Douglass and Garrison

 

As in the post below, Douglass' speeches are fascinating but they make me aware of all I don't know about abolitionism and the pre-war period.  In Douglass' speech The Dred Scott Decision we learn that he and his mentor William Lloyd Garrison, publisher of The Liberator, ultimately disagreed about whether the Union should be preserved and whether the Constitution was ultimately a document supporting slavery or a tool for ending it.  These are deep philosophical questions that I would love to delve into more deeply.  

On the Library's periodical database Ebsco Host I uncovered an article that might help:

Gregory Garvey, T. (1995). Frederick Douglass’s change of opinion on the U.S. Constitution: Abolitionism and the.. ATQ, 9(3), 229.

If you click this link, you will be prompted to enter your library card number to access the article.  (and for what it's worth, ATQ stands for American Transcendental Quarterly)

Douglass and Brown

 At the midpoint of our program I find that I'd like to know more of the specifics of the relationship between John Brown and Frederick Douglass.  The Library of Congress makes available the text of the lecture: John Brown, delivered at Harper’s Ferry and sundry other places by Frederick Douglass.  If you have the time to read it, we'd love to know what it illuminates for you.

June is a wrap!

 

 

We had a fabulous night talking with David F. Walker, author of The Life of Frederick Douglass. Despite a horrendous heatwave in Portland (and an eventual power outage!), Mr. Walker provided so much insight on the process it took to bring this graphic biography to fruition, along with how it has compared to other comics projects he's working on and his drive to bring a more inclusive history to a wider audience through his work.

As always we want to highlight some of the works referenced in the conversation for your further reading enjoyment:

• Picturing Frederick Douglass: An Illustrated Biography of the Nineteenth Century's Most Photographed American by John Stauffer, Zoe Trodd, and Celeste-Marie Bernier.
• Bitter Root series. Story by David F. Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene; illustrated by Rico Renzi and Sanford Greene.
  
• Black Panther Party: A Graphic History. By David F. Walker; illustrated by Marcus Kwame Anderson.
  
• Slaughterhouse-Five. Story by Kurt Vonnegut; adapted by Ryan North; illustrated by Albert Monteys.
• To Kill a Mockingbird. Story by Harper Lee; adapted and illustrated by Fred Fordham.
• A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories by Will Eisner.
• Comics and Sequential Art: Principles and Practices by the Legendary Cartoonist by Will Eisner. 
• My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf.
• Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio by Derf Backderf.
• Paying the Land by Joe Sacco.
• Big Black: Stand at Attica. Story by Frank "Big Black" Smith and Jared Reinmuth; illustrated by Améziane.
• March trilogy. Story by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin; illustrated by Nate Powell.

Thank you all for making a great start to our 2021 Big Book Challenge! If you aren't already on our mailing list, email reference@ucitylibrary.org to join--that is where you'll find the Zoom invites for upcoming discussions. In July, we embark on The Good Lord Bird by James McBride and continue on in The Portable Frederick Douglass. 

• The Good Lord Bird--discussing Parts One and Two. Monday, July 26, 7 p.m.
• The Portable Frederick Douglass--discussing "Speeches" (pp. 195-413 in the print edition). Wednesday. July 28, 7 p.m.
  

Thank you!

 

Thank you to everyone who participated in last night's first book discussion of the summer! We had such a great turnout, with a whopping 45 participants--a record online event for us! Having such a large online gathering could have been a headache, but your contributions made for an engaging discussion.

The conversation meandered along topics such as Douglass's memory, point of view, providence, and identity over the course of his lifetime. Several attendees remarked upon how the power of the Chesapeake Bay is evoked in his work and the influence of Christianity on 19th century America. We took a deep look at how the fight between Douglass and Covey became such a cornerstone in Douglass's understanding of himself and his activism. 

Unsurprisingly, the book discussion generated lots of recommendations for other works as well. Here are some of those:

• The Agitators, a play by Mat Smart. Read a review of the play in Ladue News.
• Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight
• Frederick Douglass by William S. McFeely
• The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee
• Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself by Harriet A. Jacobs
• Closer to Freedom: Enslaved Women and Everyday Resistance in the Plantation South by Stephanie M. H. Camp
• David Walker's Appeal to the Coloured Cititzens of the World by David Walker
  

Dr. Jack also suggested our readers visit Documenting the American South, where archivists at University of North Carolina have digitized all known narratives by enslaved people up until 1920.

