• The Rise of the Creative Class by Richard Florida
• Servants of the Map by Andrea Barrett
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
• Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
• Arabian Nights and Days by Naguib Mahfouz
• A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
• Turn of the Screw by Henry James
• Last Orders by Graham Swift

Richard Florida, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, says that communities must attract the "creative class" (scientists, artists, engineers, teachers, etc) to be competitive. He says this group is attracted toward cities with, among other things, a high level of cultural diversity and gay-friendliness. This book and its author played a prominent role in the 175th birthday celebration of the Rochester Institute of Technology. In the 2004 edition of this book, the author ranked Rochester as the 29th highest in the country on his Creativity Index.

Resources for Reading and Discussion

The author's web site for this book

A reasonably balanced critique of Florida's book by Mackenzie Baris.

The major right-wing critique is by Steven Malanga, who thinks creative types are the "curse" of cities.

A critique by Joel Kotkin and Fred Siegel of the Democratic Leadership Council, a faction of the Democratic Party.

Florida's reply to his critics, especially Malanga and Kotkin/Seigel.

This collection of six related novellas and short stories was the "If All of Rochester Read the Same Book..." selection for 2005.   It has references to Barrett's earlier work, The Voyage of the Narwhal, which LAVA read in 1999.

Resources for Reading and Discussion

Writers & Books provides a good discussion guide.

A long interview with Barrett

New York Times list of resources for Andrea Barrett

A New York Times review

Another New York Times review

Profile of Barrett in Ploughshares

Boston Globe article about Barrett

This is a murder mystery with a twist:  the murder victim is the neighbor's poodle, and the narrator/detective is Christopher, a 15-year-old autistic boy. Christopher must also deal with the mysteries of communicating with other people who experience something called "emotion."  This best-seller is heartily recommended by three authors that LAVA has read: Arthur Golden (Memoirs of a Geisha), Myla Goldberg (Bee Season), and Ian McEwan (Atonement).  Oliver Sacks, noted neurologist and author, said, "I found it very moving, very plausible -- and very funny."

Resources for Reading and Discussion

Interview with Haddon by Powell's Bookstore

Interview with Haddon by The Guardian

Book review in the Village Voice

Book review in the New York Times by Jay McInerney (author of "Bright Lights, Big City")

NPR audio interview with a designer of livestock facilities who uses her own autistic condition as a tool for understanding animal behavior

An autism fact sheet

The true story of a female professor at the University of Tehran in Iran who leaves her job because of the repressive atmosphere and organizes a secret book discussion club.  Central to this best-seller are discussions of great writers like Vladimir Nobokov, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jane Austin.  Publishers Weekly: "This book transcends categorization as memoir, literary criticism or social history, though it is superb as all three."   Booklist: "Her book is an absorbing look at primarily Western classics through the eyes of women and men living in a very different culture." 

Resources for Reading and Discussion

Long interview with Robert Birnbaum

Transcript of an interview on PBS with David Brancaccio

Review and interview in "The Scotsman"

The Washington Post reviewer says the book doesn't reflect changes for the better in Iran during the past few years.

Review from a conservative think tank

Interview by a progressive Iranian women's organization

Two interesting collections of photos of ordinary people doing ordinary things in Iran. Click on any photo to see the next photo in the collection.  1   2

Audio interview on Fresh Air (NPR)

Audio interview on Weekend Edition (NPR) (you have to scroll down a bit to find it)

Considered the first great Arab novelist, Mahfouz is a Nobel Prize winner who lives in Cairo.  The Library Journal describes this book as, "a clever, witty concoction that begins on the day following the Thousand and One Nights, when the vizier Dandan learns that his daughter, Shahrzad, has succeeded in saving her life by enthralling the sultan with wondrous tales.  But Shahrzad is miserable and distrusts her husband, who, she suspects, is still capable of bloody doings."  This story, like all of Mahfouz's work, reflects contemporary issues in the Arab world.  Mahfouz survived a knife attack by religious fundamentalists in 1994, and his books are still banned in some Arab countries.

