What we’re about
Join us to read and discuss classic literature: books that have captivated readers, changed lives, influenced society, and embodied language as art. They also must be time-tested. By our definition that means at least 40 years old. Think of it as Gilgamesh through Midnight's Children. Among the many authors whose works we have read: Cervantes, James, Tolstoy, Ellison, Morrison, Flaubert, Austen, Vonnegut, Proust, Waugh, Dickens, Wilde, Bronte, Voltaire, Fielding, Nabokov, Eliot, Hemingway, Zola, Dostoyevsky, Baldwin, Calvino, Twain, Hardy, Mann, Wilde, Shakespeare, and Homer.
We meet every three weeks in the homes of our members. Alternate meetings operate on different tracks: the Western canon and under-represented authors (writers of color; LGBTQ+ writers; writers from emerging nations). A virtual meeting focused on a different title is hosted once a month by our Albany outpost.
At the beginning of each meeting, members take turns sharing their general impressions: what about the selection they loved or loathed, found intriguing or unfathomable. For this first round, people speak uninterrupted. After that, it's a free-for-all.
At the end, we choose a book for the next meeting. People are invited to throw out suggestions and we discuss until we reach something resembling consensus. It can get messy. But the process keeps long-standing members invested. And we love it when new people suggest titles we had never considered.
We are a diverse group, always looking for new perspectives.
If you check out Past Events, you’ll see all 200-plus books we’ve discussed since our founding in 2011.
Upcoming events (4)
See all- (Virtual) Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens (Chapters 1-27)Link visible for attendees
Join us online for a discussion of chapters 1-27 of Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens. You are welcome to participate regardless of whether you've finished the book in time - just note that there will likely be spoilers. The second meeting, for chapters 28 through 54, will be held on Tuesday, March 4. If you cannot make both dates, you are welcome to attend only one.
"Set partly in America, which Dickens had visited in 1842, the novel includes a searing satire on the United States. Martin Chuzzlewit is the story of two Chuzzlewits, Martin and Jonas, who have inherited the characteristic Chuzzlewit selfishness. It contrasts their diverse fates of moral redemption and worldly success for one, with increasingly desperate crime for the other. This powerful black comedy involves hypocrisy, greed and blackmail, as well as the most famous of Dickens's grotesques, Mrs Gamp."
(courtesy of Goodreads.com)This book is available on Project Gutenberg as a free ebook and also in several free audiobook versions on LibriVox.
This will be the final selection for the virtual chapter of the Philadelphia Classics Book Club. It has been a pleasure to discuss so many great books with so many great people these past few years, and hopefully I will see you around at other virtual events. Thank you for making it so worthwhile.
- (Virtual) Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens (Chapters 28-54)Link visible for attendees
Join us online for a discussion of chapters 28-54 of Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens. You are welcome to participate regardless of whether you've finished the book in time - just note that there will likely be spoilers. The first meeting for chapters 1-27 will be held on Tuesday, February 18. If you cannot make both dates, you are welcome to attend only one.
"Set partly in America, which Dickens had visited in 1842, the novel includes a searing satire on the United States. Martin Chuzzlewit is the story of two Chuzzlewits, Martin and Jonas, who have inherited the characteristic Chuzzlewit selfishness. It contrasts their diverse fates of moral redemption and worldly success for one, with increasingly desperate crime for the other. This powerful black comedy involves hypocrisy, greed and blackmail, as well as the most famous of Dickens's grotesques, Mrs Gamp."
(courtesy of Goodreads.com)This book is available on Project Gutenberg as a free ebook and also in several free audiobook versions on LibriVox.
This will be the final selection for the virtual chapter of the Philadelphia Classics Book Club. It has been a pleasure to discuss so many great books with so many great people these past few years, and hopefully I will see you around at other virtual events. Thank you for making it so worthwhile.
