Goodman Luncheon & Book Discussion

 

October 24, 2007
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

Lily at 80 reflects on her life, beginning with her daughter days in 19th century rural China.  Foot-binding was practiced by all but the poorest families, and the graphic descriptions of it are not for the fainthearted.  Yet women had nu shu, their own secret language.  At theinstigation of a matchmaker, Lily and Snow Flower, a girl from a larger town and supposedly from a well-connected, wealthy family, become laotong, bound together for life.  Even after Lily learns that Snow Flower is not from a better family, even when Lily marries above her and Snow Flower beneath her, they remain close, exchanging, nu shu written on a fan.
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January 17, 2008

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

On a 1993 expedition to climb K2 in honor of his sister Christa, who had died of epilepsy at 23, Mortenson stumbled upon a remote mountain village in Pakistan.  Out of gratitude for villagers' assistance when he was lost and near death, he vowed to build a school for the children who were scratching lessons in the dirt.  Raised by his missionary parents in Tanzania, Mortenson was used to dealing with exotic cultures and developing nations.  Still, he faced daunting challenges of raising funds, death threats from enraged mullahs, separation from his family, and a kidnaping to eventually build 55 schools in Taliban territory.
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April 30, 2008
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Wall

Jeannette Wall's father always called her "Mountain Goat" and there's perhaps no more apt nickname for a girl who navigated a sheer and towering cliff of childhood both daily and stoically.  Wall Chronicles her upbringing at the hands of eccentric, nomadic parents--Rose Mary, her frustrated artist mother, and Rex, her alcoholic father.
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Last updated 09/24/2007