Hot Off the Press: Spring 2014
In this monthly book discussion class, participants will read major works of new fiction just as they are being published. Class discussions include analysis of the book as well as background information about the author and the book’s path to publication.
All classes meet in Elkins Park on Monday evenings from 7pm to 8:30 pm.
Sign up here!
Please note that we will be meeting this session in the library at Keneseth Israel (directions to be provided), which is a wheelchair accessible space.
March 10th
Orfeo by Richard Powers Retired composer Peter Els has an unusual hobby, do-it-yourself genetic engineering. Is his work dangerous? Powers (a National Book Award winner for The Echo Maker, 2006) sure-handedly builds a rich metaphor in which musical composition is an analog for other kinds of human invention, with all the beauty and terror that implies. Publication date: 1/20
BUY THE BOOK: If you would like to buy the book from me, I have it available in my Open Book Bookstore at a 20% discount for class members (plus tax). Either email me that you would like the book or click here to purchase it: https://squareup.com/market/open-book/orfeo
[Note: Books for the other classes will be available, also at a discount, as they are published.]
March 31st
The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan Set in recession-struck Ireland, this virtuoso debut novel, long-listed for the Booker prize, pieces together a fractured portrait of a community in shock. Publication Date: 2/25
April 28th
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi Named one of 2014’s most anticipated books by CNN, The Huffington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer and many others, this book from the prizewinning author of Mr. Fox is the Snow White fairy tale brilliantly recast as a story of family secrets, race, beauty, and vanity. Publication date: 3/6
May 19th
Every Day is For the Thief by Teju Cole Teju Cole, whose critically acclaimed debut, Open City, was the winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award and a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was named one of the best books of the year by more than twenty publications, In his new novel, a young Nigerian living in New York City goes home to Lagos for a short visit, finding a city both familiar and strange. In a city dense with story, the unnamed narrator moves through a mosaic of life, hoping to find inspiration for his own. Publication Date: 3/25
June 9th
Casebook by Mona Simpson From the acclaimed and award-winning author of Anywhere But Here, a powerful new novel about a young boy’s quest to uncover the mysteries of his unraveling family. Publication date: 4/15
Cost: The cost for the session is $130.
How to Register and Make a Payment: Please email me asap at lynn@lynnrosen.com if you wish to sign up so I can hold a place for you. Payment can be made either by mailing a check, made out to “Open Book,” to me at 1100 Melrose Avenue, Elkins Park, PA 19027, or you may sign up online here: https://squareup.com/market/open-book/hot-off-the-press-class-spring
Sign up here!