TOPICS  OFFERED  FOR  FALL  2016

 

 

Please note that the books listed for each course are only possible candidates.

Do not buy any until the pre-meeting and a decision on the common reading is made.

Classes start September 1st and end December 30th.

Holiday periods are adapted to by individual class voting.

 

 

 

1.    (ART)     WOMEN  ARTISTS  THROUGH  THE  AGES  

Cassatt, Kahlo, O'Keefe and Grandma Moses are familiar names to most people. But what about Renaissance painter Lavinia Fontano? Or silversmith Louisa Courtauld? Sculptor Marcello? Rosa Bonheur, Bettye Saar, Lee Krasner, Berenice Abbott, Josepfa de Ayala, Elisabeth Virgee-Lebrun and many, many more have been major contributors to the artistic archives of various culture and eras. Explore the lives and creative output of some of these neglected artists. (We say "some" because there are far more women artists than can be covered in one Omnilore term!) But let's dig in and see what treasures we find!

Common Reading:     TBD

 

 

2.    (AVG)    AVERAGE  IS  OVER

As computers put an ever-higher premium on expertise, what does the future hold for the workforce in the next generation or two?  It has been said that with Communism, “We pretend to work, while they pretend to pay us.”  It could equally be said of Capitalism that “We work hard enough to not be fired, while they pay us just enough so we don’t quit.” But what happens when laying off the average worker raises productivity and profit?

Possible discussion topics: changes in the workforce, tiny houses and minimal lifestyles, varieties of education, the evolving social contract.

Common Reading:     Average is Over: Powering America Beyond the Age of the Great Stagnation, by Tyler Cowen  (paperback, August 2014)

 

 

3.    (BAS)    U.S.  HISTORY  THROUGH  BASEBALL

Recently, the president of Cal Lutheran University, Tom Hoffarth, began teaching a history course using the history of baseball as the medium.  His premise is that you can teach U.S. history through baseball.  To quote from the full story:

(http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20160219/hoffarth-baseball-history-class-comes-straight-from-the-top-at-cal-lutheran)

“There’s also the line that if you want to understand America, you’ve got to understand a little bit about baseball,” said the 60-year-old, who grew up in New England as a Boston Red Sox fan. “And if you want to understand baseball, you’ve got to understand its history.”

This S/DG would follow Hoffarth’s lead and examine the beginnings and development of our national pastime in order to review and learn about our own history (and that of other nations, e.g. Cuba, Nicaragua . . .) since the 1830s. 

His syllabus suggests a lot of topics for presentation and discussions:

Resources used:

(20th Anniversary Edition – March 2009)

by Bruce Kulick (January 1993)

by Robin Bachin for the Journal of Social History

Common Reading:     TBD

 

 

4.    (CUL)     RECONCILING  AMERICA’S  CULTURES

The American political scene is an embarrassing mess! Congress has been deadlocked for years and there is little conversation “across the aisle.” The Supreme Court, though agreeing most of the time, is sharply divided on many crucial issues. And the presidential race …! Studies show political views of the populace pulling apart from the “center” which has long held. And, it’s not just “the other parties fault.”

Understanding the various perspectives and underlying value structures extant around the country is key to working our way out of this mess because compromises must be reached. First, the American population has been divided in foundational ways from colonial times with each group emphasizing different values, individualistic or communitarian, and different concepts of freedom. The USA is not a unitary society or nation-state as are some admired countries in Europe. Second, we have never resolved the enormous racial issues residual from plantation slavery. Third, the interaction of political structures and economic entities has become distorted and even corrupt. Fourth, the process by which we select and empower elected officials needs simplification and reform. Certainly we do not have one-person-one-vote, if you think that is a good thing. Fifth, the relevancy of all political parties has become questionable.

This S/DG will review the cultural history of those who settled North America, how these cultures vary over the country, and the many conflicts that have always taken place. Then we will examine the different sets of values held most strongly by different portions of the “political spectrum.” Finally, we will examine selected proposals for improving our process. Maybe, we can find something realistic and plausible to improve our situation.

