Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Just the Facts Book Discussion - August 22, 2019

Baseball is heading towards the playoffs, my favorite time of year.  Still, the book discussion is my favorite night of the month. If there’d been  a playoff game involving the Yankees or the Mets, well, who knows? Many thanks to the eight people who braved the oppressive humidity and threat
of rain to attend. Thank God for air conditioning.

Our book last night was City of Dreams: the 400-year epic history of immigrant New York by Tyler Anbinder. The book describes the experiences of all the different nationalities and ethnic groups that came from overseas to build a new life in America, starting in New York. Since we are all the children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren of immigrants, we all had stories to tell and share of our relatives and ancestors. While the book is long, it is highly readable and moves quickly. The stories of the various groups who came here are fascinating. Their problems and struggles are heartbreaking. The tales of the early Dutch settlers to the much more recent arrival of those of Caribbean descent and their contributions to America made for interesting reading and discussion. Many family histories were discussed as well of fond memories of our forebears. We also discussed the roles of some of the people important to American immigration, such as Jacob Riis, Samuel Gompers and Lillian Weld. We also discussed modern immigration and how soon Americanization should occur. It was an interesting evening.

Our next meeting will be on September 26th, 2019. The book to be discussed, Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the creation of Holmes by Michael Sims, is available at the Circulation Desk. All are welcome.

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