Introduction to Book Chats

1. Introduction to Book Chats • Description of Each Book • Calendar of Chats and Assignments • Presentation Guidelines • Choose groups • HW: Prepare for Book Chat #1.

2. Book Descriptions: • Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, by James W. Loewen (the updated edition) • From Publishers Weekly • Loewen's politically correct critique of 12 American history textbooks—including The American Pageant by Thomas A. Bailey and David M. Kennedy; and Triumph of the American Nation by Paul Lewis Todd and Merle Curti—is sure to please liberals and infuriate conservatives. In condemning the way history is taught, he indicts everyone involved in the enterprise: authors, publishers, adoption committees, parents and teachers. Loewen (Mississippi: Conflict and Change) argues that the bland, Eurocentric treatment of history bores most elementary and high school students, who also find it irrelevant to their lives. To make learning more compelling, Loewen urges authors, publishers and teachers to highlight the drama inherent in history by presenting students with different viewpoints and stressing that history is an ongoing process, not merely a collection of—often misleading—factoids. Readers interested in history, whether liberal or conservative, professional or layperson, will find food for thought here.

3. The Unincorporated Man by DaniKollin • From Amazon • The Unincorporated Man is a provocative social/political/economic novel that takes place in the future, after civilization has fallen into complete economic collapse. This reborn civilization is one in which every individual is incorporated at birth, and spends many years trying to attain control over his or her own life by getting a majority of his or her own shares. Life extension has made life very long indeed.Now the incredible has happened: a billionaire businessman from our time, frozen in secret in the early twenty-first century, is discovered and resurrected, given health and a vigorous younger body. Justin Cord is the only unincorporated man in the world, a true stranger in this strange land. Justin survived because he is tough and smart. He cannot accept only part ownership of himself, even if that places him in conflict with a civilization that extends outside the solar system to the Oort Cloud. People will be arguing about this novel and this world for decades.

4. The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell • From Publishers Weekly • An enigma wrapped inside a mystery sets up expectations that prove difficult to fulfill in Russell's first novel, which is about first contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. The enigma is Father Emilio Sandoz, a Jesuit linguist whose messianic virtues hide his occasional doubt about his calling. The mystery is the climactic turn of events that has left him the sole survivor of a secret Jesuit expedition to the planet Rakhat and, upon his return, made him a disgrace to his faith. Suspense escalates as the narrative ping-pongs between the years 2016, when Sandoz begins assembling the team that first detects signs of intelligent extraterrestrial life, and 2060, when a Vatican inquest is convened to coax an explanation from the physically mutilated and emotionally devastated priest. A vibrant cast of characters who come to life through their intense scientific and philosophical debates help distract attention from the space-opera elements necessary to get them off the Earth. Russell brings her training as a paleoanthropologist to bear on descriptions of the Runa and Jana'ata, the two races on Rakhat whose differences are misunderstood by the Earthlings, but the aliens never come across as more than variations of primitive earthly cultures. The final revelation of the tragic human mistake that ends in Sandoz's degradation isn't the event for which readers have been set up. Much like the worlds it juxtaposes, this novel seems composed of two stories that fail to come together. BOMC, QPB and One Spirit Book Club selections.

5. Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer • Amazon.com Review • A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster. With more than 250 black-and-white photographs taken by various expedition members and an enlightening new postscript by the author, the Illustrated Edition shows readers what this tragic climb looked like and potentially provides closure for Krakauer and his detractors.

6. Rain of Gold by Victor Villaseñor • Editorial Reviews • This is the Hispanic Roots, an all-American story of poverty, immigration, struggle and success. It focuses on three generations of Villaseñor's kin, their spiritual and cultural roots in Mexico, their immigration to California and their overcoming the poverty, prejudice and economic exploitation. It is the warm-hearted, humorous and tragic, true story of the wily, wary, persevering forebears of Victor Villaseñor.

7. Catch 22, by Joseph Heller • Amazon.com Review • There was a time when reading Joseph Heller's classic satire on the murderous insanity of war was nothing less than a rite of passage. Echoes of Yossarian, the wise-ass bombardier who was too smart to die but not smart enough to find a way out of his predicament, could be heard throughout the counterculture. As a result, it's impossible not to consider Catch-22 to be something of a period piece. But 40 years on, the novel's undiminished strength is its looking-glass logic. Again and again, Heller's characters demonstrate that what is commonly held to be good, is bad; what is sensible, is nonsense.

8. Time Line • June 1st : arrive to class with some piece of biographical information about the author (interview, short article from a newspaper, etc.). Note: The article cannot be from Wikipedia or one of its mirrors. You are not expected to have begun reading—you’ll be given a little time to talk with your group about the author, and then time to sit and read. • June 4th : Arrive to class with the book and homework assignment #1, having read roughly ¼ of the book. In-class discussion, followed by reading time. • June 6th : Arrive with homework assignment #2, having read roughly ½ of the book. Again, discussion followed by reading time. • June 8th : Arrive with homework assignment #3, with ¾ read. Same as above. • June 11th : Arrive with homework assignment #4, having finished the book. Discussion followed by work organizing for presentations. • June 12th and 13th : Time will be given for groups to touch base about presentation readiness for Thursday, and finish preparations. • June 14th : Presentations on your books (guidelines to be handed out by June 6th ), no more than 25 minutes per group.

9. Your Job • Take a few minutes to look up each book and decide which sound the most interesting to you • Put them on the index card that is handed out to you in the order of your preference • Give the card to Horner and she will tell you the groups • Watch the following clip http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html

10. The Assignment • For Book Chat 1: find some piece of biographical information about the author (interview, short article from a newspaper, etc.). Note: The article cannot be from Wikipedia or one of its mirrors. You are not expected to have begun reading—you’ll be given a little time to talk with your group about the author, and then time to sit and read. (Turn in to turnitin.com) • For Book Chats 2-4: Complete the homework assignment that is attached to the book chat schedule. This must be complete for each book chat.

11. Presentations • Please follow along as we go over the presentations • Your presentations will occur on Thursday June 14, and Friday June 15. If a volunteer schedule cannot be made, I will randomly assign groups positions in the schedule. • To earn an A, (1) share accurate details about the author/plot without reading it from notes, (2) participate in the discussion without dominating or interrupting, (3) make frequent and relevant references to the text and plot of the book itself, (4) Make a credible attempt to present the information in a creative way (5) Involve the class in a fun and meaningful way.