Book Club - The American Novel Since 1945 - Episode I

March 1, 2010 8:02 PM

We are scheduled to have the first meeting of the American Novel Since 1945 on Tuesday March 9th.

The first book is Richrad Wright's Black Boy. The two associated lectures are the second half of the introduction and the second lecture. Professor Hungerford refers to several letters in Yale's Beinecke Library. You can search the library's digital collection here. The first letter from book of the month club editor Dorothy Canfield Fisher is here, Wright's response is here, Fishers second letter here Wright's second is here.

There were a few details about the book club to be determined. One is the location of the online portion. I have a strong preference for a MetaFilter-like asynchronous discussion though a chat-style discussion is a possibility too. I see two potential hosting sites - LibraryThing and MetaChat. They both require joining another site. MetaChat has "meta" in the name so I am voting for that, but am open to reason.

There is also some discussion of an NYC in-person discussion. We should try to figure that out now as well - I have no real suggestions on that score.

posted by shothotbot to MetaFilter Gatherings at 8:02 PM (13 comments total)

Geez, how'd the club get shut down for so long? Sixty-five years – wow. Was it your grandparents at the last meeting, or what?
posted by koeselitz at 3:18 AM on March 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

Thats going to be two points off the final Mr Funny Guy.

I should have linked to our original discussion.
posted by shothotbot at 4:39 AM on March 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

I think I can speak for most of the MeCha the mods in saying that MetaChat would welcome this. There have been some book discussions there in the past - some ad hoc and some organized - as well as movie discussions, but so far none with a critical mass that carried forward. It would be nice to have on the site.
posted by Miko at 6:01 AM on March 2, 2010

Wow, I started this class last month and put it on hold. I guess now I will think about picking it back up...
posted by Rudy Gerner at 6:53 AM on March 2, 2010

We are always watching, Rudy.
posted by shothotbot at 7:07 AM on March 2, 2010

I'm in for the online discussion. I appreciate Miko's invitation and based on that probably vote for MetaChat. The one advantage Library Thing might offer is that a group could be formed around this discussion and then there would be a group forum, so all the discussions would be captured in one area.
posted by Edward L at 8:19 AM on March 2, 2010

Speaking as someone who can't get to an New York gathering readily from where I am reading (in Seattle), my strong preference is MetaChat.
posted by bearwife at 10:40 AM on March 2, 2010

I've listened to half a dozen of these lectures already, so this idea intrigues me, count me in.
posted by OHenryPacey at 3:27 PM on March 2, 2010

It seems like consensus so far is metachat and I'm fine with that.

I've finished the book and loved it. Although, I thought the second half was less interesting and listening to hungerford's lecture added a whole new element. Excited for discussion.
posted by hazyspring at 2:00 PM on March 3, 2010

Does MetaChat mean there will be a thread open on the topic there, or are we using a chat feature, or....?
posted by availablelight at 4:06 PM on March 3, 2010

We will open a thread there. I was hoping a few more enterprising readers would post their thoughts in the discussion thread and hopefully there will be a few contentious points.
posted by shothotbot at 5:34 PM on March 3, 2010

If it's slow to start, you can usually Google up "book group questions" + title or "discussion questions" +title - sometimes the questions are provocative enough to get people going.
posted by Miko at 12:12 PM on March 4, 2010

We are now live at MetaChat here. You may need to register here. Registration is free but may take a while (hours) to go live.
posted by shothotbot at 8:53 AM on March 9, 2010