Better World Book Club: Ella Minnow Pea

Posted by Dana on 05.28.2009 at 10:54 am

Don’t forget to sign up for the Better World Book Club Newsletter.  Our monthly book club email includes a synopsis of the book, discussion questions and even a great recipe.  You can sign up by going to manage subscriptions now.

You can also catch the selections AND discuss the book here on the blog.

Our Latest Pick

ELLA MINNOW PEA by Mark Dunn

I actually read Mark Dunn’s Ella Minnow Pea several years ago for a book club I was part of and it stuck with me, so now I want to share it with you.  While clearly a literary exercise (as letters fall off a statue – they are removed from the written and spoken vocabulary of an island community by its totalitarian government), it is also a really good story and a thought provoking political statement.

I have read other books that felt like literary exercises to me.  Some work and some don’t.  The one that pops into my mind first is Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer.    The book was very highly acclaimed but I found myself distracted by some of his literary devices, and for me that took something away for the book.  I felt like it was a project for a graduate level writing class.  It would get an A for sure, but I want to feel the emotion and discover the plot rather than be cleverly deviced to death.

Read more…

2 Comments » | Tagged Better World Book Club, Author Mark Dunn, Book Club Pick, book reviews, dana barrett, Ella Minnow Pea, Everything is Illuminated, jonathan safran foer, literary devices, literary works, Mark Dunn

Central Connecticut State Universty at Cool Justice

Posted by admin on 01.07.2008 at 10:55 am

[Rolandas Town, Acrylic from CT Review]

I know it sounds crazy but I actually do something other than this blog.  In fact, I’m a regional director, and my region is New York, Connecticut and Ontario.  In Connecticut, I work with the Golden Key chapter at Central Connecticut State University.  From my contact with them I knew that they had their act together, always putting forth the best effort, but little did I know that the Better World Books drive was only part of their effort.

Recently, the chapter compelled members of the campus to help collect books to be donated overseas to US troops.  They received 400 copies of the illustrious Connecticut Review.

The semi-annual journal as been published since 1967 and has included literary plays, translations, creative nonfiction and essays as well as poetry, artwork, photography and academic articles of general interest. In recent years Connecticut Review has won awards from the Council of Editors of Learned Journals and National Public Radio. Pieces published in the magazine have also earned Pushcart Prizes and appeared in Best American Short Stories, Best American Essays, and Best American Poetry.

I am consistently impressed in my capacity as an RD with the abilities of student groups to affect change and create positive development in their community and abroad. Great work, CCSU!

I found out about this over at Cool Justice.

[N.B.  The views at said website are the author's own and do not represent the views of Better World Books or yours truly.]

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, central connecticut state university, connecticut, journals, literary works