Common Reading:     American Character – A History Of The Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty And Common Good, by Colin Woodard (March 2016)

Some references will also be made to The Righteous Mind- Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, by Jonathan Haidt (March 2012)

 

 

5.    (EXT)     AT  THE  EXISTENTIALIST  CAFE:  FREEDOM,  BEING  AND APRICOT COCKTAILS

Portraits of the leading philosophers and writers who embodied the movements of 20c thought known as existentialism and phenomenology including Sartre, Camus, Jaspers, Heidegger, de Beauvoir and others. Using biographical narratives, the author examines not the large impersonal ideas, but the varied and conflicting truths found in the stories of individual lives.

During the turbulent mid-century, these thinkers emphasized the experience of making choices and the wider question of what it means to be in the world at all.

Common Reading:     At the Existentialist Cafe: Freedom, Being and Apricot Cocktails with Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Others, by Sarah Bakewell  (March 2016)

 

 

6.    (FOM)    FUTURE  OF  MARRIAGE  

The nature of marriage and its place in American society is changing. Marriage, the time-honored way of promoting the interests of children, no longer works for many Americans. Nearly half of all marriages fail; more than 40% of American children are born to single mothers. Much of this change is due to economic factors. Marriage still works for the upper middle and higher income families, but not for those who are unskilled. This was foretold by Daniel Patrick Moynihan 50 years ago. A recent book, Growing Apart by Charles Murray, documented how all this is leading to a bifurcation of the country. This S/DG will examine the changing nature of marriage and ways in which greater unity and better lives for all children might be enhanced.

Common Reading:     Marriage Markets – How Inequality Is Remaking the American Family, by June Carbonne and Naomi Cahn    (May 2014)

 

 

7.    (HEA)     HEALTHY  EATING  AND  LIVING

In his latest book, The Blue Zones Solutions, Dan Buettner reveals how to transform your health using smart eating and lifestyle habits gleaned from new research on the diets, eating habits, and lifestyle practices of the communities he's identified as "Blue Zones"—those places with the world's longest-lived, and thus healthiest, people, including locations such as Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula; Ikaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California.

In this book, readers can be inspired by the specific stories of the people, foods, and routines of our healthy elders; understand the role community, family, and naturally healthy habits can play in improving our diet and health; and learn the exact foods— including the 50 superfoods of longevity and dozens of recipes adapted for Western tastes and markets—that offer delicious ways to eat your way to optimum health. Throughout the book are lifestyle recommendations, checklists, and stories to help you create your own personal Blue Zones solution.

Locally, Beach Cities Health District succeeded in being the top finalist among 55 communities vying to become the next Blue Zone in a joint venture with HealthWays and a team of experts to work on a pilot program to make the next Blue Zone on earth through healthy community initiatives.

Common Reading:     The Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World’s Healthiest People, by Dan Buettner (April 2015)

 

 

8.    (JUL)     JULIA  CHILD:  A  REMARKABLE  LIFE  

The Food Network and celebrity chefs are so common place now that we forget who got this trend started….Julia Child.   Born in California, she reached out for challenges with intelligence, vitality, creativity and humor.  After attending an Ivy League college on the East Coast, she joined the OSS during WWII and served overseas.  While in Paris with her diplomat husband, Paul, she became the first woman to enroll in the famous Cordon Bleu School of Cooking.   Her cook book, The Art of French Cooking, changed the perspective of modern cooking.  Later, her pioneering cooking show on television would capture a nation of housewives and lead to the current interest in cooking and food.  The suggested book is well documented and highly reviewed about all areas of her life. 

Possible presentation topics:  Cooking schools and the competitive nature to enroll; women in the OSS of WWII; any number of celebrity chefs; economics of the food craze; how Michelin and Zagat star ratings are awarded; television and food; food critics, etc.

Common Reading:     Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child, by Bob Spitz   (paperback April 2013)

Supplemental:      Videos of cooking shows, French food samples, other cookbooks, movie, etc.

 

 

9.    (LIV)      BE  HERE  NOW  –  LIVING  A  MINDFUL  LIFE

There is growing evidence that correlates the action of paying attention to your present moment with a reduction in stress, an increase in emotional intelligence, a growing sense of optimism and well-being, and an increase in neuroplasticity of the brain.  It isn’t surprising that Beach Cities Health District is offering Mindfulness events and classes in their effort to promote health and wellness in the beach cities.

