About this Event
The Banned Book Club is led by Bryn Durgin. It is dedicated to reading and protecting the most important and threatened books for our generation. January’s pick is As I Lay Dying, one of the most influential novels in American fiction in structure, style, and drama. Faulkner’s classic has been banned by several U.S. school districts for reasons such as obscenity and coarse language. You can read more about the banning of As I Lay Dying here: .
We will meet in person in the loft at our store at The Mark, 117 S. Pineapple Ave. The book club is $17, which includes a copy of As I Lay Dying to be picked up at Bookstore1 any time before our meeting.
About the book:
One of William Faulkner’s finest novels, As I Lay Dying, originally published in 1930, remains a captivating and stylistically innovative work. The story revolves around a grim yet darkly humorous pilgrimage, as Addie Bundren’s family sets out to fulfill her last wish: to be buried in her native Jefferson, Mississippi, far from the miserable backwater surroundings of her married life. Told through multiple voices, As I Lay Dying vividly brings to life Faulkner’s imaginary South, one of literature’s great invented landscapes, and is replete with the poignant, impoverished, violent, and hypnotically fascinating characters that were his trademark.
William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi, on September 25, 1897. He published his first book, The Marble Faun (a collection of poems), in 1924, and his first novel, Soldier's Pay, in 1926. In 1949, having written such works as Absalom, Absalom!, As I Lay Dying, Light in August, and The Sound and the Fury, Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He also received the Pulitzer Prize for two other novels, A Fable (1954) and The Reivers (1962). From 1957 to 1958 he was Writer-in-Residence at the University of Virginia. He died on July 6, 1962, in Byhalia, Mississippi.
About Book Bans:
Book bans in public schools have recurred throughout American history, and remain an issue of concern to us at Bookstore1Sarasota. Over the past years, the scope of such censorship has expanded rapidly. In response, PEN America has collated an Index of School Book Bans, offering a snapshot of the trend. The index provides a comprehensive list of books banned in the first half of the 2022-2023 school year. Check it out and join us in our efforts to protect free expression and students' first amendment rights. You can view the index here: https://pen.org/2023-banned-book-list/.
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All signed up and unable to go? Please let us know! Seating is limited and there may be people on our waitlist who would like to to take your place. Please send an email to [email protected] ASAP and hopefully we'll see you next time.
Click to go to the Bookstore1Sarasota website.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Bookstore1Sarasota, 117 S. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota, United States
USD 18.19
