Barbara Offret thought the book was a strange first selection for the "Go Read" program.
But she jumped into Ernest J. Gaines' "A Lesson Before Dying," anyway.
The company she works for, Morgan Bros. Bag, had donated the small cotton bags "Go Read" uses to give away copies of the book.
And Offret thought the idea was a good one:
"Personally, I really like the idea of getting a 'community' reading and discussing books together. It's better than the entire office discussing the latest 'Survivor' show," she says.
"A Lesson Before Dying," the first of what is expected to be at least three "Go Read" books, is set in rural Louisiana in the late 1940s. A young black man, an unwitting party to a liquor-store killing, is sentenced to death. It falls to a young teacher to follow on his aunt's request to teach the defendant to become a man be- fore dying.
"The issues of personal integrity,race, justice and capital punishment are central to the book's story - all of which are issues relevant to today's Richmond," the Richmond Free Press said recently, in endorsing the project.
Gov. Mark R. Warner endorsed the project and the book, too.
Warner officially recognized them during September through December because Go Read "aims to connect diverse groups of people through reading and [encouraging] communitywide discussions that will have a lasting impact on the citizens of our communities."
Offret, initially skeptical, found the book challenges racial assumptions.
"I felt a bit naive reading this," she says. "Surely things are a lot different today in attitudes of whites and blacks."
Her assessment: "It was a great book to get people talking together across many cross sections of society."
And indeed it has done that already. "Go Read" announced the book in the summer, and the program kicked off in earnest this fall.
It will conclude with Gaines' public appearance at the Library of Virginia on Dec. 12.
Book clubs across the metro area have taken up the book. From prisons to high schools to nursing homes, from Hanover County to Chester to Goochland, scores of groups - perhaps hundreds - have taken the usually solitary experience of reading and made it a community experience.
Schools, libraries and book stores have jumped in. So have businesses. The Go Read Web site, maintained by The Times-Dispatch, includes message boards for the public.
Most events are local book-club or library meetings (a list of known public events is on the Go Read Web site, address below). Virginia Union University president Bernard Franklin led one at a Henrico County library.
There are unusual events, too.
Tonight, for instance, the Firehouse Theatre Project presents a staged reading of a play based on the novel. Admission is free; call (804) 355-2001.
On Oct. 28, the Fountain Bookstore will combine dinner with a book discussion. Fee for book and dinner: $15. Call (804) 788-1594 for reservations.
On Nov. 22, Dr. Suzanne Jones, associate professor of English and author of the forthcoming "Race Mixing: Southern Fiction Since the Sixties," will lead a discussion in the University of Richmond's commons. The event is free. Call (804) 289-8670.
However you do it, this is a good opportunity to go read.
Even if it seems strange at first.
For more on Go Read and a listing of public events, go online to www.goreadrichmond.com, call (804) 646-0290, or e-mail goreadrichmond@aol.com.
Ray's column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He will have occasional Go Read updates this fall. Call him at (804) 649-6333; fax (804) 775-8059; or e-mail rmcallister@timesdispatch.com.
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READ! Web site maintained by timesdispatch.com
