BOOK CLUB SCHEDULE FOR 2008/2009
September 22, 2008
A Mind in Transformation by Genaro Marin
What is the impetus that sets a mind in motion, drives ambition and sets the soul ablaze? It is the journey to enrichment and enlightenment that we take with Guaimi, a young Latino man, on fire for change in an ever-changing world, whose desire to grow knows no bounds. Author Genaro Marin lives in Greenville, SC and will speak to our book club at this meeting.
Note: This book is available for purchase only through http://www.dorrancebookstore.com/miintr.html
November 3, 2008
Fortress Beseiged by Zhongshu Qian (China)
Set on the eve of the Sino-Japanese War, this novel depicts hapless hero Fang Hung-chien as he returns home to Shanghai, with no particular goal in life and with a bogus degree from a fake American university in hand. On the ship home, he meets two Chinese beauties, Miss Su and Miss Pao. Qian writes, “With Miss Pao it wasn’t a matter of heart or soul. She hadn’t any change of heart, since she didn’t have a heart.” In this painful comedy, Fang obtains a teaching post at a newly established university where his encounters become the butt of Qian’s merciless satire.
December 8, 2008
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (India/US)
The gulf that separates the expatriate Bengali parents from their American raised children - and that separates the children from India - is the unifying theme in this set of lyrical, unforgettable stories.
January 12, 2009
Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran (Iran/Ireland)
The three Aminpour sisters escape the Iranian revolution and make their way west to a small Irish village. There they pursue a well-worn path to assimilation by taking over an abandoned Italian bakery and opening the Babylon Café. Stark contrasts between the sisters’ lives in Iran and Ireland and between Irish and Persian cultures energize Mehran’s tale.
February 23, 2009
The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston (Italy)
United in their obsession with a grisly Italian serial murder case almost three decades old, thriller writer Preston and Italian crime reporter Spezi seek to uncover the identity of the killer in this chilling true crime saga.
March 30, 2009
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun by Peter Godwin (Zimbabwe)
In this exquisitely written, deeply moving account of the death of a father played out against the backdrop of the collapse of the southern African nation of Zimbabwe, seasoned journalist Godwin has produced a memoir that effortlessly manages to be almost unbearably personal while simultaneously laying bare the cruel regime of longstanding president Mugabe. Godwin’s narrative flows seamlessly across the decades, creating a searing portrait of a family and a nation collectively coming to terms with death.
May 4, 2009
The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie (India/Italy)
Renaissance Florence’s artistic zenith and Mughal India’s cultural summit – reached the following century, at Emperor Akbar’s court in Sikri – are the twin beacons of Rushdie’s latest book. The novel is about the power of story – whether it is the imagined life of a Mughal queen or the devastating secret held by a silver-tongued Florentine.
June 15, 2009
The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria (Current Affairs)
When a book proclaims that it is not about the decline of America but the “rise of the rest,” readers might expect another diatribe about our dismal post-9/11 world. They are in for a pleasant surprise as Newsweek editor and popular commentator Zakaria delivers a stimulating, largely optimistic forecast of where the 21st century is heading. A lucid and thought-provoking appraisal of world affairs, this book will engage readers on both sides of the political spectrum.
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The Book Club gathers from
7:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Mondays on the dates noted below. Meetings
are at