LITERATURE FORUM
Monthly | 2:00pm | Women’s Club Room | No Charge
The mission of the Literature Forum is to present programs that encourage the reading and discussion of outstanding,
enduring literature. All forum meetings are led by volunteers and are open to the public. Check our website
(friendsofbocagrande.org) to learn more about the book selections below.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2016
THE SYMPATHIZER by Viet Thanh Nguyen
2016 Pulitzer Prize winner in fiction. A gripping spy novel, a moving story of love and friendship, and a
layered portrayal of a young man drawn into extreme politics, The Sympathizer examines the legacy of the
Vietnam War in literature, film and the wars we fight today. PRESENTER: Sandy Jacobs
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2016
KILLING MR. WATSON by Peter Matthiessen
Drawn from fragments of historical fact, Matthiessen’s masterpiece brilliantly depicts
the fortunes and misfortunes of Edgar J. Watson, a real-life entrepreneur and outlaw
who appeared in the lawless Florida Everglades around the turn of the 20th century. Peter
Matthiessen is a National Book Award-winning author. PRESENTER: Davis Hammond
THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2017
THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH by Richard Flanagan
Winner of the 2014 Man Booker Prize. Moving deftly from a Japanese POW camp to
present-day Australia, from the experiences of Dorrigo Evans and his fellow prisoners
to that of the Japanese guards, this savagely beautiful novel tells a story of the many forms
of love and death, of war and truth, as one man comes of age, prospers, only to discover all
that he has lost. PRESENTERS: David Jenkins and Tim Yonker
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017
THE RAZOR’S EDGE by W. Somerset Maugham
Larry Darrell is a young American in search of the absolute. The progress of his
spiritual odyssey involves him with two of Maugham’s most brilliant characters: his
fiancée Isabel whose choice between love and wealth has lifelong repercussions, and Elliott Templeton, her uncle, a classic expatriate American snob.
PRESENTERS: Edes Gilbert and Susan Hastings
THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017
THE GATHERING by Anne Enright
Winner of the 2007 Man Booker Prize. The Gathering is a daring, witty and insightful
family epic, clarified through Anne Enright’s unblinking eye. It is a novel about love and
disappointment, about how memories warp and secrets fester, and how fate is written in
the body, not in the stars. PRESENTER: Karen Larsen
THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017
THE PAINTER by Peter Heller
After having shot a man in a Santa Fe bar, the famous artist Jim Stegner served his
time and has since struggled to manage the dark impulses that sometimes overtake him.
Now he lives a quiet life...until the day that he comes across a hunting guide beating a small horse,
and a brutal act of new violence rips his quiet life right open. PRESENTERS: Jim and Karen Grace
SPECIAL PRESENTATION:
LITERATURE FORUM & ROYAL PALM PLAYERS
Friday, December 9, 2016 | 1:00pm | Auditorium | No Charge
This season, Royal Palm Players will be joining with Literature Forum for a special collaborative reading performance.
While providing a different venue for Literature Forum, it will also enable Royal Palm Players’ actors and volunteers to participate
in a serious work that may not have originally been considered for a seasonal production. This collaboration will bring together
both organizations with the unique purpose of introducing classic drama as great literature.
FRIENDS OF BOCA GRANDE | 941.964.0827 | friendsof bocagrande.org
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