Cotton's history in America & the world

Oconee County Democratic Committee's book group. You don't have to be a Democrat, or even live in Oconee County, to join this book discussion group

Sincerely, 

Dan Matthews

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To: oconee@yahoogroups.com
From: oconee@yahoogroups.com
Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2015 22:33:06 -0500
Subject: [oconee] Cotton's history in America & the world

 

For February our community book group is reading "Cotton: The Biography of a Revolutionary Fiber" by Stephen Yafa. (Oddly, the title of the hardcover book is different; it's "Big Cotton: How a Humble Fiber Created Fortunes, Wrecked Civilizations, and Put America on the Map.")

The Washington Post's reviewer wrote of the book:

With wit and intelligence, Yafa demonstrates how a good deal of history can be learned by following a single thread. While his puns -- like that one -- are generally unfortunate, his ambitious narrative energetically summarizes the approximately 5,000 years from cotton's domestication to the latest genetically modified boll. 

Yes, that's true that he too often threads puns into the narrative. But as with the book we read last year about salt, readers will want to turn to anyone nearby to relate many of the interesting facts they come across in this wide-ranging book.

We'll talk about cotton on Wednesday, February 25th, at 6:30 at Chops and Hops in Watkinsville, with the discussion beginning right at 7. 

Books Galore in Watkinsville is going out of business, so I've asked Avid Bookshop in Athens to stock our books now. I don't know if you've been in Avid — on Prince Avenue near Daily Grocery. Avid is small but wonderful, with a truly knowledgeable staff and tremendous author visits! 

They've got books ready for folks to pick up — and they keep a list of our upcoming books so they can help if you can't think of the title we're reading any given month.

Join us anytime!

Pat

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