June 2013 book: To Kill a Mockingbird

Cindy has picked a classic tale for our June 2013 read: To Kill a Mockingbird by Lee Harper. It's one of her all-time favorite books.

ABOUT THE BOOK
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was immediately successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature. The plot and characters are loosely based on the author's observations of her family and neighbors, as well as on an event that occurred near her hometown in 1936, when she was 10 years old.

The novel is renowned for its warmth and humor, despite dealing with the serious issues of rape and racial inequality. The narrator's father, Atticus Finch, has served as a moral hero for many readers and as a model of integrity for lawyers. One critic explains the novel's impact by writing, "In the twentieth century, To Kill a Mockingbird is probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America, and its protagonist, Atticus Finch, the most enduring fictional image of racial heroism."^[1]

As a Southern Gothic novel and a Bildungsroman, the primary themes of To Kill a Mockingbird involve racial injustice and the destruction of innocence. Scholars have noted that Lee also addresses issues of class, courage, compassion, and gender roles in the American Deep South. The book is widely taught in schools in English-speaking countries with lessons that emphasize tolerance and decry prejudice. Despite its themes, To Kill a Mockingbird has been subject to campaigns for removal from public classrooms, often challenged for its use of racial epithets.

Reception to the novel varied widely upon publication. Literary analysis of it is sparse, considering the number of copies sold and its widespread use in education. Author Mary McDonough Murphy, who collected individual impressions of the book by several authors and public figures, calls To Kill a Mockingbird "an astonishing phenomenon".^[2] In 2006, British librarians ranked the book ahead of the Bible as one "every adult should read before they die".^[3] It was adapted into an Oscar-winning film in 1962 by director Robert Mulligan, with a screenplay by Horton Foote. Since 1990, a play based on the novel has been performed annually in Harper Lee's hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. To date, it is Lee's only published novel, and although she continues to respond to the book's impact, she has refused any personal publicity for herself or the novel since 1964.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in 1926, Harper Lee grew up in the Southern town of Monroeville, Alabama, where she became close friends with soon-to-be famous writer Truman Capote. She attended Huntingdon College in Montgomery (1944–45), and then studied law at the University of Alabama (1945–49). While attending college, she wrote for campus literary magazines: Huntress at Huntingdon and the humor magazine Rammer Jammer at the University of Alabama. At both colleges, she wrote short stories and other works about racial injustice, a rarely mentioned topic on such campuses at the time.^[4] In 1950, Lee moved to New York City, where she worked as a reservation clerk for British Overseas Airways Corporation; there, she began writing a collection of essays and short stories about people in Monroeville. Hoping to be published, Lee presented her writing in 1957 to a literary agent recommended by Capote. An editor at J. B. Lippincott advised her to quit the airline and concentrate on writing. Donations from friends, including Michael and Joy Brown and Alice Lee Finch,^[5] allowed her to write uninterrupted for a year.^[6]

Ultimately, Lee spent two and a half years writing To Kill a Mockingbird. A description of the book's creation by the National Endowment for the Arts relates an episode when Lee became so frustrated that she tossed the manuscript out the window into the snow. Her agent made her retrieve it.^[7] The book was published on July 11, 1960, initially titled Atticus. Lee renamed it to reflect a story that went beyond a character portrait.^[8] The editorial team at Lippincott warned Lee that she would probably sell only several thousand copies.^[9] In 1964, Lee recalled her hopes for the book when she said, "I never expected any sort of success with 'Mockingbird.' ... I was hoping for a quick and merciful death at the hands of the reviewers but, at the same time, I sort of hoped someone would like it enough to give me encouragement. Public encouragement. I hoped for a little, as I said, but I got rather a whole lot, and in some ways this was just about as frightening as the quick, merciful death I'd expected."^[10] Instead of a "quick and merciful death", Reader's Digest Condensed Books chose the book for reprinting in part, which gave it a wide readership immediately.^[11] Since the original publication, the book has never been out of print.

INFORMATION FROM WIKIPEDIA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Kill_a_Mockingbird

May 2013 Book: Spirit Car

In May 2013, we'll be reading Spirit Car by Diane Wilson. It was the city of Minneapolis' One Read book pick last year. As we celebrate the anniversary of the Dakota War in Minnesota, I think this is an important book to read. Personally, I'm very interested in Minnesota history, and I'm excited to think about the discussion we will have over this book.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Spirit Car is a memoir that blends fiction and carefully researched history. This book retraces my family’s Dakota heritage across five generations.

