Reading & Discussion 2016 Catalogue Addendum
Thank you for your interest in VHC’s Reading & Discussion program. We’re pleased to announce the following additions to our catalogue for 2016. Please note that the series and books listed in our main Reading & Discussion Catalogue remain active. The main Reading & Discussion Catalogue also contains the full Program Guidelines – please read these materials in full before requesting a program.
New book lists are separated into three categories:
1. The Pulitzer Centennial The Pulitzer Prize Centennial Campfires Initiative is a partnership between the Pulitzer Prizes and the Federation of State Humanities Councils intended to “ignite broad engagement with the journalistic, literary, and artistic values” the Pulitzers represent. We’ve selected titles for eleven new series focused on Pulitzer-winning nonfiction, fiction, and drama, spanning 75 years of the awards. Alongside the title and author, we’ve noted the category and year each book or author won a Pulitzer.
We’ve also added two Single Books that can be used for one-off discussion sessions or to supplement another series: Civil Wars: A Battle for Gay Marriage, by Vermont journalist David Moats, revisits a 2001 series of Pulitzer-winning Rutland Herald editorials on the state’s difficult path to legalizing civil unions and same-sex marriage. Moments: The Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographs, edited by Hal Buell, contains hundreds of Pulitzer-winning images, fostering discussion on the events of the past century, as well as the evolving ways we document them.
Please note: all series in this category have a reduced program fee of $25 per session.
2. Latino Americans: 500 Years of History With support from the American Library Association and the National Endowment for the Humanities, our two new reading series on the Latino American experience relate to the landmark PBS documentary series Latino Americans: 500 Years of History, which has screened in four locations around the state in 2015-2016.
3. Single Books We’ve added single books in our lending library related to the initiatives above, and added a new translation of Don Quixote to recognize the 400th anniversary of this classic work.
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The Pulitzer Centennial
A Hard Look at America Established by a newspaper publisher and coinciding with the founding of a journalism school at Columbia University, the Pulitzer Prizes have continually recognized excellence in journalism. The books in this series, comprised of Pulitzer-winning reporting and research, dig deep, revealing facts and stories that continue to be relevant years after they were brought to the surface.
Title Author Award Carl Bernstein All the President's Men and Bob Woodward Public Service, 1973 The Armies of the Night Norman Mailer General Non-Fiction, 1969 Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion Edward J. Larson History, 1998 Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital Sheri Fink Investigative Reporting, 2010
The Path to War America's wars, though tragic, have been boons for great journalists and historians, opportunities to discuss the sweeping nature of conflict as well as the real human cost. From World War II to the Middle East conflicts following 9/11, the Pulitzer-winning titles in this series examine America's fighting stance.
Title Author Award
"The Good War”: An Oral History of World War II Studs Terkel General Non-Fiction, 1963 No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II Doris Kearns Goodwin History, 1995 The Making of a Quagmire: America International Reporting, and Vietnam During the Kennedy Era David Halberstam 1964 The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 Lawrence Wright General Non-Fiction, 2007
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Reporting Race The effects of slavery, Jim Crow, and institutional racism have all had profound effects on American history and the experience of marginalized people today. The books in this series, by Pulitzer-winning reporters and historians, chronicle pre- and post-Civil Rights era America and the individuals who shaped it.
Title Author Award Slavery By Another Name: The Re- Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II Douglas A. Blackmon General Non-Fiction, 2009
The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Gene Roberts Nation and Hank Klibanoff History, 2007 Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention Manning Marable History, 2012 The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration Isabel Wilkerson Feature Writing, 1994
Forces of Nature Pulitzer-winning non-fiction writers have at times looked beyond the world's current era. Instead, the titles in this series explore humanity's relationship to forces beyond its control, such as evolution, disease, and the planet’s fragile ecosystems.
Title Author Award Guns, Germs, and Steel Jared Diamond General Non-Fiction, 1998 Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Annie Dillard General Non-Fiction, 1975 On Human Nature Edward O. Wilson General Non-Fiction, 1979 The Emperor of All Maladies Siddartha Mukherjee General Non-Fiction, 2011
Required Reading Readers might not have encountered them since middle school, but these midcentury novels are ripe for revisiting. Despite often being assigned to young adults, the Pulitzer-winning titles in this series explore decidedly adult themes about relationships, war, and the human condition.
Title Author Award The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway Fiction, 1953 To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee Fiction, 1961 A Bell for Adano John Hersey Fiction, 1945 The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck Fiction, 1940
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Family History The Pulitzer-winning novels in this series examine not only relationships, but the ways difficult chapters of a family's past are revealed by the passing of time.
