Literary Guild is Cochise College’s club for readers and lovers of books. All book discussion meetings, free and open to the public, are scheduled for 3:15 p.m. on four Thursdays throughout the fall semester at the Sierra Vista Campus Horace Steele Room, located in the library building.
Contact Mary B. Coyle at coylem@cochise.edu or 515-5499 for more information. Anyone needing an accommodation in order to attend should contact the Disability Services Office at (520) 515-5337 or (520) 417-4023 at least 72 hours in advance.
Fall 2012 book discussion schedule:
• Sept. 13: “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” by Jonathan Safran Foer
Synopsis: Nine-year-old Oskar Schell has embarked on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York. His goal is to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11. This seemingly impossible task will bring Oskar into contact with survivors of all sorts on an exhilarating, affecting, often hilarious, and ultimately healing journey.
• Oct. 4: “Moloka’i” by Alan Brennert
Synopsis: This richly imagined novel, set in Hawai’i more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place — and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit. Rachel Kalama, a spirited 7-year-old Hawaiian girl dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. One day, a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her. Taken from her home and family, Rachel is sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka’i. Here her life is supposed to end — but she discovers it is only just beginning.
• Nov. 8: “In the Garden of Beasts” by Erik Larson
Synopsis: The time is 1933, the place Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America’s first ambassador to Hitler’s Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history. A mild-mannered professor from Chicago, Dodd brings along his wife, son and flamboyant daughter. Dodd watches with alarm as Jews are attacked, the press is censored and drafts of frightening new laws begin to circulate. The Dodds experience days full of excitement, intrigue, romance and, ultimately, horror, when a climactic spasm of violence and murder reveals Hitler’s true character and ruthless ambition.
• Dec. 6: “A Safeway in Arizona” by Tom Zoellner
Synopsis: On Jan. 8, 2011, 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner opened fire at a Tucson meet-and-greet held by U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords. The incident left six people dead and 18 injured, including Giffords, whom he shot in the head. Zoellner offers a revealing portrait of the Southwestern state at a critical moment in history — and as a symbol of the nation’s discontents and uncertainties. Ultimately, it is his rallying cry for a saner, more civil way of life.
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