Spirit Car was inspired by my mother’s story of having been left for two years at a mission boarding school on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Spirit Car recreates stories that are based on real people whose lives have been reimagined on a bedrock of facts. The story begins with a vivid account of the 1862 Dakota War in Minnesota. My great-great-grandmother, Rosalie Marpiya Mase (Iron Cloud), took refuge at Fort Ridgely with her French-Canadian husband and their seven children. Rosalie felt the anguish of seeing her family members forced to defend themselves from Dakota relatives bent on killing whites and their “mixed-blood” children.

From this pivotal moment in history, we follow the family’s nomadic travels across South Dakota and Nebraska as they struggle to survive. In 2002, the story comes full circle with the first-ever Dakota Commemorative March. This event honored the 1,700 Dakota who were forcibly removed from Minnesota following the 1862 war.

These stories were written to recreate a family history that has been lost over time. They may have been repressed as too painful or simply set aside as the gritty issues of survival demanded attention. Recreating certain moments in history and reliving them through my own imagination has allowed me to know earlier generations of my family. In the process, I discovered just how deeply our identities are influenced by the forces of history. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Diane Wilson is a creative nonfiction writer. Her essays and memoir use personal experience to illustrate broader social and historical context. Her first book, Spirit Car: Journey to a Dakota Past, (Borealis Books, 2006) won the 2006 Minnesota Book Award for Memoir, Autobiography, and Creative Nonfiction. Her second book, Beloved Child: A Dakota Way of Life, (Borealis Books), was released in September 2011.

Spirit Car is an historical memoir about cultural identity and heritage. This project has received awards from the Jerome Travel & Study program, the Minnesota Historical Society, Norcroft Writer’s Retreat, and Blacklock Nature Center. Beloved Child--a collection of personal stories on transforming historical trauma--has received awards from the Jerome Travel & Study program, the Minnesota State Arts Board, Ragdale Artist Residency, and the Hedgebrook Residency for Women Writers.

Her work has been published in Fiction on a Stick; American Tensions: Literature of Identity and the Search for Social Justice; Homelands: Women's Journeys Across Race, Place, and Time; The American Indian Quarterly, The View from the Loft, Minnesota Women’s Press, Pioneer Press and many other local publications. She was the editor for Minnesota Literature, a newsletter containing news and information of interest to Minnesota’s writing community, from 2002-2004. She is a past board chair and member of SASE: The Write Place, and the founder and editor of The Artist’s Voice, a publication of artists writing about their own work, published by the Southern Theater.

Diane is the Executive Director of Dream of Wild Health, a Native owned 10-acre farm in Hugo, Minnesota. She lives with her artist husband, Jim Denomie, Emma the love bully, and two stray cats. A master gardener, Diane maintains a large butterfly garden filled with native plants. She is a member of the Dakota Kiciya and helps organize the Dakota Commemorative Marches on the Lower Sioux reservation.

Diane’s work is inspired by her daughter, Jodi, and her wonderful family. She is also blessed with two step-daughters, Cheryl and Sheila, a step-son, Cody, and six grandchildren, Tyler, Kelci, Logan, David, Bradley, and Kyle. 

MORE
See more about the book and author Diane Wilson at:
http://www.wilsonwords.com/files/overview.php

The Art of Racing in the Rain book discussion questions

Questions for Discussion
1. Some early readers of the novel have observed that viewing the world through a dog's eyes makes for a greater appreciation of being human. Why do you think this is?
2. Enzo's observations throughout the novel provide insight into his world view. For example:

"The visible becomes inevitable."
"Understanding the truth is simple. Allowing oneself to experience it, is often terrifically difficult."
"No race has ever been won in the first corner; many races have been lost there."

How does his philosophy apply to real life?
3. In the book's darkest moments, one of Zoe's stuffed animals—the zebra—comes to life and threatens him. What does the zebra symbolize?
4. Can you imagine the novel being told from Denny's point of view? How would it make the story different?
5. In the first chapter, Enzo says: "It's what's inside that's important. The soul. And my soul is very human." How does Enzo's situation—a human soul trapped in a dog's body—influence his opinions about what he sees around him? How do you feel about the ideas of reincarnation and karma as Enzo defines them?
6. Do you find yourself looking at your own dog differently after reading this novel?
7. In the book, we get glimpses into the mindset and mentality of a race car driver. What parallels can you think of between the art of racing and the art of living?
8. The character of Ayrton Senna, as he is presented in the book, is heroic, almost a mythic figure. Why do you think this character resonates so strongly for Denny?

