Entertainment Weekly reviews Laurie Sheck’s new book
Entertainment Weekly calls poet and author Laurie Sheck’s new novel “A Monster’s Notes” a “thrilling feat of literary scholarship, beautiful wordsmithing, and deep empathy.”
Laurie spoke to the Reading Odyssey community last week. We had a lovely conversation.
You can download the mp3 here:
Or read the Entertainment Weekly review:
Phil
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics – Books IV – VI: recording
We had a good call tonight discussing Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics Books IV – VI.
We discussed a wide range of issues: liberality, generosity, moral virtue, justice, practical wisdom.
And we prepared for our call with Barry Schwartz in September.
Phil
P.S. You can register for the free call and discussion with Barry here.
Frankenstein and the 4th of July?
We had a wonderful phone call this last week with Laurie
Sheck, poet and author of “A Monster’s Notes” – a
reimagining of Frankenstein.
Here is my suggested way to spend the 4th of July at
your picnic or on the beach.
1. While driving to the beach, listen to Laurie’s
wonderful lecture now avialable in mp3 format to
download:
2. Then, read Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”
3. And, then read Laurie Sheck’s “A Monster’s Notes”
What a great way to spend the long holiday weekend!
Send me photos of you on the beach with your
two Frankenstein books – impressing your friends
and delighting your neurons.
Read comments from Laurie’s audience here:
Feedback from the lecture included:
“What a great call! Laurie was just wonderful – so
brilliant, sensitive, intuitive – it all came through
in her story about the her process of writing the book.
Really terrific!”
“That was Monstrous….wonderful & fun too. I really
enjoyed hearing about Laurie’s own writing life and
her process of creating the beast that is a book.”
“Great call! She’s a lovely soul, and her passion for
reading and writing is contagious.”
Interview with Laurie Sheck, author “A Monster’s Notes”
Listen to the wonderful phone call we just had with poet and author Laurie Sheck. Laurie just published “A Monster’s Notes” – a reimagining of Frankenstein and a book that Kirkus Review called “Utterly astonishing and not to be missed.”
I agree. And you should certainly not miss our phone call.
Download the mp3 here:
Best,
Phil
P.S. See the wonderful comments from the participants tonight and my comments after our pre-interview last Saturday here. See reviews and her bio here.
Frankenstein liked reading?
If you love books and reading – novels, science, history, poetry – join us Monday night, June 29 at 8pm ET via phone.
Laurie Sheck
Poet and Novelist
Author of “A Monster’s Notes”
Monday, June 29 8pm ET
Register here for free and get the call-in number: http://lauriesheck.eventbrite.com
Laurie’s novel is, according to Kirkus Review, “Utterly astonishing and not to be missed.”
I agree.
And I learned something today.
The original reason I invited Laurie to the Reading Odyssey community is the fact that Frankenstein, in her book, reads the classics, scientific works and other great books as a way to learn about humanity and to ask some important philosophical and scientific questions.
But, now I know the real reason I invited Laurie to speak.
Laurie is a humble genius, a lover of words, of writing and of reading. My phone conversation with her today brightened an already beautiful New York Saturday and made me realize how fortunate we are to spend an hour with her this Monday.
She shares our passion for helping people reignite their intellectual curiosity and she, like us, marvels at the richness available in books and ideas.
And she shares our particular passion for books written not for the “applause of the moment”, to quote Thucydides, but with care and integrity and the desire that they become a possession for all humanity for all time.
Laurie teaches in the New School for Social Research MFA program, where her students are lucky to have her, just as we are lucky to spend an hour this Monday night with this passionate poet who is generous with her many gifts.
We’ll talk about her book and about the art of reading, writing, and the power of curiosity.
It’s a perfect way to kick off the summer.
The Kirkus Review and Laurie’s bio can be read here.
I hope you can join us Monday at 8pm ET.
Best,
Phil
Founder
Reading Odyssey, Inc.
