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O Grave, Where Is Thy Victory?
Dear Friend, Do you know a National Book Award-winning book when you read one? I have to say, Blackouts drew me in immediately and, despite being experimental, it held my attention from start to finish. It was hard for me to stick to my pace because I kept wanting to read ahead. That’s the sign…
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A Likeness Larger than You and Me
Dear Friend, When the narrator writes of Juan, “the stories kept him alive” (113), I had to stop and catch my breath. I, too, have felt that way. I suppose part of this very project–reading slowly and carefully together–is an attempt not just to stay alive, but to be alive. And it isn’t just that…
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Staring into the Middle Space
Dear Friend, What an experience it is to sit again with a favorite writer. I can’t count the number of times I’ve recommended Justin Torres’ We the Animals (nor the number of times I’ve refrained from recommending it when I worried the person asking might not appreciate it.) So, to meet again, to be in…
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Blackout from Excitement
Dear Friend, Thank you for joining us as we make our triumphant return from March hiatus! I’m particularly excited to be returning to the project with the recent National Book Award-winning novel, Blackouts by Justin Torres. The New York Times describes the book as a “radical queer novel” and “genre-defying,” one that asks what it…
Contemplative Reading Project 