March 2013 book pick

Cass has another humor book for our March 2013 reading.

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

ABOUT THE BOOK

Amazon.com Review

"It's a pretty grim world when I can't even feel superior to a toddler." Welcome to the curious mind of David Sedaris, where dogs outrank children, guitars have breasts, and French toddlers unmask the inadequacies of the American male. Sedaris inhabits this world as a misanthrope chronicling all things petty and small. In Me Talk Pretty One Day Sedaris is as determined as ever to be nobody's hero--he never triumphs, he never conquers--and somehow, with each failure, he inadvertently becomes everybody's favorite underdog. The world's most eloquent malcontent, Sedaris has turned self-deprecation into a celebrated art form--one that is perhaps best experienced in audio. "Go Carolina," his account of "the first battle of my war against the letter s" is particularly poignant. Unable to disguise the lisp that has become his trademark, Sedaris highlights (to hilarious extent) the frustration of reading "childish s-laden texts recounting the adventures of seals or settlers named Sassy or Samuel." Including 23 of the book version's 28 stories, two live performances complete with involuntary laughter, and an uncannily accurate Billie Holiday impersonation, the audio is more than a companion to the text; it stands alone as a performance piece--only without the sock monkeys. (Running time: 5 hours, 4 cassettes) --Daphne Durham --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Sedaris is Garrison Keillor's evil twin: like the Minnesota humorist, Sedaris (Naked) focuses on the icy patches that mar life's sidewalk, though the ice in his work is much more slippery and the falls much more spectacularly funny than in Keillor's. Many of the 27 short essays collected here (which appeared originally in the New Yorker, Esquire and elsewhere) deal with his father, Lou, to whom the book is dedicated. Lou is a micromanager who tries to get his uninterested children to form a jazz combo and, when that fails, insists on boosting David's career as a performance artist by heckling him from the audience. Sedaris suggests that his father's punishment for being overly involved in his kids' artistic lives is David's brother Paul, otherwise known as "The Rooster," a half-literate miscreant whose language is outrageously profane. Sedaris also writes here about the time he spent in France and the difficulty of learning another language. After several extended stays in a little Norman village and in Paris, Sedaris had progressed, he observes, "from speaking like an evil baby to speaking like a hillbilly. 'Is thems the thoughts of cows?' I'd ask the butcher, pointing to the calves' brains displayed in the front window." But in English, Sedaris is nothing if not nimble: in one essay he goes from his cat's cremation to his mother's in a way that somehow manages to remain reverent to both of the departed. "Reliable sources" have told Sedaris that he has "tended to exhaust people," and true to form, he will exhaust readers of this new book, tooDwith helpless laughter. 16-city author tour. (June)

April 2013 book pick

Karla has announced her April 2013 book selection:

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carre

ABOUT THE BOOK

 

A New York Times bestseller and the inspiration for the Oscar-nominated major motion picture starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth, from the author of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Our Kind of Traitor

 

The first novel in John le Carré's celebrated and New York Times bestselling Karla trilogy featuring George Smiley, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a heart-stopping tale of international intrigue.

The man he knew as "Control" is dead, and the young Turks who forced him out now run the Circus. But George Smiley isn't quite ready for retirement-especially when a pretty, would-be defector surfaces with a shocking accusation: a Soviet mole has penetrated the highest level of British Intelligence. Relying only on his wits and a small, loyal cadre, Smiley recognizes the hand of Karla—his Moscow Centre nemesis—and sets a trap to catch the traitor.

The Oscar-nominated feature film adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is directed by Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In) and features a cast that includes Gary Oldman as Smiley, Academy Award winner Colin Firth (The King's Speech), and Tom Hardy (Inception).
Anyone watch the movie? 

February 2013 book

Elizabeth has picked

The Art of Racing in the Rain

by Garth Stein

as our February 2013 book.

