = }} '''Outline''' is a novel by [[Rachel Cusk]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://us.macmillan.com/outline/rachelcusk/9781250081544|title=Outline {{!}} Rachel Cusk {{!}} Macmillan|website=US Macmillan|language=en-US|access-date=2018-12-26}}</ref> the first in a trilogy known as ''The Outline trilogy'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://us.macmillan.com/series/|title=Macmillan: Series: Outline Trilogy|website=US Macmillan|language=en-US|access-date=2018-12-26}}</ref> which also contains the novels ''Transit'' and ''Kudos''. It was chosen by ''[[The New York Times]]'' critics as one of the 15 remarkable books by women that are "shaping the way we read and write fiction in the 21st century."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/05/books/vanguard-books-by-women-in-21st-century.html|title=The New Vanguard|last1=Garner|first1=Dwight|date=2018-03-05|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-12-26|last2=Sehgal|first2=Parul|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|last3=Szalai|first3=Jennifer}}</ref> The ''[[The New Yorker|New Yorker]]'' has called the novel "autobiographical fiction."<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/05/told-2|title=All Told|last=Blair|first=Elaine|date=2015-01-05|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=2018-12-26}}</ref>
== Plot == An English woman writer flies to Athens to teach a summer writing workshop. On the plane, she meets an older Greek divorcee<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/07/books/outline-rachel-cusks-new-novel.html|title=An Appeal to Listen and Learn|last=Garner|first=Dwight|date=2015-01-06|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-12-26|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> who tells her about his two failed marriages. The next day she meets with an Irish colleague from the writing school who also tells her his life story. In every chapter, the writer meets people and engages in long conversations on topics such as love, fiction, marriage, and intimacy.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/03/outline-rachel-cusk-review-novel|title=Outline by Rachel Cusk review – vignettes from a writing workshop|last=Lasdun|first=James|date=2014-09-03|work=The Guardian|access-date=2018-12-26|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
== Reception == ''Outline'' was named one of ''[[The New York Times]]'' Top Ten books of 2015.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/02/books/review/best-books-of-2015.html,%20https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/02/books/review/best-books-of-2015.html|title=The 10 Best Books of 2015|date=2015-12-03|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-12-26|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> It made the 2014 shortlist of the [[Goldsmiths Prize]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gold.ac.uk/goldsmiths-prize/prize2014/|title=The Goldsmiths Prize 2014|website=Goldsmiths, University of London|language=en|access-date=2018-12-26}}</ref> the 2015 shortlist of the [[Folio Prize]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://electricliterature.com/the-2015-folio-prize-shortlist-ab0fba2835e4|title=The 2015 Folio Prize Shortlist|last=Michel|first=Lincoln|date=2015-02-09|website=Electric Literature|access-date=2018-12-26}}</ref> and the 2015 shortlist of the [[Women's Prize for Fiction|Bailey Women's Prize for Fiction]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/reading-room/news/baileys-womens-prize-for-fiction-announce-2015-shortlist|title=Baileys Women's prize for Fiction announce 2015 shortlist|date=2015-04-13|website=Women's Prize for Fiction|access-date=2018-12-26}}</ref>
''Outline'' was voted the 34th best book since 2000 by ''[[The Guardian]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Guardian Staff|date=2019-09-21|title=The 100 best books of the 21st century|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/21/best-books-of-the-21st-century|access-date=2020-05-29|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In 2024, the ''New York Times'' named it the 14th best book of the 21st century.<ref>{{cite web |title=The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/books/best-books-21st-century.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=16 July 2024 |date=8 July 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
[[Category:2014 British novels]] [[Category:Novels set in Athens]] [[Category:Novels by Rachel Cusk]] [[Category:Faber & Faber books]] [[Category:Postmodern novels]]