The Sheltering Sky is now ready for pick up

Our next book The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles is now ready for pick up at the Main Library return desk.

Bowles' existential masterpiece follows 3 westerners into the Sahara desert as slowly the isolation and desolation of the landscape alters their concept of reality.

We'll be meeting to discuss this book on September 10th at the Main Library in Conference Rm 3 at noon. Feel free to bring a lunch.

Some thoughts about The Human Stain...

- I love the title of this book. What do you think it means?

- Is the relationship between Coleman and Faunia immoral or somehow exploitative?

- Should Coleman have apologized for using the word "spooks"? What do you think of his decision to resign?

- Was Coleman's decision to lie about his race justifiable? Was it necessary for him to disown his family?

- Is Les Farley accountable for his actions?

- How, if at all, is this book about Bill Clinton?

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Philip Roth is one our nation's most critically acclaimed novelists. Here's an interview with him:



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The character of Coleman Silk is thought to be based on real life literary critic Anatole Broyard. Broyard's daughter Bliss wrote a memoir, One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life -- A Story of Race and Family Secrets, about her father and learning learn of his racial identity two months before his death. Here's a short feature about her book:



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We'll be meeting to discuss Philip Roth's The Human Stain on August 13th at the Main Library in Conference Rm 3 at noon. Feel free to bring a lunch.

Our next book is The Human Stain by Philip Roth

Philip Roth's The Human Stain earned the acclaimed novelist the PEN/Faulkner Award upon its original publication. What on the surface appears to be an indictment of political correctness and public flares of moral outrage, slowly reveals itself to be far more profound as Roth's alter ego Nathan Zuckerman discovers secrets embedded in the past of dethroned professor Coleman Silk.

We'll be meeting to discuss this book August 13th, at the Main Library in Conference Room 3 at noon.

Reading List for Fall 2008

Your votes are in! Here is our reading list for Fall 2008:

The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles - Sept. 10th

American Gods by Neil Gaiman - Oct. 8th

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann - Nov. 12th

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Dec. 10th

We'll need to pick four new books around October so keep recommendations in mind.

Thanks,
Bryan the Librarian

Some thoughts about Omnivore's Dilemma

- Is this book really a "natural history of four meals," or is it about something else?

- I read reviews of the book praising the author for handling the subject matter in a unbiased manner. Do you think the author was biased in any way? Why or why not?

- There was a long sidebar towards the end of the book about the ethics of eating meat. Did this section sway you at all, or cause you to reconsider your opinions on this matter?

- The author suggests the difference in cost between industrial and organic food could easily be absorbed if people simply chose to budget for it. He uses cell phones as an example of an expense that was once considered a luxury but is now common place. Is this a good analogy?

Here are websites of two companies he discusses in the book:

Joel Salatin's Polyface Farms: http://www.polyfacefarms.com/

Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM): one of the world's largest processors of corn and soybeans: http://www.admworld.com/naen/

Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan now ready for pick up

Our next book, Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan is now ready for pick up at the Main Library return desk. Last I checked only a few copies were left so don't miss out.

Critically acclaimed food scholar Michael Pollan explores the origins and implications of the American diet in his award winning Omnivore's Dilemma. Competing media messages about fad diets, the benefits of organic food, and the economic realities at the supermarket are elucidated by Pollan's thoughtful prose and meticulous research. Omnivore's Dilemma was the 2007 winner of the James Beard Award (probably the world's most prestigious food writing award) and named one of the New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the Year.

We'll be meeting to discuss this book July 9th, at the Main Library in Conference Room 3 at noon.

Some thoughts about Lakota Woman...

- The author is openly hostile to white society. Is this attitude justified?

- Along the same line of thought, the author is often bitter about perceived harassment by federal authorities. Didn't she take part in many actions that were brazenly seditious to the United States government? Was the government's response to these actions appropriate?

- Many events described by Mary Crow Dog defy, or at least test the limits, of Western science. How should we interpret these events?

- Lakota Woman is often used in classrooms as an example of feminist literature. How would white feminists interpret her decision to become Leonard Crow Dog's wife? Was the second half of the book about her life or her husband's life?

We'll be meeting to discuss Lakota Woman on June 11th at noon in Conference Room 3 of Main Library downtown.