Hey Fellow Literary Lefties,
With snowflakes the size of ping-pong balls falling upon Manhattan last week, and President Bush vaguely muttering about his "legacy," you know the holiday season is here, and with only 29 (!) days left in the Bush presidency, it's time for a new e-mail from your favorite neighborhood progressive book club, Reading Liberally NYC Classics.

Our last meeting's discussion of 1984 was great - both those who'd finished the book and those who hadn't had the chance to touch it yet contributed much to our conversation, and the The Grisley Pear was a great host venue as well, allowing both for the amenities of a restaurant and a casual feel. We look forward to visiting it again for our next meeting, on January 14th, 2009.

There were several nominations for our January book at the end of the meeting, and after some discussion and back-and forth, we've settled on the favorite book of our President-Elect, Barack Obama...the 1977 winner of the National Book Critics Award...the novel cited by the Swedish Academy in awarding the author her Nobel Prize in Literature:

Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison.
(http://www.amazon.com/Song-Solomon-Toni-Morrison/dp/140003342X/ref=pd_bb...)

As we prepare to welcome the inauguration of our new President-Elect, we'll have read his favorite novel beforehand - it's about the same length as 1984, and a less direct but perhaps more revealing prologue to the Obama years ahead than reading his memoirs.

Also, at the beginning of our next meeting, our resident orator, Hugh Rothbaum, will be reading two famous progressive inaugural addresses, those of JFK and FDR - and we'll also be joined by actor and activist Stan Tannen, founder of Toward International Peace Through the Arts, who will read Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address for us. Have any particular famous inaugural addresses you want read? E-mail Hugh at hughrothbaum@aol.com with your suggestions, ideas and favorite Presidential pieces.

And, of course, while we're on the topic, we're assuming that everyone on this lists-serv is planning on attending the Living Liberally Inaugural Ball (http://livingliberally.org/inauguralball).

That's it until January - in the meantime, have a happy holidays/hanukkah/xmas/eid/kwanzaa/solstice/festivus, and see you in the new year.

Best,
Hugh & Josh

Fellow Literary Lefties,
I hope you're all enjoying the dystopic world of 1984 - just sending this note to remind you all that we've always been at war with eastasia, and we're meeting this Wednesday, at 6:30, and to confirm our location:

I. We're meeting in the backroom of The Grisly Pear.

We're meeting in the backroom of The Grisly Pear, 107 MacDougal St, a charming bar/restaurant in the Village that has consistently been good friends with the Liberally world. The backroom is plenty roomy (we've held Laughing Liberally shows there in the past), with tables we can sprawl across if need be. We'll see how it works for this meeting, and if we want to keep it for the future. Also just wanted to add...

II. If you haven't had the chance to finish the book yet, don't sweat it.

Or, for that matter, if you've yet to crack it open - honestly, if you just want to join a group of smarty-pant liberals over food and drink, the kind of folks who enjoy talking about books and politics alike, that's fine. You might get more out of some parts of the discussion if you've at least read through some of the book, but don't expect us to have a scarlet letter we're waiting to pin to your chest should that not be the case.

We'll see you on Wednesday night to talk 1984, choose our next book (or two)...also, if you could e-mail to let us know if you'll be coming, so we have a sense of what to expect, that'd be great. Thanks!

Best,
Big Brothers (aka Josh & Hugh)

Hey Fellow Literary Lefties,
Welcome to the first e-mail/blog-post of our new book club, Reading Liberally NYC Classics - I hope this finds you savoring your turkey (or, for some of us, tofurkey) leftovers, and, for those of you with an extended weekend, taking advantage of the time to recharge and read our first book up for discussion, George Orwell's 1984. Three news items:

I. We're meeting on December 10th to discuss George Orwell's 1984:

We always meet the 2nd Wednesday of the month, which means this Wednesday, December 10th we'll be meeting at 6:30 to sip on some libations, nosh on some snacks and discuss George Orwell's 1984, perhaps the most appropriate shorter novel with which to say goodbye to the Bush years. (Josh: I personally am reading the Signet Classics edition, which you can purchase from your favorite local independent bookshop, or online at http://www.powells.com/biblio/17-9780451524935-0 or from Amazon or at http://tinyurl.com/6j6unj.) The only detail left is the location, a detail we'll include in a later e-mail. Which inexorably brings us to...

II. Where should we try meeting?

The only real requirements are that it be an accessible, public place or venue where we can gather on the second Wednesday night of each evening to talk books. For our test meeting a few weeks ago, we tried Tea Spot in Greenwich Village. Tea Spot is a lovely, quietish place for crumpets and conversation, but some opined that we might be better off with a place where we could purchase or bring a bottle of wine, perhaps a sort of Plato's-Symposium type deal, or a place that requires less scouting out a table beforehand. Any suggestions overall - perhaps a really nice independent bookstore that deserves our patronage and would provide a table, and maybe discounted books? Or maybe a coffeeshop with more than just coffee? Or something else entirely? Or, for that matter...

III. Any early suggestions for our January book?

For the moment, we might adapt a system where we just vote at the end of each meeting on the upcoming month's book, though we might decide to do that for books two months in advance so we might have a brief excerpt reading at the end of each meeting, so as to whet our appetites. But in any case, does anything seem particularly appropriate to read this January? Some suggestions on Josh's end:

Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison - President-Elect Obama's supposed favorite book, which could be an interesting read for the month of his inauguration.
I May Not Get There with You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr, by Michael Eric Dyson - A few weeks before MLK Day, we might want to remember the clarion call for equality and social justice that Dr. King sounded...
Why We Can't Wait, by Martin Luther King, Jr. - ...or we might just go straight to the source.

Enjoy your weekend, enjoy 1984, and we'll talk more soon.

Liberally yours,
Josh & Hugh