If you haven't checked out Dr. Jack's presentation on the life and works of Frederick Douglass, you can view the videos here.

June is almost over, but we still have another discussion! Join us next week--Monday, June 28, at 7 p.m.--when we are excited to be joined by David F. Walker (not to be confused with the aforementioned abolitionist!), author of our June selection, The Life of Frederick Douglass. Email reference@ucitylibrary.org to make sure you get the Zoom invitation for the discussion.

Read on!

U City Readers ARE the Best Readers in the World!

We are SO excited to have such incredible interest in our Big Book Challenge this year! You are crushing it and making us so proud.

Because participation is so high, we might have an extra large gathering for our first Zoom meeting, discussing The Portable Frederick Douglass (pp. ix-149) on Wednesday, June 23 at 7pm, led by Dr. Bryan Jack. We'd like to ask for questions for Dr. Jack in advance to help better manage turnout, so please email kmgallagher@ucitylibrary.org with any of your burning (or casual) questions. We will be emailing out a list of the questions prior to the discussion.

What do you want to know about Douglass and his story? We want to make as many of your voices ‘heard’ as possible, so please don’t be shy!

If you’re interested in exploring our Challenge titles in different formats, take a look at Overdrive by Libby and Hoopla, where you can find eBook versions of The Portable Frederick Douglass and audio of The Good Lord Bird, respectively.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Congratulations to David Walker!

You know David Walker this summer as the author (and visitor for our June 28th meeting!) of The Life of Frederick Douglass. Last week, one of Walker's current comics, Bitter Root, was nominated for several Eisners, one of the biggest awards in the comics industry! Big congratulations to Mr. Walker! Bitter Root puts an adventurous, supernatural spin on the Harlem Renaissance of 1920s New York City. You can check out the series from the library today!

Frederick Douglass in Context

Did you know? Several of the references and resources Dr. Jack mentioned in his lecture are available through the library. If our reading this summer inspires you to learn more about the life and times of Frederick Douglass, read on!

Slave Narratives:

• Brown, William Wells. The Works of William Wells Brown: Using His "Strong, Manly Voice." Oxford University Press, 2006. 818.409 BRO
• Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings. Penguin Books, 2003. B EQUIANO
  
• Jacobs, Harriet A. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself. Harvard University Press, 2000. B JACOBS
  

On Frederick Douglass:

•  Blight, David W. Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. Simon & Schuster, 2018. B DOUGLASS
• McFeely, William S. Frederick Douglass. Norton, 1995. B DOUGLASS
• Stauffer, John. Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. Twelve, 2008. 973.7092 STA
  

Are you planning on visiting New York City in the future? The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History has the documents of Frederick Douglass's manumission in its collection. Check out their post about it here.

Welcome to Summer Reading 2021!

Welcome to University City Public Library's 2021 Big Book(S!) Challenge!

 

First off, make sure you've RSVPed in order to get Zoom invitations for our book discussions this summer (due to the pandemic, all discussions will be virtual). Most of the books just started going out today, so you should be receiving notices that they're available for pick-up soon if you've requested them. Be sure you get a reading guide when you're at the library.

(In order to borrow materials from us, you'll need a library card from The Municipal Library Consortium of St. Louis County, of which University City Public Library is a member. If you're not currently a cardholder, click here and we'll be happy to get you set up!)

Next, you'll want to watch the kickoff lecture by Dr. Bryan Jack here or on our YouTube channel (note that it's in three parts):

 

 Part 1

 

Part 2

 

Part 3

Dr. Jack will be joining us for our Zoom discussion on Wednesday, June 23, at 7 p.m., discussing The Portable Frederick Douglass, pp. ix - 149 (the "Autobiographical Writings" section). Again, be sure to RSVP in order to receive the Zoom invitation.

We are also excited to have David F. Walker, author of the graphic biography The Life of Frederick Douglass, joining us on our discussion of his book on Monday, June 28, at 7 p.m.

