Oconee Dems Book Club selection: Sherman's March -- the novel


Pat Priest does a great job with a wide and varying list of fiction and non-fiction to read to expand her horizons and those of the members of the Oconee County Democratic Committee book club (and some members do not belong to the regular political committee). So I am just reiterating you do not have to live in Oconee County or even be a member of the Democratic Party to join our book group.

Woven brightly,
Daniel J. Matthews, Jr.









Subject: [oconee] Sherman's March -- the novel



Hello, fellow Democrats,

About a month before my family's reunion a couple of years ago, I sent my mom, nephews, and siblings a surprise gift: Jimmy Carter's book about his childhood called "An Hour Before Daylight."

The book was a wonderful catalyst for conversation, and because my mom grew up in the same era, it prompted fascinating recollections about her childhood during hard times in the south.

(And our former president is so unfairly maligned here in our own state). Even my Republican sister had to admit it's neat that Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter read the Bible -- in Spanish -- before they go to bed each night!)

The book group sponsored by the Oconee Democrats is reading another book for July that should prompt interesting discussions, too.

We're reading E.L. Doctorow's "The March," a novel about Sherman's March across Georgia and the Carolinas. The book earned Doctorow both the National Book Critics' Circle Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award.

Donna Seamon of Booklist praised the book and noted its relevance today: "Heir to Stephen Crane's "The Red Badge of Courage," Doctorow's masterpiece uncovers the roots of today's racial and political conundrums." Publishers Weekly, too, mentioned the slow-to-ebb reverberations of the devastating war and its final throes: "Doctorow's gift for getting into the heads of a remarkable variety of characters, famous or ordinary, make this a kind of grim Civil War Canterbury Tales. On reaching the novel's last pages, the reader feels wonder that this nation was ever able to heal after so brutal, and personal, a conflict."

Consider picking up a copy and joining us to discuss it. We're a diverse and spirited group.

We'll meet to discuss "The March" at 6 on Wednesday, July 29, at Five Points Deli on Epps Bridge Parkway, with the conversation getting underway at 6:15.

The group meets the last Wednesday of every month to discuss first-rate books about politics, history, and the natural world. Newcomers of any political persuasion are welcomed. Books are available at a 25% discount at Books Galore in Watkinsville.

Feel free to contact me if you have questions!

Enjoy your summer reading!

Pat Priest

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