NYC Classics

Hey Fellow Literary Lefties,
Welcome to the first e-mail/blog-post of our new book club, Reading Liberally NYC Classics - I hope this finds you savoring your turkey (or, for some of us, tofurkey) leftovers, and, for those of you with an extended weekend, taking advantage of the time to recharge and read our first book up for discussion, George Orwell's 1984. Three news items:

I. We're meeting on December 10th to discuss George Orwell's 1984:

We always meet the 2nd Wednesday of the month, which means this Wednesday, December 10th we'll be meeting at 6:30 to sip on some libations, nosh on some snacks and discuss George Orwell's 1984, perhaps the most appropriate shorter novel with which to say goodbye to the Bush years. (Josh: I personally am reading the Signet Classics edition, which you can purchase from your favorite local independent bookshop, or online at http://www.powells.com/biblio/17-9780451524935-0 or from Amazon or at http://tinyurl.com/6j6unj.) The only detail left is the location, a detail we'll include in a later e-mail. Which inexorably brings us to...

II. Where should we try meeting?

The only real requirements are that it be an accessible, public place or venue where we can gather on the second Wednesday night of each evening to talk books. For our test meeting a few weeks ago, we tried Tea Spot in Greenwich Village. Tea Spot is a lovely, quietish place for crumpets and conversation, but some opined that we might be better off with a place where we could purchase or bring a bottle of wine, perhaps a sort of Plato's-Symposium type deal, or a place that requires less scouting out a table beforehand. Any suggestions overall - perhaps a really nice independent bookstore that deserves our patronage and would provide a table, and maybe discounted books? Or maybe a coffeeshop with more than just coffee? Or something else entirely? Or, for that matter...

III. Any early suggestions for our January book?

For the moment, we might adapt a system where we just vote at the end of each meeting on the upcoming month's book, though we might decide to do that for books two months in advance so we might have a brief excerpt reading at the end of each meeting, so as to whet our appetites. But in any case, does anything seem particularly appropriate to read this January? Some suggestions on Josh's end:

Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison - President-Elect Obama's supposed favorite book, which could be an interesting read for the month of his inauguration.
I May Not Get There with You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr, by Michael Eric Dyson - A few weeks before MLK Day, we might want to remember the clarion call for equality and social justice that Dr. King sounded...
Why We Can't Wait, by Martin Luther King, Jr. - ...or we might just go straight to the source.

Enjoy your weekend, enjoy 1984, and we'll talk more soon.

Liberally yours,
Josh & Hugh