The Fountain Bookstore Civil War Book Club

The 150th anniversary of the attack on Fort Sumter, the start of the U.S. Civil War, is just two weeks away. For a long time now, I’ve had it in mind to read my way through the conflict in chronological order; originally, I was just planning to blog my way through it, but a few months back, inspired by the success of subscription book club programs at independent bookstores like Powell’s and WORD, I approached Kelly Justice, the owner of Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia, and pitched her on the idea—and now we’ve got a Civil War Book Club for which I’ll be selecting books, providing short introductory reading guides, and in many cases heading down to Richmond for in-store events.

On Thursday, April 14, for example, I’ll be interviewing Adam Goodheart, the author of 1861: The Civil War Awakening. It’s a fantastic book about the months leading up to the outbreak of conflict, in which Goodheart considers the war not as a simple matter of North versus South but a crisis of conscience for every American citizen—a national trauma that forced people to examine their most closely held beliefs about what the nation stood for and what it was meant to be. There’s some combat in the book, to be sure, but Goodheart’s main interest lies in getting inside people’s heads, and he offers us a diverse cross-section of American and Confederate society. I’m very much looking forward to our discussion, and I’m hoping to get a good recording of it to share with those of you who can’t make it to the event.

When you enroll in Fountain’s book club program, you’ll be able to choose how many months you want to participate in the program, and whether you want to join the hardcover or paperback reading track. (We’ll be unveiling the first paperback selection next week.) This book club isn’t just intended for Richmond residents, either: The monthly fees include shipping, along with the reading guides I’ll be creating, and other exclusive materials we’re putting together. I’m really excited about this program, and I hope you will be, too!

30 March 2011 | civil war 150, events |

Philosophy Night @ Greenlight Bookstore (3/21)

Next Monday (March 21, 2011), I’ll be hosting the latest installment in the “Author/Blogger” events I’ve been coordinating for Greenlight Bookstore in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and we’ve put together a great philosophical discussion for the evening. James Miller is the author of Examined Lives: From Socrates to Nietzsche, which collects a dozen mini-biographies showing how great philosophers have struggled to reconcile their notions about the right way to live with their life circumstances. After a brief interview, he’ll be interviewed by Andrew Shaffer, a blogger for the Huffington Post and the author of Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love, which has three times as many historical examples upon which to draw. And then we’ll have time for your questions…

Greenlight Bookstore is located at 686 Fulton Street, very close to the C and G subway stops and within walking distance of all the trains that stop at Atlantic and Pacific Avenues. This (free!) event will start at 7:30 p.m., and should last about an hour or so. You don’t need to RSVP, but if you happen to be on Facebook, you could check in; it’s always helpful to have even a rough head count for these sorts of things.

16 March 2011 | events |