Deep Dive Book Club: Origins of the Urban Crisis

The Parkman Branch of the Detroit Public Library is hosting a five-part book club for Thomas J. Sugrue’s The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit. Starting in October and meeting once a month until February, we will approach the text one chunk at a time. Each meeting will last one hour. The first and final meeting will serve to introduce and close-out discussion, bookending three sessions each focused on the book’s three major sections, ‘Arsenal’, ‘Rust’ and ‘Fire.’ Attendees of these book club meetings will be prepared to greet Thomas J. Sugrue with constructive questions when he visits Main Library in March.

A limited supply of physical copies may be available to borrow from Parkman Branch. Audiobook and ebook versions are also available on Hoopla and Libby. Please speak to a librarian at Parkman if you want help securing a copy. An optional set of discussion questions will be made available ahead of each meeting and can be picked up from a librarian.

Info: The first meeting will introduce the book and establish context. Discussion will be based on the prefaces and introduction. We will reflect on preconceived ideas and assumptions as well as prior knowledge. We will consider Detroit both as a case study for similar cities and as a city with a unique history.

Info: The final meeting will be an opportunity to reflect on the book as a whole. We will wrap up discussion by identifying key takeaways and asking, "what can we do now?".

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Parkman | Detroit Public Library, 1766 Oakman Blvd, Detroit, United States

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