This S/DG will be a chance to look into mindfulness-based emotional intelligence, what is it, how does one do it, why should one do it, and what scientific evidence supports it.  We will use the book highly recommended by Gloria Kamler, a faculty member of the UCLA Mindfulness Awareness Research Center, entitled Search Inside Yourself. Written by Chade-Meng Tan, one of Google’s earliest engineers and now the head of GoogleEDU’s Personal Growth, it lays out a well-designed and tested way for development and application of emotional intelligence.

Presentations will supplement the core reading by focusing on current findings and research in this area, the work of leaders in this work, such as Jon Kabat-Zinn and Daniel Goleman, impacts on stress-reduction and health, and applications in education.

Common Reading:      Search Inside Yourself : The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (and World Peace), by Chade-Meng Tan (September 2014, paperback)

 

 

10.   (MAN)    NEANDERTHAL  MAN:  IN  SEARCH  OF  LOST  GENOMES

Who were the Neanderthals and why did they disappear within a short time after our species arrived? What were the consequences of our interbreeding with them? Can we learn anything about their extinction that might help our species not to do the same? In this S/DG we will examine current scholarship on the Neanderthals, including societal and genetic differences and similarities between them and our Homo sapiens species at the time.

Our common reading, named one of Amazon’s 100 best books of 2014, tells the story of geneticist Svante Pääbo’s mission to answer this question: what can we learn from the genomes of our closest evolutionary relatives? Beginning with the study of DNA in Egyptian mummies in the early 1980s and culminating in the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome in 2010, Neanderthal Man describes the events, intrigues, failures, and triumphs of these scientifically rich years through the lens of the pioneer and inventor of the field of ancient DNA. We learn that Neanderthal genes offer a unique window into the lives of our hominid relatives and may hold the key to unlocking the mystery of why humans survived while Neanderthals went extinct. Pääbo’s findings have not only redrawn our family tree, but recast the fundamentals of human history—the biological beginnings of fully modern Homo sapiens, the direct ancestors of all people alive today.

Common Reading:     Neanderthal Man:  In Search of Lost Genomes, by Svante Pääbo (February 2014)

 

 

11.   (MYS)      MYSTERY  WRITERS  OF  AMERICA  PRESENTS  VENGEANCE

This is a book edited by Lee Child, a master mystery writer himself, with each story more intense than the other.  All stories have vengeance as a major theme but with many twists. This collection has a little something for everyone and each story leads to a righteous and deserved vengeance. Some of the writers are veteran mystery writers: Lee Child, Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly and many new writers that are very exciting. These are stories about people that have been wronged and can't wait for justice. Many take the law into their own hands. There are 21 stories and each is great. These are stories to set you on the edge of your chair.

Common Reading:     Mystery Writers of America Presents Vengeance, edited by Lee Child   (April 2013)

 

 

 

12.   (ORE)    THE  OREGON  TRAIL:  A  NEW  AMERICAN  JOURNEY  

You’ve heard about the Oregon Trail but don’t know much about it?

Travel with Rinker Buck, his boisterous brother, Nick, and an “incurably filthy” Jack Russell terrier named Olive Oyl as their wagon pulled by three cantankerous mules follows the ruts of the original Oregon Trail from St. Joseph, Missouri to the western end of the Trail.

Buck’s The Oregon Trail is “much more than an epic adventure. It is also a lively and essential work of history that shatters the comforting myths about the trail years passed down by generations of Americans. Buck introduces readers to the largely forgotten roles played by trailblazing evangelists, friendly Indian tribes, female pioneers, bumbling U.S. Army cavalrymen, and the scam artists who flocked to the frontier to fleece the overland emigrants. Generous portions of the book are devoted to the history of old and appealing things like the mule and the wagon. We also learn how the trail accelerated American economic development. Most arresting, perhaps, are the stories of the pioneers themselves—ordinary families whose extraordinary courage and sacrifice made this country what it became.”

In addition to enjoying history entertainingly written by a master story teller, class members will find lots of topics for presentations as they meet the handcart Mormons, the evangelistic Whitmans, become acquainted with the problems facing present day Mid-Western Americans (60 Minutes actually did a major segment on the major problems facing the area), historic landmarks dotting the land, rugged geography and Native Americans.

