About this Event
In our Expand-the-Canon book club hosted by bookseller Valerie Hsu, we read and discuss works that are considered classics today, but might be excluded from standard curricula or reading lists because of subject matter, personal identities of their authors, societal reactions at publication, etc. In other words, we read influential texts that you could have read in a high school English class but probably didn’t because of racism, sexism, patriarchy, homophobia, colonialism, eurocentrism, etc. etc. in how our educational systems operate.
If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “I’m embarrassed I’ve never read ____” or “Why didn't anyone tell me about ___?” or “I was too young to appreciate ___ and I’d like to re-read it as an adult,” we’re here to help you out. Fill in your reading gaps with these classics you might have missed, and come discuss with us on the first Tuesdays each month.
This month, we’ll meet on Tuesday, April 6 to discuss Passing by Nella Larsen.
About Passing:
Nella Larsen's powerful, thrilling, and tragic tale about the fluidity of racial identity that continues to resonate today.
Clare Kendry is living on the edge. Light-skinned, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a racist white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past after deciding to “pass” as a white woman. Clare’s childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, and is simultaneously allured and repelled by Clare’s risky decision to engage in racial masquerade for personal and societal gain. After frequenting African American-centric gatherings together in Harlem, Clare’s interest in Irene turns into a longing for Irene’s black identity that she abandoned and can never embrace again, and she is forced to grapple with her decision to pass for white in a way that is both tragic and telling.
Passing is available for purchase here!
Event venue & nearby stays
Greedy Reads Remington, 320 West 29th Street, Baltimore, United States
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