After discussing this book, we concluded that it was not the best choice of Mahfouz novels. A better selection would have been Palace Walk, which was written in an earlier phase of his career.

Resources for Reading and Discussion

The Wikipedia entry for Mahfouz

Mahfouz's Nobel Prize lecture and other resources

The original "Thousand and One Nights" from the Harvard Classics, which is worth dipping into to sample its very flowery language.

Mistry was born in Bombay and now lives in Toronto.  This novel won the Commonwealth Writers Prize and was a finalist for the Booker Prize.  Kirkus Review: "A sweeping story, in a thoroughly Indian setting, that combines Dickens's vivid sympathy for the poor with Solzhenitsyn's controlled outrage, celebrating both the resilience of the human spirit and the searing heartbreak of failed dreams.  The protagonists work to maintain a fine balance between hope and despair."  The Independent(Britain): "Compulsively readable, also funny, intensely moving and, like Bombay, pullulating with humanity."

This book has a very strong impact. Years later, LAVA members still refer to it in discussion.

Resources for Reading and Discussion

Lots of interesting photos of Mumbai (Bombay)

An interview with Mistry that includes, among other things, a discussion of his "Bob Dylan" years in Bombay.

An audio interview with Mistry on BBC. (Scroll down a page or so to find it.)

An article in The Literary Encyclopedia about the Parsi community in India. (In A Fine Balance, Dina and Maneck are Parsis, while Ishvar and Omprakash are Hindus. Mistry, the author, is also a Parsi.)

Wikipedia's entry for Parsis

A web site promoting the Parsi religion

Apparently a railroad enthusiast's page of photos of Indian trains. You have to click on each photo to make it big enough to view. The photo in the middle of the third row seems to show some tents and crude shelters just off the railroad.

This little ghost story, which we read during Halloween, was written by one of the great American novelists.  Amazon.com calls it, "an exquisite gem of sexual and psychological ambiguity." Scholars have wrestled with it for decades, Benjamin Britten based an opera on it, and it even has that ultimate modern seal of approval, its own web site (www.turnofthescrew.com).  The story itself, which is only about 100 pages long, is available in a number of editions and collections. 

The recommended version is the Norton Critical Edition (271 pages), which has excerpts from 30 critical reviews, including the transcript of a delightful 1942 radio symposium by Katherine Anne Porter, Allen Tate, and Mark Van Doren.  Unfortunately, the Norton edition has unusually small print, but if you can handle that you will find it a treasure-house of information.

Resources for Reading and Discussion

The Henry James Scholar's Guide to Web Sites related to the author

A review with several minutes of music from the opera that Benjamin Britton created from this book. Click on "Continue>>" at the bottom of each page to see all of the review. Embedded in the second and third page are links that play music from the opera, including the climatic scene with Miles' death.

Several World War II army buddies, now aging, drive to a seaside town to scatter the ashes of one who had just died.  New York Times: "Swift is surely one of England's finest living novelists.... The tale he tells is as affecting as it is convincing.... Quietly, but with conviction, he seeks to reaffirm the values of decency, loyalty, love."  Salman Rushdie: "This is Graham Swift's finest work to date: beautifully written, gentle, funny, truthful, touching and profound."  This book won the Booker Prize in 1996.

Resources for Reading and Discussion

Jack Dodd ran a butcher shop near the Smithfield Meat Market

Photos of the Smithfield market. Click "next" to see them all.

The Wikipedia entry for Smithfield

Here are some of the places that Ray, Vince, Vic and Lenny visited during their trip to Margate:

• They stopped for a break in Rochester. "We cross the Medway [River] by an old road bridge, beside the railway bridge." They parked near the foot of the castle, which was just ahead.
• They visited Chatham to pay their respects at the Naval Memorial.
• They took Jack into Canterbury Cathedral.
• Finally they arrived at Margate pier.

Interview with Swift in Salon

Review in the Guardian

Article about Swift in The Guardian

Discussion Guide from the publisher