We have just six weeks, so our plates are full. Lucky us!
We'll all read three novels* together, and each of us will additionally read and report on either a fourth novel or on a specific author's life and works.**
"Philosophy" = searching for wisdom, clarity, enlightenment, meaning, perspective, purpose, reality, truth, understanding, ... especially with regard to the human impact on nature, the environment, other species, & other humans.
"Recent" = 21st century
*The three novels:
- Richard Ford, Be Mine
- Richard Powers, Playground (see below #)
- Barbara Kingsolver, Demon Copperhead
**Possible fourth choices, for individual reports:
- The Sellout by Paul Beatty (2015) - A satirical look at race and identity that won the Man Booker Prize.
- The Candy House by Jennifer Egan (2022) - Explores themes of memory, connection, and digital surveillance.
- Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner (2024) - Considers whether the path to emancipation from what ails modern life is not revolt, but a return to the ancient past.
- Any of the earlier Frank Bascombe novels by Richard Ford...
- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (2016) - Explores the lasting impacts of slavery and the search for identity across generations.
- Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver (2012) - Explores climate change, ecological disruption, and human responsibility.
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006) - A harrowing journey through a post-apocalyptic landscape, meditating on survival, love, and morality.
- A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet (2020) - Set in a near-apocalyptic world, it examines generational responsibility and environmental collapse.
- Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (2022) - Dystopian fiction about cultural repression and familial bonds.
- The Overstory by Richard Powers (2018) - A Pulitzer Prize-winning novel weaving interrelated stories about trees, nature, and activism.
- Bewilderment by Richard Powers (2021) - This novel delves deeply into themes of ecological awareness and the human condition through the story of a father and his neurodivergent son.
- Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid (2019) - Investigates issues of race, privilege, and morality in contemporary America.
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (2022) - This narrative explores human creativity and relationships within the context of gaming and artificial intelligence.
- Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (2004) - A profound exploration of faith, mortality, and legacy in small-town America.
- Your suggestions...
**Possible authors, for individual reports:
- Michael Chabon
- Jennifer Egan
- Richard Ford
- Jonathan Franzen
- Barbara Kingsolver
- Rachel Kushner
- Ann Patchett
- Richard Powers
- Marilyn Robinson
- Philip Roth
- Your suggestions...
# And although it's not by an American, this--with its aquatic theme and broadly humane scope--is a great companion to Playground:
- In Ascension by Martin MacInnes (2023) - "reaches outward to confront the greatest questions of existence, looks inward to illuminate the smallest details of the human heart, and shows how – no matter how far away we might be and how much we have lost hope – we will always attempt to return to the people and places we call home."