 

Here are all the dates for this summer:

Keynote Presentation with Bryan Jack,
Associate Professor of History at SIUE
Available online beginning May 26

Portable Frederick Douglass: Online Discussion
led by Bryan Jack
7 p.m. Wednesday, June 23
pp. ix-149, the Autobiographical Writings

Life of Frederick Douglass: Online Discussion
featuring author David F. Walker
7 p.m. Monday, June 28

The Good Lord Bird: Online Discussion
Parts 1 & 2
7 p.m. Monday, July 26

Portable Frederick Douglass: Online Discussion
led by Bryan Jack
7 p.m. Wednesday, July 28
pp. 195-410
The Speeches

Portable Frederick Douglass: Online Discussion
led by Bryan Jack
7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 25
pp. 413-537
The Journalism

The Good Lord Bird: Online Discussion
Part 3
7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 30 

We'll be back soon with content about our great reads this summer!

Yes! You Want to Take the Challenge!

And we want you to!  Take just a moment to complete this RSVP form to let us know which of the three challenge books you'll need.  We'll have them ready for you on Wednesday, May 26!

 Ivory-billed Woodpecker , Campephilus principalis, hand-colored engraving. Male on the left, female on the right. John James Audubon

Welcome to the 2021 Big Book Challenge!

Welcome to the 2021 Adult Summer Reading Big Book Challenge! This year, for the first time ever, we're exploring three thematically-linked titles with our reading choices: The Portable Frederick Douglass, a collection of autobiographical works by the abolitionist and former slave; the graphic novel The Life of Frederick Douglass by David Walker; and the National Book Award-winning tale of abolition The Good Lord Bird by James McBride.

As with 2020, all discussions and programs will take place online via Zoom. Make sure you're on our Summer Reading mailing list by sending an email to reference@ucitylibrary.org. These emails will include all Zoom invite links, so make sure "reference@ucitylibrary.org" is on your list of approved senders. You can also find links to all of the emails at the bottom of this page.

UCPL will still offer its Big Book readers the same discussions and scholar presentations — and informative blog posts — you've come to know and love.

"Kindness eases Change." (from The Books of the Living, verse 24)

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

What a beautiful wrap to an amazing summer dedicated to reading and discussing Octavia Butler's incredible novels, Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents! Our final book discussion today was so thoughtful; you may watch the recap of the meeting here:

https://zoom.us/rec/share/6eFWCLT-1mhJa9LNtBmHXKgoF9y-aaa8gSBL_vEIzkbNye5UWHaX6Mtubo7hwz7j

Password: Ses1=x=g

I feel so thankful to have had the company and insights of all our participants throughout this summer for the Big Book Challenge. As mentioned by several readers, these are challenging books for challenging times, but the feedback I've received so far has indicated how deeply Butler's works have moved you. I hope you continue to explore more of Butler's incredible catalog and continue stretching your reading experience.

Thank you, too, for being so flexible and patient as we moved the challenge to a virtual format for the first time ever. We learned a lot along the way, but it seemed like we encountered more successes than snags. As verse 24 of The Books of the Living reads, "Kindness eases Change," and your kindness has certainly eased so much of the potential stress from making such big changes to the Big Book Challenge. Perhaps we have our own Acorn sprouting right here in University City!

As we wind down for the summer and prepare for the fall, I wanted to leave you with a litte (or a lot!) of Earthseed to take with you. Inspired by today's comment by Edmund that he wishes to read more from The Books of the Living, here are all the Earthseed verses compiled in one place, in case you'd like to bookmark it for days you need some inspiration:

https://godischange.org/the-book-of-the-living/

🚀 Lindsay 🚀

Recap of Monday's live Q&A with Dr. Wanzo

Many thanks to Dr. Rebecca Wanzo and all our participants who were able to attend last night's live Q&A. It was a rousing discussion to wrap up a tremendous group read of Octavia Butler's Earthseed books. Here is the recording of the conversation--my apologies, I forgot to start recording until just after Dr. Wanzo's first question, which was "Do you think Parable of the Talents ended on an uplifting note or a depressing note?" (paraphrased):

https://zoom.us/rec/share/3MItDrehrj5JW6fy1G_bB48qJKP0eaa813AZqPMFmkjU3I8Vja0d3Z8UNHdTdkMb

Password: 7ie=wLNv

If you would like to watch Dr. Wanzo's presentation that sparked this discussion, you can find it here.

