West Paris Public Library plans to offer a five-book reading and discussion program, “Re-imagining the American Family,” beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 21, on Zoom.
Librarian Jennifer Lance will be the facilitator for the program, sponsored by the Maine Humanities Council.
This series offers a compilation of memoirs by contemporary American writers who imaginatively represent, shape, and challenge conceptions of the American family. Alison Bechdel, J.D. Vance, Marie Howe, Roz Chast, and John Edgar Wideman share a fundamental interest in the formation of identity — familial, individual, national, and global.
Together, the group will investigate the possibilities and limits of literature to shape identity and to construct (or deconstruct) categories of race, class, gender, and sexuality.
Discussions will be on Zoom Thursdays from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Meeting dates and titles are as follows:
• Oct. 21: “Hillbilly Elegy” by J.D. Vance;
• Nov. 4: “Fun Home” by Alison Bechdel;
• Nov. 18: “Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?” by Roz Chast;
• Dec. 2: “What The Living Do” by Marie Howe; and
• Dec. 16: “Brothers and Keepers” by John Edgar Wideman.
All books are available to borrow at the 226 Main St. library. There is no charge for books or to participate.
For more information and to register, call West Paris Public Library at 207-674-2004 or email librarian@westparislibrary.org.
For more information about the series, visit mainehumanities.org/re-imagining-the-american-family.
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