P.S. Big news: As of Friday, June 26, 2009 the Reading Odyssey is now an official nonprofit corporation. Next we apply for IRS 501c(3) status.
P.S.S. We also applied for an NSF grant this week for informal science education and received a “yes” back from Professor Sean Carroll to deliver our third lecture in the Darwin series this fall! More news and updates in my next official newsletter.
Bob Strassler’s Q&A session with the Thucydides reading group
Bob Strassler, editor of the Landmark Thucydides, held a wonderful Q&A session tonight, Monday, June 15 at 8pm eastern with the Thucydides reading group.
– Audio
You can Download BobStrassler-June15-2009-Thucydides-QNA here.
– Twitter
You can see the comments on Twitter made by the listeners (led by Dan and Tim).
And in the comments below you can see some of the questions that readers asked.
I want to thank each of the readers for tackling this great book over the last six months. If they are like me, reading it has changed the way they see and think.
And I want to thank Andre for his work as the moderator. He really cares about creating a good experience for the readers and his efforts deserve our applause.
Phil
Call with Peter Bevelin, author “Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger”
Great call today with Peter Bevelin author of “Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger“
Peter asked us not to record the call so we have no audio.
– Tweet recap
You can see the live tweet recap here:
http://search.twitter.com/search?max_id=<wbr/>2119952624&page=2&q=councils
http://search.twitter.com/search?max_id=<wbr/>2119952624&page=2&q=councils
– Interviews
You can also read two interviews Peter did about his book and his thinking:
Special thanks to David Baeza, Valerie Pearcy, @pixtory, Tabitha Dunn and others who tweeted. Their comments are a real tweet 😉
I’ve read his book twice and plan to do a third read. I don’t often say it – but this one is very, very good. Go get it and read it.
Phil
P.S. Special thanks to HiDefConferencing, a division of Citrix Online, for making this call possible!
Wonderful call with Dr. Amato, American Museum of Natural History
We just had a wonderful call with Dr. Amato, Director of the Center for Conservation Genetics at the American Museum of Natural History.
If you missed it, then you must listen to this audio recording, follow this web-based powerpoint and check out the experiment on Twitter:
1. Audio
2. Web-based Powerpoint (to follow along while listening – not necessary but adds to it)
3. Twitter
Note: Only a few listeners contributed to the “live tweet”, but the comments are definitely interesting and worthwhile checking out.
Dr. Amato inspired us with his passion for evolutionary biology, with his virtual tour of his 80+ person genetics/genomics lab that sites behind-the-scenes at the American Museum of Natural History and surprised us with how he and his team use genetics to make important contributions to the preservation of endangered species (among other things).
Dr. Amato is a true friend of the Reading Odyssey and deserves our thanks!
Phil
P.S. Thanks to HiDefConferencing, a division of Citrix Online, and Constant Contact for sponsoring tonight’s call (through donating phone lines and services).
Nicomachean Ethics – Books I – III
We had a great phone conversation – and before that e-mail dialogue about Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics Books I – III.
To download the mp3
audio click here:
We had a great dialogue about whether:
– virtue and “good” are habits or intentions (Aristotle says they are habits)
– happiness is a “final good” – what Aristotle means by that and how 21st century westerners might understand the word “happiness” differently (i.e. Aristotle seems to say that happiness is objective and not subjective inner state as we modernists believe)
– individual and community – and how Aristotle’s emphasis seems to be on community
– the connections to prior texts we’ve read like Plato (whom Aristotle attacks directly in Book I) and Herodotus (especially the story of Solon and Croesus)
– the power of reading an ethical text that is not spiritual – i.e. many group members remarked that they found it interesting to read a philosophical treatment of ethics
See the comments below for the pre-phone call e-mail dialogue.
Thanks to HiDefConferencing, Citrix Online and Constant Contact for sponsoring our reading groups and making possible the phone calls and recordings!
Thanks,
Phil
Wisdom is a habit?
18. June 2009 by Arrian
Categories: Aristotle, Commentary, Reader Call | Tags: Newsletter | 1 comment