About Our Book Club

Remember that book you read in high school that you didn't really appreciate? It occasionally creeps up in conversation and you can honestly say you read it, but you honestly can't remember that much about it? This was the purpose of the Dead Authors Book Club which was founded in June of 2009. We take on classic books (with dead authors) and together we read and discuss them. All of us have a sincere appreciation for reading, but somehow it becomes a little more manageable (and obligatory) when we know we're meeting up to talk about it.

This is not an emotional sort of book club so there is rarely a discussion on how the books made us feel inside. Rather we take a more academic approach by creating short presentations related to some aspect of the book such as the historical context or its enduring legacy. Often the topics include politics, feminism or its relationship to another book or film. It can really be anything that comes to mind.

It's always interesting to see what everyone takes from the book and how those ideas manifest into presentations.We've seen book themed rap songs, art projects, poems, a blow up doll in a body cast, extensive power points on World War 2, Lego architecture renditions of West Egg, and had a smashing game of Baccarat. Food and drink are often related to the theme of the book as well - we had Gin Rickey's for The Great Gatsby, gumbo for A Confederacy of Dunces, and Eat Me Cupcakes for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

We try not to take ourselves too seriously while still using the time we have together to better understand literature. I often hear from someone else and think, "I never considered that before". In that way, we not only learn about the book but we learn a great deal about one another.

Feel free to stop by our blog anytime and comment - we hope that you enjoy our book club as much as we do. But mostly, we hope you find some friends and create your own.

Happy reading...