For monthly book discussion groups at branch locations, see our online calendar. You might also want to take a look at our Books for Book Clubs service.

Literature for Lunch - Main Library

Although many narratives glory in the romance and struggle of our young adulthood, other authors find interesting turns in the narrative that begins only well after, “reader, I married him.” Indeed, the beginning of The Divine Comedy is already midway upon the journey of our life,” where Dante finds himself

within a forest dark
for the straightforward pathway had been lost

This semester we explore four twentieth-century narratives of this midway journey that reveal much less straightforward paths than the stereotype of the “midlife crisis” would suggest.

Discussions are held at the Boise Public Library Main Library, 715 S. Capitol Blvd., from 12:10 to 1 p.m. in the Hayes Auditorium. The discussions are free and open to the public, no reservations required. Here are the selections and discussion dates for Spring 2012!

Friday, January 27: The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna
A Finnish journalist hits a young hare with his car while out on assignment, a life altering moment that leads him on a cross-country journey of misadventures … with the hare.

Friday, February 24: The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall
With great humor and sympathy, resident Udall’s novel charts the “mother of all midlife crises” of Golden Richard, husband to four wives and father to twenty-eight children.

Friday, March 23: Bliss by Peter Carey
A darkly comic narrative of Harry Joy, an Australian ad man who suffers a heart attack and wakes to realize that he lives in Hell, a realm he decides to explore.

Friday, April 27: The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
In comfortable middle age, Tony Webster has thought little of the past. Confronted by his closest childhood friends, one returning from the grave, however, he begins to reassess.

Book Availability & Discounts

Check the library's catalog to see if a given book is currently available for checkout, or to place a hold.

Books are available at Rediscovered Books, on 8th street between Main and Idaho and at the Hyde Park Book Store, both of which will give a 10% discount, and at the BSU Bookstore (426-1362), which will give a 25% discount and validate ½ hour parking in the Administration Building lot (enter at the light at the intersection of University Dr. and Joyce St.)

More Information

For more information, contact

• Carol Martin cmartin@boisestate.edu
• or Cheryl Hindrichs cherylhindrichs@boisestate.edu

Past Literature for Lunch Book Selections

Fall 2011

• September 9: : The Heart of Midlothian by Sir Walter Scott
• October 7: Summer Will Show by Sylvia Townsend Warner
• November 4: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
• December 2: Resistance by Anita Shreve

Spring 2011