Title Author Award Beloved Toni Morrison Fiction, 1988 The Shipping News E. Annie Proulx Fiction, 1994 A Summons to Memphis Peter Taylor Fiction, 1987 Gilead Marilynne Robinson Fiction, 2005
The Changing South The lingering effects of slavery, the Civil War, and rural strife provide a complex background in this series of Pulitzer-winning novels set in the American South.
Title Author Award The Known World Edward P. Jones Fiction, 2004 A Death in the Family James Agee Fiction, 1958 The Color Purple Alice Walker Fiction, 1983 A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole Fiction, 1981
Pulitzer Plays Since 1918, the Pulitzer Prize for Drama has spotlighted outstanding playwriting. The titles in this series, including one by four-time winner Eugene O'Neill, span over fifty years of the award.
Title Author Award Our Town Thornton Wilder Drama, 1938 Long Day's Journey Into Night Eugene O'Neill Drama, 1957 Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller Drama, 1949 Crimes of the Heart Beth Henley Drama, 1981 Angels in America Tony Kushner Drama, 1993
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20th Century Jewish Lives From antisemitism in early-century Russia to the fading industry of Philip Roth’s Newark, the Pulitzer winners in this series – including two exploring cartooning – chronicle the Jewish experience throughout the 1900s.
Title Author Award American Pastoral Philip Roth Fiction, 1998 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Michael Chabon Fiction, 2001 Maus Art Spiegelman Special, 1992 The Fixer Bernard Malamud Fiction, 1967
International Migrations To or from the United States, spanning India, Cuba, Greece, and Ireland, this series of Pulitzer-winning works spotlights characters in the midst of broader migrations.
Title Author Award Interpreter of Maladies Jhumpa Lahiri Fiction, 2000 Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love Oscar Hijuelos Fiction, 1990 Angela's Ashes Frank McCourt Biography, 1997 Middlesex Jeffrey Eugenides Fiction, 2003
Based on a Real Life One biography each year is awarded a Pulitzer Prize, but the character studies in this series wouldn't count - each is a Pulitzer-winning work of fiction, with portions based on one person's real life story.
Title Author Award Angle of Repose Wallace Stegner Fiction, 1972 The Hours Michael Cunningham Fiction, 1999 All the King's Men Robert Penn Warren Fiction, 1947 March Geraldine Brooks Fiction, 2006
This program is part of the Pulitzer Prizes Centennial Campfires Initiative, a joint venture of the Pulitzer Prizes Board and the Federation of State Humanities Council in celebration of the 2016 centennial of the Prizes. The initiative seeks to illuminate the impact of journalism and the humanities on American life today, to imagine their future and to inspire new generations to consider the values represented by the body of Pulitzer Prize-winning work.
For their generous support for the Campfires Initiative, we thank the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Pulitzer Prizes Board, and Columbia University.
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Latino Americans: 500 Years of History
Fleeing Dictatorship: Migration Stories of Cuban and Dominican Families This series examines families displaced by the dictatorial regimes of Trujillo and Castro, exploring the complicated, ongoing relationships that those who come to the United States have with their home countries and cultures. These narratives also lend themselves to a discussion of the important role of family in Latino culture.
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents Julia Alvarez The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Junot Díaz Dreaming in Cuban Cristina García The Prince of los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood Richard Blanco
Mexican Americans: Experience and Identity This series deals with the experiences of Mexicans living in the United States, from the struggles of migrant farmworkers and day laborers in California to coming of age stories of Chicanos as U.S. citizens.
Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo Anaya Under the Feet of Jesus Helena Maria Viramontes The Tortilla Curtain T.C. Boyle Days of Obligation: An Argument with My Mexican Father Richard Rodriguez
Latino Americans: 500 Years of History has been made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association.
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Single Books
Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes’s classic novel, now 400 years old, is still widely regarded as one of the greatest works of fiction ever written. This modern translation by Edith Grossman provides material for one or several discussion sessions.
Related to the Pulitzer Centennial These titles may be used for single discussion sessions, or to supplement our nonfiction Pulitzer series “A Hard Look at America” (p. 2). Civil Wars, by Vermont journalist David Moats, revisits a 2001 series of Pulitzer-winning Rutland Herald editorials on the state’s difficult path to legalizing civil unions and same-sex marriage. Moments contains hundreds of Pulitzer-winning photographs, fostering discussion on the events of the past century, as well as the evolving ways we document them. Civil Wars: A Battle for Gay Marriage David Moats Moments: The Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographs Hal Buell
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