Common Reading:     The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey, by Rinker Buck  (June 2015)

 

 

13.   (PAC)    THE  PACIFIC  OCEAN:  A  BIOGRAPHY

The Pacific Ocean – it consumes “almost one entire hemisphere”; it occupies roughly 64 million square miles; it measures 10,000 miles from Panama to Palawan.

The text for this course tells the enthralling story of the Pacific and its role in the modern world. As the Mediterranean shaped the classical world, and the Atlantic connected Europe to the New World, the Pacific Ocean defines our tomorrow. With China on the rise, so, too, are the American cities of the West coast: Seattle, San Francisco, and the long cluster of towns down the Silicon Valley.

But first, we travel from the Bering Strait to Cape Horn, the Yangtze River to the Panama Canal, and to the many small islands and archipelagos that lie in between. We observe the fall of a dictator in Manila, visit aboriginals in northern Queensland, and spend some time imprisoned in Tierra del Fuego, the land at the end of the world. Our journey encompasses a trip down the Alaska Highway, a stop at the isolated Pitcairn Islands, a trek across South Korea and a glimpse of its mysterious northern neighbor. Join us on this marvelous trip.

Common Reading:     Pacific: Silicon Chips and Surfboards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators, Fading Empires, and the Coming Collision of the World's Superpowers, by Simon Winchester  (October 2015)

 

 

14.   (RAD)    LISTENING  IN:  RADIO  AND  THE  AMERICAN  IMAGINATION 

Radio brought us together as a nation in the ‘30s and ‘40s. It conveyed a sense of what was happening, rather than what had happened. We had a role in completing the picture, in giving meaning to the broadcasts. Radio required us to use our imagination, not only as individuals, but as a nation.  Our goal will be to listen to a selection of recorded programs representing different types of listening: news, thrillers, drama, comedy, and sports. Some recordings will be historic, such as Orson Welles, War of the Worlds or FDR’s fireside chat on the eve of war with Japan. Others will be episodes from favorites such as Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy; Jack Benny; Amos ‘n’ Andy; The Lone Ranger; Dimension X and The Shadow. 

Presentations might include:

·      history of radio development;

·      how we use radio; 

·      how radio shaped our ethnic, racial, and gender stereotypes; 

·      what makes listening appealing and understandable, such as sound effects. 

Common Reading:     Listening In: Radio and the American Imagination, by Susan Douglas  (February 2004)

 

 

15.   (RON)    RON  HOWARD:  FROM  MAYBERRY  TO  THE MOON . . . AND  BEYOND

Ron Howard: From Mayberry to the Moon...and Beyond is the first full-length biography of Ron Howard.  Here's an opportunity to take an in-depth look at the Oklahoma boy who gained national fame as a child star and then grew up to be one of Hollywood's most admired directors.  The class members will choose one of his many movies for their presentation - films such as: Splash, Cocoon, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, In the Heart of the Sea to mention a few.  The films will be viewed by all prior to the presentations date and will answer questions for class discussion generated by the presenter.  We will learn that Howard loves the challenge of exploring different genres: domestic comedies, fantasies, sci-fi, suspense thrillers, historical dramas and big budget action films.  No question that we loved seeing his rise to fame.  The best part is that he is still making films for audiences today.

Common Reading:     Ron Howard: From Mayberry to the Moon...and Beyond by Beverly Gray (March 2003)

 

 

16.   (RSC)      RAIN  –  SCIENCE  AND  CULTURAL 

Rain becomes a topic of conversation whenever we have too much or too little.  We welcome rain as long as it doesn’t spoil our picnic or parade.  The serious lack of rain is remembered in ‘the dust bowl’ and in areas without clean water access. Yet, countless floods and water damage is linked with rain during hurricanes and rivers overflowing from rain and snow melt.  This S/DG would look at the scientific aspects of rain and efforts to control it or the water it brings forth along with the cultural aspects that evolved over history from raincoats to rain dances to diviners.

Possible presentations include: water rights issues in California; de-salinization efforts; bottled water usage, current efforts to clean water in emerging countries; drought management; and rain water run-off options.

