Montage 4

Great Books Discussion Group

The Great Books Discussion Group

meets at the Keene Public Library
September through May

(sponsored by the Friends of the Keene Public Library)

Welcome to the 26th year of our local Great Books discussion group!

blue bullet The group meets at the Keene Public Library (60 Winter Street), which is accessible by elevator or stairway.

blue bullet Meetings are on Thursdays, starting at 7:00 pm and usually end about 8:30-8:45.   

A "GREAT BOOKS" DISCUSSION:

Is NOT:     ... teaching    
                ... lecturing          
                ... imparting facts         
                ... forcing consensus        
                ... accepting authority       		But IS:     ...exploring
               ... questioning
               ... examing ideas
               ... inviting participation
               ... honoring diverse opinio

blue bullet At last spring's potluck supper (our annual end-of-the-year get-together), we voted to use the anthology Short Story Omnibus for our 2012-2013 meetings.

blue bullet One copy of Short Story Omnibus will be available for checkout from the Keene Public Library. Many of the selections are also available online and in other anthologies.

blue bullet The Short Story Omnibus can also be ordered from The Great Books Foundation (order number ADU-BUS). The cost is $32.95. To order, call 1-800-222-5870 ext.2 (weekdays, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central Time) and charge to your credit card. Or order online at the Great Books Foundation website. An order usually takes a week or so to arrive. Or you can fax or mail an order (order forms are available at the Circulation Desk at the Keene Public Library - ask for the Great Books folder.)

blue bullet We also decided to devote two meetings to a discussion of essays. Dave Moran, Larry Dachowski and Susan Fratus volunteered to select these and see that copies are available, and one of a play.

blue bullet If you would like to know more about the Great Books Reading and Discussion Programs in general, please visit their web site at www.greatbooks.org. To find out more about our local discussion group, please call Ardis Osborn at 352-2198. Copies of the reading schedule listed below are available at the library's Checkout Desk in the Great Books folder.

The group heartily welcomes new people to the discussion group,
and will be glad to answer any questions you have about it.

Hope to see you all on Thursday, August 30th, 2012!

GREAT BOOKS MEETING SCHEDULE 2012-2013

Date   
Reading (Links are provided to the full text online, if available and to copies of to checkout from the library.)
Aug. 30, 2012 Onlline: Balzac: "A Passion in the Desert;"  also included in The works of Honoré de Balzac v. 15
Sept. 13, 2012 Online: Chekhov: "A Lady with a Dog;" also included in Great Russian short stories and Five great short stories 
Sept. 27, 2012 Online: Hemingway: "Indian Camp;"  also included in Nick Adams Stories and Hood: "The Doctor" (p.459)
Oct. 11, 2012    Online: Sartre: "The Wall;" also included in The wall (Intimacy) and other stories.
Oct. 25, 2012 Online: Orwell: "Politics and the English Language;" also available in A collection of essays. And copies will be handed out at an earlier meeting.
Nov. 8, 2012 Bellow: "Looking for Mr. Green," available in Collected stories, The Oxford Book of Jewish Stories, and Mosby's Memoirs and Other Stories.
Nov. 15, 2012 Online: Le Guin: "The Professor's Houses;" also available in Unlocking the air and other stories and The Best American Short Stories 1983 and Barthelme: "A City of Churches" (p. 448), available in The Best American Short Stories of the Century.
Nov. 29, 2012 Online: Carver: "Cathedral;" also available in The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories and The Best American Short Stories of the Eighties.
Dec. 13, 2012 [a play - to be selected]
Mar. 14, 2013 Cather: "Tom Outland's Story"
Mar. 28, 2013 Boyle: "Greasy Lake," available in T.C. Boyle stories and The Art of the Tale. 
Apr. 11, 2013 Moore: "You're Ugly, Too," available in The Best American Short Stories 1990, The Best American Short Stories of the Century and The Scribner anthology of contemporary short fiction.
Apr. 25, 2013 [essay]
May 9, 2013 Maxwell: "The Country Where Nobody Ever Grew Old and Died," available in All the Days and Nights and Paley: "Wants," available in The Collected Stories.
May 23, 2013 Palestine by Joe Sacco (Chapter One)" [graphic memoir]
June 6, 2013 Poetry: Bring in a poem or a very brief prose selection (less than a page) that you find meaningful. We'll each read our selection aloud and say something brieftly about why it was chosen. The group can discuss questions it may pose or comment on its ideas, imagery, language, etc. [It's very helpful if you can make some extra copies of your reading to pass around.]

Last updated: 8/11/2012