The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald, 170 pages.

We read this American classic for our book discussion in December, but since I didn't quite finish it until after the January 1 I get to count all 170 pages this year.
I felt as though I knew the story well, having culturally absorbed it over the decades. It turns out that I knew nothing of Gatsby's story, or his motives, or what happened to him after the accident. It was a good book, definitely of its time; not necessarily dated, but showing the attitudes of America after the Great War. It left me wanting to read more of Fitzgerald's work.

Check our catalog.

Downloadable Audio.

Unterzakhn / Leela Corman 202 p.

A graphic novel of twin Jewish sisters born in New York at the turn of the last century.  I'm always reluctant to evaluate graphic novels; I read too few of them to feel competent, and the art, even of those that are widely hailed as good, doesn't do much for me.  So...

Fanya and Esther live with their dressmaker mother and gentle, vague father in a rough and tumble New York.  Early on they come under the influences of other strong women who pull them in opposite directions, in which each experiences tragedy and loss.  More an exploration of the limited choices available to women of the period than a true Jewish story, despite the liberal sprinkling of Yiddish.