Common Reading:     Rain: A Natural and Cultural History, by Cynthia Barnett (April 2015)

 

 

17.   (RUS)    UNRESOLVED  CONFLICTS  IN  THE  FORMER  USSR  

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, conflict in the former USSR has been a key concern for international security. This S/DG will study the violent conflicts within a region that contains all the modern ingredients for instability and aggression. It will examine current debates in international relations about power, interests, globalization, and the politics of identity as major drivers of contemporary war. Incidents such as the 2008 Russo-Georgian conflict, the wars in Chechnya, and Russia's struggles over national identity and resources with the Ukraine and Moldova over the Crimea and the Trans-Dniester will provide ample material for presentations and discussions. With new issues like energy security, terrorism and transnational crime, and older tensions between East and West threatening to deepen once more, this is an important subject for addressing international security.

Common Reading:     Putin's Wars:  The Rise of Russia's New Imperialism by Marcel H. Van Herpen  (February 2014)

 

 

18.   (SAR)    THE  QUARTET:  ORCHESTRATING  THE  SECOND  AMERICAN REVOLUTION,  1783-1789

The success of the American Revolution in 1781 secured the independence of the thirteen American colonies. The Articles of Confederation adopted shortly thereafter was not the creation of a nation so much as it was a mutual security pact between the thirteen newly sovereign entities. In our common reading, The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution 1783-1789, Joseph Ellis (Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Founding Brothers) explores how a small group of prominent leaders were able to lead the transformation from a loose confederation of states to a nation-size republic. Ellis focuses on four of these transformational leaders: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison. Along with several others (Robert Morris, Gouverneur Morris, and Thomas Jefferson) they managed to diagnose the dysfunctions of the existing system, force a calling of the Constitutional Convention, set the agenda in Philadelphia, orchestrate the debates in the various ratifying states, and draft the Bill of Rights to ensure state compliance with the constitutional settlement. Join us as we review the achievements of these men and this period, which Ellis argues is perhaps the most creative and consequential act of political leadership in American history.

Common Reading:     The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution 1783-1789, by Joseph Ellis  (May 2015)

 

 

19.   (SCI)     AT  THE  EDGE  OF  UNCERTAINTY:  11  DISCOVERIES  TAKING SCIENCE  BY  SURPRISE

Using Michael Brooks' new book, At the Edge of Uncertainty: 11 Discoveries Taking Science by Surprise (2015) as the core book, this S/DG will explore 11 paradigm-shifting theories at the frontier of what we think we know, plus stem cells, antibody treatment of malignancies, and nanotechnology--both biological and industrial. These discoveries are at the cutting-edge of science in areas that are far from settled; just a few years ago, these mind-bending ideas did not seem possible. From the idea of "chimera", human/animal tissue combinations, to the realization that time as we experience it may be just an illusion, these ideas give pause to scientists and philosophers alike. 

Along the way in this S/DG, we will meet scientists who were ridiculed for ideas and experiments that are now taken seriously.  We will encounter scientists who were surprised by the conclusions to which their work led them.  In the process, we will see how science makes paradigm-shifting leaps, discarding previously accepted "gold standard" ideas for new mind-altering theories.

Our core book is written in an accessible style that makes this S/DG one for both scientist and non-scientist.

Common Reading:     At the Edge of Uncertainty: 11 Discoveries Taking Science by Surprise, by Michael Brooks   (February 2015)

 

 

20.   (SGN)   SINGAPORE  AND  A  GRAPHIC  NOVEL

Did you read comic books as a child?  If so you might like to try the adult analogue, the graphic novel.  This course will look at the recent history of Singapore, a very interesting place itself, though the words and drawing of a unique book.  Part graphic novel, part art book, part narrative essay, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye is a look at Singapore unlike any other before. By reflecting on the life and work of a comic creator whose career spanned half a century, the book comments wryly on Singapore’s past and present while honoring comics as a storytelling medium.  This book is a #1 seller on Amazon’s Art of Comics and Manga.  Presentation topics could relate to Singapore as well as other aspects of graphic novels or different graphic novels.

Common Reading:     The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, by Sonny Liew  (March 2016)

 

 

21.   (SHK)    SHAKESPEARE:  ALL  THE  WORLD’S  A  STAGE …

The Omnilorean New Globe Players plan a September-December season, continuing our usual pattern and reading one each of the Bard’s Histories, Comedies, and Tragedies.  With players standing and with a few props, we propose to do reading walk-throughs of Henry VI Part 2 (continuing our excursion through the 8 contiguous History plays, this being the 6th), Cymbeline, and Macbeth — subject to affirmation at the pre-meeting in August.

