Book clubs are everywhere these days. And women talk about the clubs they belong to with surprising emotion. But why are the clubs so important to them? And what do the women discuss when they meet? To answer questions like these, Elizabeth Long spent years observing and participating in women's book clubs and interviewing members from different discussion groups. Far from being an isolated activity, she finds reading for club members to be an active and social pursuit, a crucial way for women to reflect creatively on the meaning of their lives and their place in the social order.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Rice University sociology professor Long presents an academic look at a phenomenon that has taken American popular culture by storm-women's book clubs. In her research, she often came upon women who referred to their club as a "salvation," a "life raft" or a "saving grace." "You will never know what a difference it made in my life," they told her. This work focuses on reading groups formed by white women in Houston, Tex. According to Long, reading groups are not only "integral to the constitution of both social identity and the sociocultural order," but they're grounded in history (she examines post-Civil War groups, in particular). Today's reading groups are much more informal than they were in the 19th century, however, and offer numerous venues for exploring group identity. Long briefly touches on Oprah's famous Book Club and on lesser-known online book discussion groups, rounding out her intriguing, intelligent study.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
From the Inside Flap
Book clubs are everywhere these days. And women talk about the clubs they belong to with surprising emotion. But why are the clubs so important to them? And what do the women discuss when they meet? To answer questions like these, Elizabeth Long spent years observing and participating in women's book clubs and interviewing members from different discussion groups. Far from being an isolated activity, she finds reading for club members to be an active and social pursuit, a crucial way for women to reflect creatively on the meaning of their lives and their place in the social order.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well-worth Reading!,
By R. Poole-Carter "Women of Magdalene" (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Book Clubs: Women and the Uses of Reading in Everyday Life (Paperback)
Last year a libarian friend told me about Elizabeth Long's book, knowing I'd find it useful while preparing a talk for a women's book club. I was inspired by Long's historic perspective and her descriptions of how book clubs and study clubs kept women's minds and hopes alive, even when the establishment sought to stifle them. Well-done!
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
In her provocative book Academic Writing as Social Practice (1987), Linda Brodkey explores and assails what she calls the image of "the writer who writes alone." Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
contemporary reading groups, online reading groups, literary club movement, most reading groups, reading group members, book group members, suburban group, reading boundaries, evaluative hierarchy, exchanging books, coed groups, legitimate culture, romance group, reading group discussions, reading club, solitary reader, book discussion groups Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sarah Grace, Ladies Reading Club, African American, Readers Inc, Oprah's Book Club, Rice University, Civil War, Leisure Learning Group, Was Gone, Jane Austen, United States, Doris Lessing, Nobel Prize, Oprah Winfrey, Progressive Era, University of Texas, Wives Group, League of Women Voters Group, New England Women's Club, Raymond Williams, Donald Barthelme, Flannery O'Connor, Houston Public Library, Huckleberry Finn, Jane Croly New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
In her provocative book Academic Writing as Social Practice (1987), Linda Brodkey explores and assails what she calls the image of "the writer who writes alone." Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
contemporary reading groups, online reading groups, literary club movement, most reading groups, reading group members, book group members, suburban group, reading boundaries, evaluative hierarchy, exchanging books, coed groups, legitimate culture, romance group, reading group discussions, reading club, solitary reader, book discussion groups Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sarah Grace, Ladies Reading Club, African American, Readers Inc, Oprah's Book Club, Rice University, Civil War, Leisure Learning Group, Was Gone, Jane Austen, United States, Doris Lessing, Nobel Prize, Oprah Winfrey, Progressive Era, University of Texas, Wives Group, League of Women Voters Group, New England Women's Club, Raymond Williams, Donald Barthelme, Flannery O'Connor, Houston Public Library, Huckleberry Finn, Jane Croly New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
See all 100 books this book cites
4
books
cite this book:
- Mansfield Park (Classic Library) by Jame Austen on 4 pages
- Mansfield Park (Signet Classics) by Jane Austen on 4 pages
- Pride and Prejudice (Bantam Classics) by Jane Austen on page 179, page 180, and page 182
- Criticism in the University by Gerald Graff in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Essential Communitarian Reader by Amitai Etzioni in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 100 books this book cites
- Reading Oprah by Cecilia Konchar Farr in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Oprah Phenomenon by Jennifer Harris on page 253
- Lesbian Communities: Festivals, Rvs, And the Internet by Esther D Rothblum on page 158
- Different Wavelengths: Studies of the Contemporary Women's Movement by Jo Reger on page 177
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