Book Club: The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
The next meeting of the Purchase College Book Club will be Wednesday, March 31 from 12-1PM on Zoom (RSVP for link to join).
Our next book club selection (voted in by attendees at our last meeting!) is The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, by Ken Liu.
A brief synopsis: Questions of identity galvanize the 15 stories in this outstanding collection of fantastical fiction, giving them extraordinary gravity and resonance. Liu universalizes the experiences of his characters, who realize at some point, as the protagonist of “Mono No Aware” does, that “we are defined by the places that we hold in the web of others’ lives.” Gracefully written and often profoundly moving, these stories are high-water marks of contemporary speculative fiction. (Source: Publisher’s Weekly)
If you don’t have time to read all 15 stories, here are a few we’ll likely discuss that you can access quickly online:
- The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species
- The Perfect Match
- The Paper Menagerie: read it or listen to it read by LeVar Burton
Please RSVP and join the online meeting, even if you haven’t read the whole book or the 3 stories above - we welcome anyone who is interested in a book club at Purchase College. The development of the club is very student-driven, so come with your interest and ideas, especially for what we read next! You can RSVP on the Book Club event page!
To access the book you can:
- Access an electronic copy through the Purchase College Library [this copy only allows three users at a time, so please close your internet browser when you’re done reading]
- Access a print or electronic copy via a public library: Westchester Library System (all Purchase students can get a WLS library card that gives you access to e-books: instructions here), NYPL, other local libraries near you! Contact us if you need help getting access via a public library.
- Purchase a print or electronic copy of the book, if you wish, via IndieBound, Amazon, or other retailers.