FW: [oconee] Community book group's March book

Woven brightly,

Daniel J. Matthews, Jr.

> To: oconee@yahoogroups.com
> From: ppriest@charter.net
> Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2011 21:10:58 -0400
> Subject: [oconee] Community book group's March book
>
> Hello!
>
> My husband missed his exit driving to Atlanta because he was engrossed
> in the audio version of this month's book, "The Killer Angels." It's a
> classic -- and all kinds of people I've talked to say they love and
> remember reading this book.
>
> See the press release below for more details.
>
> Dreary times in the world. Let's get together to talk!
>
> Pat Priest
> ------------------------------
>
>
> The community book group's choice for March is one General Norman
> Schwarzkopf called "the best and most realistic historical novel about
> war I have ever read." Filmmaker Ken Burns said it was "a book that
> changed my life." The book is Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels," a
> Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the Battle of Gettysburg.
>
> Shaara captures the agonizing decisions commanders had to make about
> whether to retreat or advance while he interweaves some of the
> motivations that drove men to choose sides in that bloody war. He
> depicts the vantage point of the south (focusing primarily on General
> Robert E. Lee and Lieutenant General James Longstreet) and north (with
> Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and Brigadier General John Buford as
> featured protagonists for the Union) in turn.
>
> A native of New Jersey and son of Italian immigrants, Shaara served
> before the Korean War as a sergeant in the 82nd Airborne. He became
> interested in the Battle of Gettysburg after visiting the site with his
> family and reading his great-grandfather's letters from the battlefield,
> where he was mortally wounded. Shaara spent 7 years writing and
> researching the 3-day battle that left an estimated 10,000 dead and
> 40,000 wounded.
>
> "The Killer Angels" was turned down by 15 publishers before it was
> finally picked up by a small press and published in 1974. The book
> didn't garner much notice until -- to just about everyone's surprise --
> it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.
>
> Shaara wrote other books and short stories and taught literature at
> Florida State University. He suffered a brain injury after a motorcycle
> crash but continued writing. He died of a heart attack at age 60. His
> book remains very popular and is generally cited as one of the top 5 or
> 10 books about the Civil War. It's often required reading at training
> academies such as the Citadel or the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School.
>
> The community book group, sponsored by the Oconee Democrats, will meet
> to discuss the book Wednesday, March 30th, at 7 PM at the Taco Stand in
> the Publix Shopping Center in Watkinsville. For more information,
> contact patricia.priest@yahoo.com.
>
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> ------------------------------------
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