Current reads

Currently I am reading Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez.

"Soon after the fall of the Taliban, in 2001, Deborah Rodriguez went to Afghanistan as part of a humanitarian aid group. Surrounded by people whose skills--as doctors, nurses, and therapists--seemed eminently more practical than her own, Rodriguez, a hairdresser and mother from Michigan, despaired of being of any real use. Yet she found she had a gift for befriending Afghans, and once her profession became known she was eagerly sought out by Westerners desperate for a good haircut and by Afghan women, who have a long and proud tradition of running their own beauty salons.
Soon after the fall of the Taliban, in 2001, Deborah Rodriguez went to Afghanistan as part of a humanitarian aid group. Surrounded by people whose skills--as doctors, nurses, and therapists--seemed eminently more practical than her own, Rodriguez, a hairdresser and mother from Michigan, despaired of being of any real use. Yet she found she had a gift for befriending Afghans, and once her profession became known she was eagerly sought out by Westerners desperate for a good haircut and by Afghan women, who have a long and proud tradition of running their own beauty salons." HCPL online catalog.

A sad, yet uplifting story. These women go through so much and still thrive.

There is also a docudrama DVD titled Beauty Academy in Kabul which is the story of the beauty school from a different perspective than the book listed above. Here is the synopsis:
"A quirky gaggle of Western hairstylists armed with blow dryers and designer scissors improbably open a school to teach eager Afghan women the high art of fixing hair. The women of Kabul embrace the beauty lessons with unbridled hope." HCPL Online Catalog.

More on "The Importance of Being Earnest"

"Importance of Being Earnest" discussion and information:

http://tinyurl.com/3dd749

http://www.bibliomania.com/1/7/57/1147/frameset.html

Internet Movie Database:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0278500/

More resources for our discussion on November's book club meeting on the 13th.

Oscar Wilde's Birthday

In November the book club will view "The Importance of Being Earnest" based on the play by Oscar Wilde. Here is some information from The Writer's Almanac for 10/16/07 by Garrison Keillor.

"It's the birthday of Oscar Wilde, born in Dublin (1854), who was already a successful playwright when he fell into a love affair with the young aristocrat Lord Alfred Douglas. Wilde was married with two children at the time, and the affair ruined his reputation in society. He later wrote, "I curse myself night and day for my folly in allowing him to dominate my life." But it was the most creative period of his life. He wrote three plays in two years about people leading double lives, including A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895), and his masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), about two men who use an imaginary person named Earnest to get themselves out of all kinds of situations, until their invented stories and identities get so complicated that everything is revealed.

The actor who played Algernon Moncrieff later said, "In my fifty-three years of acting, I never remember a greater triumph than the first night of The Importance of Being Earnest." But that same year, Wilde was accused of sodomy by the father of his lover. Wilde might have let the accusation pass, but he chose to sue his accuser for libel, because he thought he could win the case by his eloquence alone. Private detectives had dug up so much damning evidence on Wilde that he was convicted of sodomy and sentenced to two years of hard labor. His plays continued to be produced on the stage, but his name was removed from all the programs. He was released from prison in 1897 and died three years later in a cheap Paris hotel.

Oscar Wilde, who said, "All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling." And, "An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.""

October Book Club meeting

The October book: "Caramelo" by Sandra Cisneros had enough interesting characters, family drama, and history to make for a fun discussion. It was a great choice for Hispanic Heritage Month. The story took place in Chicago, Mexico City and San Antonio and was narrated by the youngest character, Celaya. "Lala" told the story of her grandmother and then of her own parents, as well as expressing her feelings of being an outsider wherever they lived. Thanks to the members who were able to come.

On November 13 we will view "The Importance of Being Earnest" based on the play by Oscar Wilde. The movie is only 93 minutes long so we will start at our usual time - 7:00 pm - in the Earl Elliott meeting room off the lobby."Comes as close to perfection as any comedy I can think of." - DailyTelegraph.

"Oscar Wilde's "trivial play for serious people" is a sparkling comedy of manners. this hilariously absurd satire pits sincerity against style, barbed witticisms against ostentatious elegance. Wilde's brilliantly constructed plot and famous dialogue enrich the appeal of his celebrated characters, as he turns accepted ideas inside out and situations upsidedown in this, his masterpiece." (HCPL online catalog).

Evening Book Club Fall and Winter Selections

Here are the titles we will be reading for the rest of the year and early in 2008:

2007

November 13 - view movie based on Oscar Wilde play starring Rupert Evert and Colin Firth

December 11 - Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg

2008

January 8 - The Outside World by Tova Mirvis

February 12 - When Did You Stop Loving Me by Veronica Chambers
OR
Getting Mother's Body by Suzan Lori Parks

March 11 - Charming Billy by Alice McDermott

April 8 - Away by Amy Bloom

May 13 - The Space Between Us by Thirty Umriger
Or
Curse of the Golden Flower (Movie)
Or
Brothers by Da Chen

Summer books yet to be determined

September 9 - Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer

We can make changes to these selections as needed or desired.

Discussion questions for "Caramelo" by Sandra Cisneros

Here are some discussion questions for the book Caramelo.
The Evening Book Club meets on Tuesday Oct. 9 at 7:00 in the WCR conference room on the 2nd floor.

So far I am enjoying this book. The narrator - Celaya - is a hoot. The family dynamics keep you reading. You just have to see what will happen next.

See you then.
http://www.book-club.co.nz/bookclubs/discuss/caramelo.htm
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/caramelo1.asp