From Publishers Weekly

If you've ever wondered what your dog is thinking, Stein's third novel offers an answer. Enzo is a lab terrier mix plucked from a farm outside Seattle to ride shotgun with race car driver Denny Swift as he pursues success on the track and off. Denny meets and marries Eve, has a daughter, Zoë, and risks his savings and his life to make it on the professional racing circuit. Enzo, frustrated by his inability to speak and his lack of opposable thumbs, watches Denny's old racing videos, coins koanlike aphorisms that apply to both driving and life, and hopes for the day when his life as a dog will be over and he can be reborn a man. When Denny hits an extended rough patch, Enzo remains his most steadfast if silent supporter. Enzo is a reliable companion and a likable enough narrator, though the string of Denny's bad luck stories strains believability. Much like Denny, however, Stein is able to salvage some dignity from the over-the-top drama. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Fans of Marley & Me, rejoice.” (Entertainment Weekly )

“The perfect book for anyone who knows that some of our best friends walk beside us on four legs; that compassion isn’t only for humans; and that the relationship between two souls...meant for each other never really comes to an end.” (Jodi Picoult )

“The Art of Racing in The Rain has everything: love, tragedy, redemption, danger, and--most especially--the canine narrator Enzo. This old soul of a dog has much to teach us about being human.” (Sara Gruen, Author of Water for Elephants )

“I savored Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain for many reasons: a dog who speaks, the thrill of competitive racing, a heart-tugging storyline, and--best of all--the fact that it is a meditation on humility and hope in the face of despair.” (Wally Lamb, Author of She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True )

“One of those stories that may earn its place next to Richard Bach’s ‘Jonathan Livingston Seagull,’ Paulo Coelho’s ‘The Alchemist,’ and Yann Martel’s ‘Life of Pi.’” (Portland Oregonian )

January 2013 book

Becky has selected

The Girls

by Lori Lansens

for our January 2013 book.

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2007

 

Rarely has the experience of being a sister been so poignantly and memorably captured as in Lori Lansens's triumphant novel. The Girls celebrates life's fundamental joys and trials as it presents Rose and Ruby, sisters destined to live inseparably but blessed with distinct sensibilities that enrich and complicate their shared experiences-of growing up, of finding their way in the world, of saying good-bye.Readers who encounter the girls will find it hard to resist falling under their spell.

 

From Publishers Weekly

Conjoined twins Rose and Ruby Darlen are linked at the side of the head, with separate brains and bodies. Born in a small town outside Toronto in the midst of a tornado and abandoned by their unwed teenage mother two weeks later, the girls are cared for by Aunt Lovey, a nurse who refuses to see them as deformed or even disabled. She raises them in Leaford, Ontario, where, at age 29, Rose, the more verbal and bookish twin, begins writing their story—i.e., this novel, which begins, "I have never looked into my sister's eyes." Showing both linguistic skill and a gift for observation, Lansens's Rose evokes country life, including descriptions of corn and crows, and their neighbors Mrs. Merkel, who lost her only son in the tornado, and Frankie Foyle, who takes the twins' virginity. Rose shares her darkest memory (public humiliation during a visit to their Slovakian-born Uncle Stash's hometown) and her deepest regret, while Ruby, the prettier, more practical twin, who writes at her sister's insistence, offers critical details, such as what prompted Rose to write their life story. Through their alternating narratives, Lansens captures a contradictory longing for independence and togetherness that transcends the book's enormous conceit. (May 2)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Lansens' remarkable second novel is told from two viewpoints: that of Rose and that of Ruby Darlen, 29-year-old conjoined twins. Rose and Ruby are about to go down in history as the oldest surviving twins to be joined at the head. A recent medical diagnosis has spurred Rose to write her autobiography, and she encourages Ruby to do the same. Between the two sections, the story of their lives is revealed, beginning with their birth to an unwed teen mother and their adoption by Lovey Darlen, the nurse who was with their mother when she was in labor, and her strong, silent husband, Stash. The girls grow up on the Darlens' farm in rural Ontario, where Lovey refuses to accept the word of skeptical doctors who doubt the girls will ever be able to walk on their own. There is a great deal of subtlety in Lansens' narrative, and how the twins reveal the details of their lives--often one will refer to something she is sure the other has already mentioned in her section. But her biggest achievement in the novel is bringing to life these two truly extraordinary characters to such a degree that readers may forget they are reading fiction. Kristine Huntley