Welcome to this month's reading group selection. David Von Drehle mentions The Melting Pot , a play by Israel Zangwill, that premiered on Broadway in 1908. At that time theater was accessible to a broad section of the public, not the exclusive domain it has become over the decades. Zangwill carried a hopeful message that America was a place where old hatreds and prejudices were pointless, and that in this new country immigrants would find a more open society. I suppose the reference was more an ironic one for Von Drehle, as he notes the racial and ethnic hatreds were on display everywhere, and at best Zangwill's play helped persons forget for a moment how deep these divides ran. Nevertheless, "the melting pot" made its way into the American lexicon, even if New York could best be describing as a boiling cauldron in the early twentieth century. Triangle: The Fire That Changed America takes a broad view of events that led up the notorious fire, not...
I was surprised I got my copy so soon. I remember the official release date being Nov. 30. We almost share the same birthday.
ReplyDeleteIt's available now here as well.
ReplyDeleteAnd Huckleberry Finn turns 125:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-mark-twain-20101114,0,5921342.story
I would really love to start the new year by reading the Twain book with everyone; can it be deemed history? It certainly is historic.
ReplyDeleteI think the book is in the spirit of this place and many of us already have it. Might take a year long commitment to read it, though -- it's LONG and this is only volume 1.
ReplyDeleteIf you do read it, we can always set up a page for your thoughts/comments where others can join in if they decide to also read it.
And ... it's a best seller!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/20/books/20twain.html
Yardley is fast becoming my favorite reviewer:
ReplyDeleteReading the "Autobiography of Mark Twain" too often is like being trapped in a locked room with a garrulous old coot (Twain turned 70 just before these dictations began) who loves the sound of his own voice and hasn't the slightest inclination to turn it off.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/19/AR2010111906788.html
Rather sad to see Twain get bumped by Dubya in the Amazon Top 100.
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