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X-ORIGINAL-URL:http://bookclub.meetup.com/430/calendar/8566785/ical/Serious
 +Fiction+Fan+Club+October+meeting/
X-WR-CALNAME:Events - Serious Fiction Fan Club October meeting
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Serious Fiction Fan Club October meeting
DESCRIPTION:The East Valley Book Club\n\nOur book for October is the Pulitz
 er Prize winner for 1992\, “A Thousand Acres” by Jane Smiley\, which later 
 was made into a major motion picture. \n\nJane Smiley books belong in the l
 ibrary of any serious fiction reader. She took her masters and PhD in creat
 ive writing from the prestigious program at the University of Iowa and then
  taught undergrad and graduate creative writing workshops at Iowa State Uni
 versity from 1981 to 1996\, along the way winning many awards for both nove
 ls and short stories. Along the way\, she received a Fulbright grant that a
 llowed a year studying Greenland\, after which she wrote “The Greenlanders\
 ,” a book that was avoided by everyone except those fascinated by Viking cu
 lture of the early fourteen hundreds.\n\nWhat makes her novels so engaging 
 is that all have a theme.  She obsesses on a topic\, does exhaustive resear
 ch\, and finally explains the subject by creating a work of fiction. To nam
 e a few\; “Horse Heaven” is about the horse racing industry\, “Good Faith” 
 covers real estate\, “MOO” is about the life and politics of a modern state
  university\, “The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton” is abou
 t the Kansas-Nebraska wars that preceded the Civil War\, and her most recen
 t\, “Ten Days in the Hills” tells a reader everything he ever wanted to kno
 w about the film business. \n\nUndoubtedly\, her best novel is “A Thousand 
 Acres\,” a novel often described as a modern-day version of “King Lear\,” p
 erhaps the greatest of Shakespeare’s tragedies. It is a remarkably satisfyi
 ng read.\n\nAging Larry Cook announces his intention to turn over his 1\,00
 0-acre farm to his three daughters\, Caroline\, Ginny and Rose. A man of ha
 rsh sensibilities\, he carves Caroline out of the deal because she has the 
 nerve to be less than enthusiastic about her father's generosity. While Lar
 ry Cook deteriorates into a pathetic drunk\, his daughters are left to cope
  with the often grim realities of life on a family farm–––from battering hu
 sbands to cutthroat lenders.\n\n"Our farm and our lives seemed secure and g
 ood\," says narrator Ginny Cook\, looking back on the summer before her fat
 her capriciously decided to turn over the farm to his three daughters and t
 heir mates. Although Ginny's existence as a farmer's wife and caretaker of 
 her irascible\, bullying\, widower father is not easy\, there have been com
 pensations in her good marriage\, in the close companionship of her indomit
 able sister Rose\, who lives across the road\, and in sharing vicariously i
 n the accomplishments of their younger sister\, Caroline\, a lawyer. \n\nHa
 ving managed to submerge her grief at being childless\, passive Ginny has a
 lso hidden a number of darker secrets in her past. These shocking events wo
 rk their way out of her subconscious in the dreadful aftermath of her fathe
 r's decision to rescind his legacy\, shouting accusations of filial betraya
 l. Like Lear's daughters\, the Cook sisters each reveal their true natures 
 as the tragedy plays out. \n\nSmiley powerfully evokes the unrelenting\, in
 sular world of farm life\, the symbiotic relationships between a farmer and
  his land as well as those among the other members of the rural community. 
 She contrasts the stringencies of nature with those of human nature: the st
 ing of sibling rivalry\, the tensions of marriage\, the psychological burde
 ns of children\, the passion of lovers\, and in the end\, she has raises pr
 ofound questions about human conduct and moral responsibility\, especially 
 about family relationships and the guilt and bitterness that incest inflict
 ed by a father on his daughters begets. \n\nThis book will stick in your mi
 nd for a very long time and illustrates the enduring value of serious creat
 ive literary fiction.\n\nMesa\, AZ  85203 - USA\n\nMonday\, October 13 at 7
 :00 PM\n\nPhoto: http://photos1.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/e/5/0/2/event
 _6658626.jpeg\n\nAttending: 12\n\nDetails: http://bookclub.meetup.com/430/c
 alendar/8566785/
LAST-MODIFIED:20081023T011340Z
UID:event_8566785@meetup.com
CLASS:PUBLIC
CREATED:20080818T043420Z
DTSTAMP:20091215T185630Z
DTSTART:20081014T020000Z
DTEND:20081014T040000Z
GEO:33.44;-111.71
URL:http://bookclub.meetup.com/430/calendar/8566785/
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