Quarantine Book Club: "Fierce Attachments" by Vivian Gornick

A few years ago, the New York Times created a list of the 50 best memoirs of the last 50 years. Fierce Attachments came in first place. 

Lively, suprising, and compulsively readable, it tells the story of one woman's quest for purpose as she comes of age as a writer, a thinker, and a feminist in 1970s New York City.

It's also about the author's relationship with her difficult mother (or maybe it's about what a difficult daughter Gornick is), and it's about expectations around marriage and men and the mysteries of the human heart.

"The book is an object of furious motion, humming with its own energy," says the novelist Jonathan Lethem. 

We will read it together over four weeks, and gather on Monday nights to explore it in depth. If you miss any of the meetings, no problem: A recording of each session will be sent to all ticket holders automatically.

INSTRUCTORS

This club will be led by Christopher Frizzelle, the former editor-in-chief of The Stranger, who has a master's in creative nonfiction from Bennington College and a whole bunch of thoughts about the art of memoir that will help round out our discussions.

RECOMMENDED EDITION

We recommend this edition of Fierce Attachments, available from bookstore partner Phinney Books, so that you have the same page numbers as everyone else during discussions. 

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

If you would like to join this class but price is a barrier, sponsorship funds are available to help make it possible. Please apply here.

DONATIONS ENCOURAGED

If you choose to pay $150 for this club, you are automatically making a $50 donation to the financial assistance fund, which would allow a full schorship to someone who would not be able to afford this experience on their own. If you pay $200, you are making a $100 donation. Thank you for making this book club accessible to more people.

ART

By Kathryn Rathke