How about May 17th for Alley Theatre event? - also calendar of other events coming up in Houston that might be of interest to you

[A Aman]

 Hi everyone --

ROCK 'N' ROLL by Tom Stoppard was the play we elected to be discussed next Spring. I've scheduled our discussion of the play for May 7th. I haven't set a date for our attendance of the play yet. I would like to tentatively set it at May 17th but May 10th or May 24th are options also. I think Sunday is good except a Sunday matinee is more expensive (possibly $45 though group rate is cheaper if we can get 10 commitments) than if we chose a weeknight or a preview night. Please let me hear from anyone with strong opinions about this.

Does anyone who wants to attend have vacations or graduation trips they plan for the month of May that might cause schedule conflicts? Please let me know.

I hope to discuss the details at our next discussion Dec 4th but please be thinking about what dates are good for you because I think we should "lock in" the date and have tickets purchased before the end of December. I can always make an "executive decision" on these details but wanted to ask first in case you guys had some input. If there are conflicts, we will have to "draw straws".

Other calendar events that you might find interesting (and that we discussed last night at the Black Lab restaurant after our great discussion of CATCH 22 by Joseph Heller) include:

1. Sixth Annual Houston Book Fair at the Museum of Printing History
Saturday,Nov 8th
10am-5pm
At 2:00 pm (on Nov 8th), visitors to the museum will be treated to a special guest lecture by Houston author Marks Hinton. Attendees will be entertained with a discussion of his recent book, HISTORIC HOUSTON STREETS: THE STORIES BEHIND THE NAMES.
More info at: http://www.printingmuseum.org/bookfair.html

2. Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series at the Alley Theatre Neuhaus Stage
Natasha Trethewey and John Edgar Wideman
Monday, Nov 10th
7:30 pm
More info at:
http://inprinthouston.publishpath.com/natasha-trethewey-and-john-edgar-wideman

3. Central Market Book Club
Monday, Nov 10th, 7-9pm
Central Market Community Room (2nd floor)
Discussion of NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND by Fyodor Dostoevsky
more info at: http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/CentralMarket/

4. Classical Poetry Club
Monday, Nov. 17th, 6-8pm
Freed-Montrose Library
English sonnets before Shakespeare
Requires no prior reading! If you have a favorite sonnet (or two or three), bring a handful of copies with you. Otherwise, come and enjoy the poetry!
more info at: http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/HoustonPoetry/

5. Montrose Great Books
Thurs, Dec 4th 6-8pm
Freed-Montrose Library
TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller
After discussion, election of 4 upcoming readings will be held. Don't forget to send me your suggestions !(If you've attended twice.) Ballot will be updated at http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/Montrose/ballots/dec4-2008.html

--Alice

http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/Montrose
http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/blog/
http://groups.google.com/group/MontroseGreatBooks
http://www.houstongreatbooks.net/groups/Montrose.html
http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/GreatBooksGuide.htm

UPCOMING SELECTIONS
=========================

-- Dec 4, 2008 TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller (publ 1934)
The Modern Library named it the 50th greatest book of the 20th century.
Only a historic court ruling that changed American censorship standards permitted its publication. Famed mixture of memoir and fiction, which chronicles with unapologetic gusto the life and sexual adventures of a young expatriate writer, his friends, and the characters they meet in Paris in the 1930s.
--Susan will lead discussion
Note: At end of discussion, group will vote on 4 new titles for upcoming reading list..

-- Jan 1, 2009 No discussion this month because of holiday. This should give you more time for extra long book to be discussed in February.

-- Feb 5, 2009 MIDDLESEX by Jeffrey Eugenides (publ 2002) 544 pages
2003 Pulitzer Prize winner, 2007 Oprah Book Club selection
The narrator and protagonist, an intersexed person has 5-alpha-reductase deficiency. The bulk of the novel is devoted to telling his coming-of-age story growing up in Detroit, Michigan in the late 20th century. ...story is intertwined with elements of a family saga, meditations on the era's zeitgeist and bits of contemporary history. Possible discussion questions at http://www.bookbrowse.com/reading_guides/detail/index.cfm?book_number...
-- Marcella will lead discussion

-- Mar 6, 2009 WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS by J.M. Coetzee (publ 1980) 156 pages
Author is the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003.
Story is set in a small frontier town of a nameless empire. The Nobel Prize committee called this book "a political thriller in the tradition of Joseph Conrad, in which the idealist's naivete opens the gates to horror". "Early in the novel, it's apparent who the barbarians really are, that's no surprise. What is a surprise, however, is the compassion Coetzee shows his victims and villains alike." Possible discussion questions at http://www.geocities.com/aauw_vancouver/groupdetail/barbarians.html
-- Alice will lead discussion.

-- April 3, 2009 Book title TBD - will be posted after election Dec 4, 2008


-- May 7, 2009 ROCK 'N' ROLL - a play by Tom Stoppard (premier 2006) 144 pages
List of awards for Sir Stoppard at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Stoppard#Honours_and_awards
ROCK 'N' ROLL is a play concerned with the significance of rock and roll in the emergence of the democratic movement in Eastern Bloc Czechoslovakia. Takes place over several decades.
FYI - A group theatre event by Montrose Great Books members is planned for the local performance at the Alley Theatre sometime between April 29th-May 24th. Exact date TBD. Contact Alice if you are interest in attending.  Deadline for signing up to attend has not been established yet. Stay tuned for more info.
-- Leader of discussion is TBD