Upcoming Events
For November we will be reading and discussing I Thought my Father was God, 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 24th at Jackie's.
A little bit about the book:
When Paul Auster and NPR's Weekend All Things Considered introduced the National Story Project, the response was overwhelming. Not only was the monthly show a critical success but the volume of submissions was astounding. Letters, e-mails, and faxes poured in on a daily basis -- more than four thousand of them by the time the project celebrated its first birthday. Everyone, it seemed, had a story to tell. I Thought My Father Was God gathers 180 of these personal, true-life accounts in a single, powerful volume. They come from people of all ages, backgrounds, and walks of life. Half of the contributors are men; half are women. They live in cities, suburbs, and rural areas, and they come from forty-two different states. Most of the stories are short, vivid bits of narrative, combining the ordinary and the extraordinary; most describe a single incident in the writer's life. Some are funny, like the story of how a Ku Klux Klan member's beloved dog rushed out into the street during the annual KKK parade and unmasked his owner as the whole town looked on. Some are mysterious, like the story of a woman who watched a white chicken walk purposefully down a street in Portland, Oregon, hop up some porch steps, knock on the door -- and calmly enter the house. Many involve the closing of a loop, like the one about the woman who lost her mother's ashes in a burglary and recovered them five years later from the mortuary of a local church. Hilarious blunders, wrenching coincidences, brushes with death, miraculous encounters, improbable ironies, premonitions, sorrows, pains, dreams -- this singular collection encompasses an extraordinary range of settings, time periods, and subjects. A testament to the important role story-telling plays in all our lives, I Thought My Father Was God offers a rare glimpse into the American soul.
"Adult/High School-Auster was on the verge of saying no to an offer to tell his own stories on the air when a chance remark by his wife changed the complexion and ultimately the direction of a National Public Radio project. She suggested that listeners be invited to make submissions. With that, the remarkable National Story Project was born. The rules were relatively simple; the stories had to be true and they had to be short. Four thousand people sent in their work. After just a few months, it became evident to Auster that too many good stories were coming in and that a book would be necessary to do justice to the project. He chose what he considered to be the best-179 pieces, written by individuals ranging in age from 20 to 90, from all walks of life, and touching on everything from the amazing to the poignant. Readers will turn pages to see if the next story is just as memorable as the one before, and it is. This is a wonderful book about some incredible people, to enjoy and to share with others."
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