Today's guest post is from The Great Books Foundation, whom we met up with at this year's Book Group Expo. The Great Books Foundation publishes anthologies for book groups and discussion, and promotes Shared Inquiry™, a Socratic, text-based method of learning. The Foundation publishes several new titles each year, and roughly 850 Great Books discussion groups are affiliated with the Foundation. I love that this post is related to short stories, as I'll have more exciting short story news to report soon!
A recent title from the Great Books Foundation is The Seven Deadly Sins Sampler, which serves up a naughty, gluttonous banquet of 14 of the best short stories ever written about seven of the worst human foibles. This book is an interesting way to get your book club to delve deep into shorter selections and discuss the moral implications of the seven deadly—yet all too human—sins. Each selection includes questions for discussion and short author biographies. Authors in this anthology include William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Tobias Wolff, Margaret Atwood, Anton Chekhov, Elizabeth Bowen, Raymond Carver, and others.
Cathleen Falsani, the Chicago Sun-Times religion columnist and author of The God Factor, says, “If there are indeed seven deadly sins, this collection will make you think differently about them and about yourself.” For more information, or to order, go here.
The book has proven compelling for both book clubs and college ethics courses, and due to popular demand, the Great Books Foundation plans to put out a companion volume in fall 2009: Even Deadlier: the Sequel to the Seven Deadly Sins Sampler.
To find a Great Books Group in your area, go here. For more information on other new titles and book club events, go here or contact Lindsay Tigue at lindsay DOT tigue AT greatbooks DOT org.
Perfect timing with the short story theme - my book club is discussing Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies this month, and I'm looking for tips on how to discuss short story collections. The theme of the Sins book has given my some ideas.
Also, I've looked into Great Books clubs in my area but I'm sad to say there aren't any active groups that are local. I was really intrigued by the format of the clubs and had hoped to get involved with one. Oh well, it's not like I need any excuse to read more!
Posted by: Heather J. | January 14, 2009 at 10:42 AM
If there is no active Great Books group in your area, why not start one? The Great Books Foundation offers training for discussion leaders in many parts of the country. Check out the website, www.greatbooks.org, for a location near you.
To experience what it's like to participate in Great Books discussions and sample some of the delights of Chicago, join us for a weekend of Great Books Chicago, May 1 - May 3, 2009. This year's theme for readings and related cultural events is, "In the Eye of the Beholder'. Activities and registration details can be found at www.greatbooks.org
Posted by: Judith McCue | January 20, 2009 at 04:54 PM