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Russell Literary Groups - Russell Readers

pdf Russell Readers Printable Brochure - Short Story Omnibus

Great Books Foundation Discussions and Shared Inquiry
Great Books discussion groups are forums for adults to discuss significant writings. We come from a variety of backgrounds to discuss important ideas and issues that have shaped civilization. Our discussions are lively, probing and enlightening. We challenge our own and others’ opinions in light of the text we are all reading. The object is not one “right answer” but rather to examine questions raised in the readings, with reasoning informed by our diverse experiences.

We use the “Shared Inquiry” method, a collaborative, question-driven method of learning that helps us read actively, pose evocative questions, and listen and respond effectively. We examine the words and the possible ways to interpret the ideas and issues. To this end, we follow these guidelines:

  • We read the selection before coming to the discussion.
  • We support our opinions by focusing on ideas from the reading.
  • We explore the ideas in the selection before going beyond them.
  • We listen to the opinions of others and respond directly to them.
  • We ask each discussion leader to begin the questions.

Join us! Call 347-0196 or email ameyers@russell.lioninc.org

2011-2012
7:00-8:20 PM, Third Floor Meeting Room

In 2011-2012, we will continue to use the anthology from the Great Books Foundation, Short Story Omnibus. It may be checked out at the Circulation Desk. As we will be using the book for an extended period, the due date of the book is June 19, 2012.

The stories are arranged in chronological order according to the authors’ years of birth, in each of the four divisions of the book. First are conventional short stories. We will then look at very short “sudden or flash fiction.” Following these sections are novellas, which are shorter than novels. The final section is graphic stories, confronting us simultaneously with words and images.

Socrates wrote that the unexamined life is not worth living. In these reading-discussions, we will examine many lives.

September 20
The Country Husband by John Cheever
The Ledge by Lawrence Sargent Hall

October 18
Looking for Mr. Green by Saul Bellow
Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin

November 15
Argument and Persuasion by Donald Hall
The Professor’s Houses by Ursula K. Le Guin

December 20
Lost in the Funhouse by John Barth
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and So Forth by John Updike

January 17
Cathedral by Raymond Carver
The Man From Mars by Margaret Atwood

February 21
The Pugilist At Rest by Thom Jones
Greasy Lake by T. Coraghessan Boyle

March 20
The Baby by Mary Gordon
The Collectors by Rohinton Mistry

April 17
You’re Ugly, Too by Lorrie Moore
The Country Where Nobody Ever Grew Old and Died by William Maxwell

May 15
Wants by Grace Paley
A City of Churches by Donald Barthelme

June 19
True Love by Don Shea
Bullet by Kim Church

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