In this S/DG you will learn how to research all perspectives of Shakespeare’s works — sources of each play upon which the Bard builds rich characters and enhances the plots, how to play each character “in character,” themes, symbols, images, motifs, commentary on issues of the day, and all manner of rhyme and reason.  Class members each serve on one play’s Board of Directors, responsible for casting roles for the repertory and leading discussions based on the research  — optionally adding videos, music, and costumes.  For a glimpse of how we live the Bard in this S/DG, check out http://omnilore.org/members/Curriculum/SDGs/16a-SHK-Shakespeare to view the Winter/Spring Shakespeare class’s website of links to references relevant to our plays and downloadable organizing artifacts.

There are no prerequisites, theatrical or otherwise.  You will find that the Bard of Stratford-on-Avon will teach us, just as he’s taught others for four hundred years.  With plenty for the novice as well as the veteran, it is a foregone conclusion members will leave this class with a fuller understanding of the masterful story construction, realistic characters with depth and humanity, and the rich, evocative language which have earned William Shakespeare the title of greatest writer in the English language.

Common Reading:     Selected Plays

 

 

22.   (TFS)     THE FATAL SHORE

For 80 years between 1788 and 1868 England transported its convicts to Australia. This punishment provided the first immigrants and the work force to build the colony. Using diaries, letters, and original sources, Hughes meticulously documents this history. All sides of the story are told: the political and social reasoning behind the Transportation System, the viewpoint of the captains who had the difficult job of governing and developing the colonies, and of course the dilemma of the prisoners. This is a very thorough and accurate history of Australian colonization written by the Australian-born author of the book.

Possible  topics  for  further  research  and  discussion  could  include: differences between Melbourne and Sydney; who were the convicts; the political and cultural circumstances of transporting convicts to Australia; the Aboriginal Australians; how does the convict history affect Australians now; relationship then and now between Australia and Great Britain.

Common Reading:     The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding by Robert Hughes (paperback, February 12, 1988)

 

 

23.   (TGD)     STIGLITZ:  THE  GREAT  DIVIDE

Have irresponsible policies, deregulation, tax cuts and misguided priorities led to the growing inequality crisis in this country over the past several decades?  Have the concerns of the one percent overtaken the interests of the majority?  Is there a way for millions of Americans to have better opportunities in the future?    

This S/DG is based on The Great Divide by Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.  It is composed of focused writings published over the past seven years, with each group introduced by a new chapter explaining and updating these analytical articles.  The themes of his diagnosis are the reasons for the changing economic conditions of the last thirty years, the economics of increasing disparity, the nexus between the vicious circle of political inequality and economic inequality, the handling of the 2008 financial crisis, policy prescriptions and lessons from other countries.     

We will discuss Stiglitz’s analysis of the causes and solutions for the increasing divide in the United States.  This should make for intense and lively debates.  

Common Reading:     The Great Divide : Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them, by Joseph Stiglitz (April 2015)

 

 

24.   (WTS)     WILLIAM  TREVOR  SHORT  STORIES

There is a reason why William Trevor’s Short Stories has been an offering on Omnilore’s curriculum multiple times. He is hugely popular and little wonder why.

Called by The New Yorker ‘probably the greatest living writer of short stories in the English language,’ Trevor is an Irish author and playwright. Over the course of his long career he has written several novels and hundreds of short stories. He has won numerous awards including the Hawthornden Prize, the Whitbread Book of the Year (3 times), the Booker Prize and the prestigious David Cohen Literature Prize in recognition of a lifetime’s literary achievement. In 2002, he was knighted for his services to literature.

In Trevor’s short stories you will be immersed in the everyday lives of regular people in both Ireland and England and the complexities of their relationships and/or situations they find themselves in. His beautiful writing, his deep exploration of a vast range of characters and his unique ability to create brilliant and subtle stories full of heartfelt emotions and atmospheres will keep you turning the pages and always wanting more. 

With 85 short stories, each one a virtual masterpiece, this collection offers incredible fodder for thought and class discussion. Lovers of fiction, and short stories in particular, will not want to miss this opportunity to join their colleagues and delight in William’s genius.

Common Reading:     William Trevor: The Collected Stories (paperback, 1993)