Books

“The Rich Get Richer: How Our Quest to Accumulate Wealth has Divided America” will be the topic of a conversation between author/journalist Michael Mechanic and local author and campaigner Chuck Collins, at 7:00pm on Tuesday, August 3, at 118 Elliot (118 Elliot Street, Brattleboro). Since Mechanic and Collins share overlapping interests, their dialogue about the surprising advantages and pitfalls of wealth hoarding promises to be as lively as it is informative. The Rich Get Richer event is live, indoors, and limited to 50 people.

Michael Mechanic is a veteran senior editor at Mother Jones whose writing and editing have resulted in dozens of journalism awards. He is author of the new book, Jackpot: How the Super-Rich Really Live –and How Their Wealth Harms Us All. His work at Mother Jones has often focused on social and criminal justice, racial disparities, mass incarceration, economic inequality, and corporate shenanigans. Since writing Jackpot, he’s been looking more at the ways the wealthiest Americans manipulate the system to their advantage. He lives in Oakland, California, but grew up messing around in the Windham woods and brooks with his local cousins. His late mother, Maggie Newton, grew up on a farm near Hamilton Falls where her parents, David and Margaret Newton, established the Newton School for boys; she later moved to Brattleboro and played in the local orchestra.

Next Stage Arts Project, the Putney based community non-profit, presents award winning author David Blistein reading from his new book “Opium” on Thursday, December 5 at 7:30 pm at Next Stage. The book, Opium: How an Ancient Flower Shaped and Poisoned Our World, tells the extraordinary and at times harrowing tale of how we arrived at today’s crisis.
Mr. Blistein will be joined for this special event by his collaborator and co-author Dr. John Halpern and the pair will facilitate a Q&A with the audience following the reading. Signed copies of the book will be available for sale. Admission $5 – $35 sliding scale with 100% of the ticket sales supporting Groundworks Collaborative and Next Stage Arts Project. Josh Davis, Executive Director of Groundworks Collaborative said, “In a time when there are a lot of unanswered questions around the opioid epidemic, David and John’s book asks a lot of interesting questions that are poignant and add depth to this complex and difficult topic.”

Let’s Read 2019 is a community reading initiative happening this summer and fall.  All members of the communities of Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, Putney, and Vernon may participate. Let’s Read 2019 features The Benefits of Being an Octopus by local author Ann Braden.  This book is appropriate for children in 4th grade and up, as well as adults.  Several events including author talks, staged readings, and book club discussion groups will be held in September and October at local libraries, the Brattleboro Boys and Girls Club, and area schools.