We have one final discussion for the Earthseed path of the Big Book Challenge tomorrow, Wednesday, July 29, at 3 p.m. If you would like to attend, be sure to email lbeckman@ucitylibrary.org to receive an invitation.

Infinite Jest in Translation

A tangential topic, but one that always interests me, is translation of important works of literature.  I found this, Infinite Jest around the World, by Scott Esposito at LitHub. 

Translating IJ would be quite a feat, I think.  Contemplating that makes me wonder about all those Russian novels we've read - how well have we understood them?

Great Wednesday Night Discussion!

Last night's discussion of the middle portion of Infinite Jest was terrific!  Many thanks to Michael O'Bryan for joining us again and answering our many questions. 

More thanks go to reader Mary McFarland for sharing this 2018 New Yorker piece by Claire Friedman called 'How to Read "Infinite Jest".' 

Read it and you'll see that we, the Big Book Challenge readers, will never have such problems.  We've got each other to get us through!

View Dr. Rebecca Wanzo's Earthseed presentation AND event registration information!

Many thanks to Dr. Rebecca Wanzo for this virtual presentation on Octavia Butler's Earthseed duology! Dr. Wanzo is a professor and chair of the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Washington University. In her presentation, Dr. Wanzo addresses ideas surrounding the literary tradition of sentimentality, new age religion and spirituality, and generational conflict, particularly as they relate to racial oppression. Please note that this presentation is in three parts and are posted in order below:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Registration is now available for next week's two events via Zoom:

1. Monday, July 27 @ 7 p.m.: Live Q&A with Dr. Rebecca Wanzo
2. Wednesday, July 29 @ 3 p.m.: General book discussion of the Earthseed duology

Please email lbeckman@ucitylibrary.org to receive an invitation to register for one or both of these events (please indicate which events you wish to attend!).

So Many Fun Infinite Jest Sites!

Because if we ever needed visual aids it's now: Take a look at a site called brain pickings for an Infinite Jest flowchart, an Infinite Jest map of Boston, below, and an Infinite Jest character map.   Are any of these helpful? 

Boston Locations in Infinite Jest from https://lovredhatred.wordpress.com/2010/02/27/like-boston/

Dr. Wanzo's presentation is delayed

Dr. Wanzo's presentation will not be available until next week (the week of July 20). We apologize for the inconvenience, and we will make it available on the blog as soon as possible (along with a newsletter reminder).

In the meantime, I hope you are steadily making your way through the Parable of the Talents. Quite a lot occurs during this book. Do you have any questions or comments so far? Thoughts about how Earthseed has progressed? I would love to hear about your experience--email lbeckman@ucitylibrary.org.

Until next week, happy reading!

Black Science Fiction and Fantasy

During the two discussions of Parable of the Sower last month, several participants mentioned that they don't often read science fiction or are rarely drawn to the genre, but that Octavia Butler's work is piquing their interest to explore more science fiction, particularly Black perspectives in science fiction. While a simple Google search will bring back dozens upon dozens of science fiction recommendations by Black authors, you may find a lot of overlap, which belies the tremendous canon of Black authors in the genre. As luck would have it, acclaimed author Nisi Shawl recently published an annotated list on Tor.com that may help interested readers find their next great read: Take a Tour Through the History of Black Science Fiction. Here you'll find many different ways to dip into science fiction (including Octavia Butler!), and most are available to checkout through the library.

I also mentioned that I celebrate "Sci-Fi July" with a group of friends, and we usually make a bingo for each year. This year, we are celebrating female and non-binary Black authors in science fiction and fantasy. There are too many to include on one bingo sheet, so use this as a jumping-off point!

And, because we need an illustrated version of Infinite Jest...

From Poor Yorick Entertainment: https://pooryorickentertainment.tumblr.com/post/7792492668

So, Eschaton...

The Decemberists' Calamity Song

The chapter which begins our middle challenge portion (page 321, approximately) recounts in scrupulous detail the ETA ritual of playing this game, simulating nuclear world conflict by lobbing tennis balls on various world targets, mapped on the court.   I had a lot of trouble getting through this one, but found watching this video, created by Parks and Rec's Michael Schur, helpful.

For more background on the creation of the video, this New York Times article will bring you up to speed.