2013 Clutch Reading Challenge discussion
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The Warmth of Other Suns
(June 2013 Nonfiction Book) The Warmth of Other Suns--Isabel Wilkerson
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I've started this book and, so far to me, it really is every bit as good as the reviews state. I am thoroughly enjoying The Warmth of Other Suns. However, I can tell this is one book that I will be taking my time with and really really getting into as I read. I started reading it later this month after I completed our June fiction selection...actually, too late for me to complete during this month's discussion. Admittedly, dividing my time between other books does slow me down a bit but I am certain, very certain that it will be well worth the journey to complete.Sharing my initial thoughts...even though I am a bit less than 50 pages into it, I absolutely LOVE how it has begun, how it has opened, how it is written. As a non-fiction book of history, it reads smoothly and easily as a novel drawing you in while telling of a profound history. This is such a masterful approach on something of this magnitude.
I started reading this before it was selected because I had heard nothing but great things about it. The way the personal histories were interwoven with the facts made this a really engaging read. This format really kept it interesting and put the facts and statistics into perspective. Right after I finished this book, I read the Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks which turned out to be a really good transition. Mrs. Parks moved to Detroit after the boycott and her activism while there made alot more sense after reading about the difficulties people faced during/after the migration.
This book was amazing and so well written. I want to make it mandatory for my children to read.
What is the required reading for September 2013?
High on the Hog seems interesting...I ordered it some time ago for my library...let's do it!
About the author
Isabel Wilkerson, who spent most of her career as a national correspondent and bureau chief at The New York Times, is the first black woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in the history of American journalism and was the first black American to win for individual reporting. Inspired by her own parents’ migration, she devoted fifteen years to the research and writing of this book. She interviewed more than 1,200 people, unearthed archival works and gathered the voices of the famous and the unknown to tell the epic story of the relocation of an entire people in The Warmth of Other Suns.
Awards
The Warmth of Other Suns wins Anisfield-Wolf Award for Nonfiction, along with John Edgar Wideman for Lifetime Achievement and Nicole Krauss for Fiction. Previous winners include: Langston Hughes, Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, Gunnar Myrdal, Nadine Gordimer, Martin Luther King Jr. and other luminaries who have written on issues of social justice.
Interviews
http://www.nea.gov/av/avCMS/Wilkerson...
http://vimeo.com/46297689
Reviews
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/31/boo...
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics...