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WHO: Austin Public Library Friends Foundation, Austin Public Library, City of Austin Mayor’s Office
WHAT: 2015 Mayor’s Book Club
WHEN: Fall 2015
WHERE: Austin Public Library
COST: Free
WEB: www.austinlibrary.org
CONTACT: Cecily Sailer: 512.542-0076, csailer@austinlibrary.org
Mayor’s Book Club Features Classic Work of American Literature: Of Mice and Men
AUSTIN, Texas, June 4, 2015—Mayor Steve Adler, the Austin Public Library Friends Foundation, and the Austin Public Library are pleased to announce this year’s selection for the Mayor’s Book Club, a citywide reading initiative that unites the community through literature and discussion of shared books.
This year’s selection, John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, provides an opportunity for Austinites to experience or revisit a classic work of American literature, one that explores the economic hardship of the Great Depression, the nature of the American Dream, the power and failings of friendship, and the human capacity for violence and compassion.
“I’m excited to invite all of Austin to read this important work in American storytelling,” said Mayor Steve Adler. “Steinbeck’s characters, George and Lenny, suffer economic hardship as they chase the American dream, a struggle that persists in modern life. A citywide reading of Of Mice and Men will generate conversation about important themes that shape our lives, and I encourage all of Austin to join us in reading this year’s Mayor’s Book Club selection.” The Austin Public Library has made copies of Of Mice and Men widely available across its 22 branches.
In selecting Of Mice and Men for this year’s Mayor’s Book Club, the Library Foundation has forged an exciting partnership with Austin Opera, who will perform Carlisle Floyd’s renowned operatic adaptation of the novella in January of 2016. Through this partnership, Austinites are invited to experience an American classic both in its original form and as a live operatic performance.
Through programming provided by the Library Foundation and the Austin Public Library in the fall of 2015, readers are invited to learn about American writer John Steinbeck, as well as Of Mice and Men’s historical context, its achievements as a work of literature, and its contributions to American fiction. Program details will be announced later this summer.
Throughout the fall, in addition to the Mayor’s Book Club program and Austin Opera’s production, other educational and cultural organizations will offer programming that examines Of Mice and Men through various lenses. Partners in this project include the University of Texas Humanities Institute, Harry Ransom Center, Blanton Museum of Art, Austin Independent School District, Round Rock Independent School District, and the Paramount Theater. For a complete list of partners and programs, visit:
www.austinopera.org/ofmiceandmen.
About the Novel
Published in 1937, Of Mice and Men tells the story of two migrant workers—George and Lenny—seeking employment across California during the Great Depression. George Milton is intelligent but uneducated, while Lenny Small is a physically powerful man of limited mental capabilities. After being fired from an earlier job, George and Lenny find work on a new ranch, where, for a time, their dream to some day own a piece of land seems within reach. But Lenny’s brute strength and lack of self-awareness ultimately lead to tragedy, and the two men must flee again, with George as Lenny’s lone protector. While George longs to
guard Lenny from retaliation, he is nevertheless forced to confront the meaning and limitations of loyalty and friendship.
About the Author
Before his death in 1968, John Steinbeck authored 27 books, including 16 novels, 6 works of nonfiction, and 5 short story collections. Along with Tortilla Flat (1935), Cannery Row (1945), and East of Eden (1952), Of Mice and Men is one of Steinbeck’s most well-known works. His perhaps best-known work, The Grapes of Wrath (1939), won a Pulitzer Prize and has sold 14 million copies since its publication. Steinbeck earned the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962, and many of his novels are considered iconic classics in American literature. Most of Steinbeck’s stories are set in southern and central California, and frequently explore themes of fate and injustice, especially among the economically and socially challenged members of American society.
About Of Mice and Men, the Opera
Austin Opera has developed a network of cultural and educational partnerships to enhance the community experience of this unique performance. Celebrated composer Carlisle Floyd’s music and libretto vividly captures the lives of the characters, the bunkhouse, the depressed economy, and Lenny’s tragic story. Austin Opera’s production of Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men premiers in Austin on January 23, 2016 with additional performances on January 28, and 31, 2016. Season tickets are on sale now, and tickets can be purchased by calling 512-472-5927 or at www.austinopera.org. Visit www.austinopera.org/ofmiceandmen for a complete list of Austin Opera educational and community activities surrounding Of Mice and Men. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how NEA grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.
About the Austin Public Library Friends Foundation
The Austin Public Library Friends Foundation supports the Austin Public Library by increasing awareness about the Library and its importance to the community, and by raising funds to enhance Library collections, programs, and facilities. Many of the Library Foundation’s programs, including the Mayor’s Book Club, the New Fiction Confab, and Badgerdog Creative Writing Workshops are devoted to literacy, reading, and increasing the entire community’s access to information and knowledge.
About Austin Opera
Founded in May 1986 as Austin’s first professional opera company, Austin Opera has become a cultural touchstone for the fine arts community in the Central Texas region and has gained national acclaim as a producer of great opera. Austin Opera is committed to producing and promoting outstanding opera that will entertain, enrich and educate the Central Texas community. Austin Opera is a cultural destination for the community that delivers an extraordinary experience; is a creative environment that challenges the
misconceptions of the art form; enables lifelong learning; and celebrates the diversity that makes Austin unique. Austin Opera productions consistently garner national and international praise for production value, vocal artistry, and repertoire selection, under the leadership of General Director Joseph Specter and Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Richard Buckley. For more information about Austin Opera, please visit AustinOpera.org
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