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New Paltz Times - Featured Arts | 10/30/2008 |
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Reading local
One Book, One New Paltz prepares for 2008 |
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| | One Book, One New Paltz committee members (L-R): Toni Hokanson, Stuart Bigley, Colleen Lougen, Shelley Sherman, John Giralico, Myra Sorin, Jackie Andrews, Nancy Lautenbach, Maryann Fallek, author Laura Shaine Cunningham and Ann Burdett. (Not pictured:Jerry Benjamin, Joanna Arkins, Jane Poskanzer, Rob Irwin, Nan Satter, Darlene Davis, Caroline Paulson and Brian Wallace.) | |
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by Erin Quinn
Sleeping Arrangements, the best-selling memoir by Laura Shaine Cunningham, is the kind of book you want to crawl into, inhabit and follow the book's protagonist throughout the rest of her life. This is the tale of Lily, a young girl growing up in the Bronx whose mother dies when she is only eight years old. She is left in an almost feral state, dreaming of a father that never existed, and is soon rescued by unlikely characters -- her two oddball bachelor uncles and her eccentric, senile grandmother from Russia.
This is a memoir that is at times funny, tragic, irreverent and generous, but never mean. It's the type of book that proves, in the hands of a talented author like Cunningham, pre-adolescent sexual awkwardness, loss, failure and unlikely familial love can be unbearably funny.
It is the perfect choice for the third annual "One Book, One New Paltz" celebration.
The community reading fest was spearheaded by SUNY-New Paltz dean of liberal arts and sciences, Gerald Benjamin, several years ago.
The One Book, One New Paltz Committee decided to choose a Hudson Valley author this year.
At first, according to Dean Benjamin, they considered picking a non-fiction work on the history of the Hudson Valley. That's because New York is gearing up for the 400th anniversary of the voyage and exploration of the Hudson River.
While the committee will consider a non-fiction regional history book next year, they decided instead to go with a local author, and with a book that would appeal to a wide and diverse group.
After deciding to go with a Hudson Valley author, Benjamin noted that the process of choosing a book with the wealth of literary breadth and talent in the region was not an easy one.
"All who attended meetings made suggestions and we considered a range of choices after hearing about them from proponents and discussing them and then narrowing them to three or four," he said. "We then read them all. And we chose Sleeping Arrangements by vote in the committee, after spirited deliberation."
"We have been most fortunate with our choice of Sleeping Arrangements," said Maryann Fallek, a One Book Committee member. "Not only is it a perfect One Book, but also the author, Laura Shaine Cunningham, is totally involved in and supportive of our program.
"Immediately after her book was selected, Laura became an active and full participant in the work of the One Book Committee. Moreover, she is fully committed to participation in the entire week of One Book events in November."
The One Book celebration lasts from Nov. 16-23.
Given the committee's goals, to build and celebrate community through the promotion of reading, they wanted a book that people would "want to read; one that people will encourage others to read and one that gives folks lots to talk about," said Fallek.
Sleeping Arrangements certainly encompasses this goal.
Fallek said that the response to the book has been overwhelming and, according to campus and community librarians and booksellers, the "book is flying off the shelves and selling strongly in community and campus bookstores."
One new addition to the One Book celebration this year is the creation of a reader's blog -- http://onebookonenewpaltz.blogspot.com -- for people to discuss the book, write their impressions, reactions and engage in literary dialogue.
According to Fallek, "many readers are taken with the young girl's story, particularly her resiliency which was nurtured by the love from and devotion of her two eccentric bachelor Uncles. People love the humor in the book and its tribute to non-traditional families."
Another local author and editor, Nina Shengold (Clearcut Anchor Books, 2005) elaborated on why she is such a fan of the book and the writer.
"Sleeping Arrangements is one of the warmest, funniest and most welcoming books I've ever read," Shengold said. "It's the kind of book you recommend to friends as soon as you finish reading -- I must have given a dozen copies to friends.
"It's especially gratifying for those of us with non-traditional families of any description. The love that's offered by a single mother and two rescuing 'old bachelor' uncles is as pure and deep as it comes. As a writer, I'm in awe of the way in which Laura Cunningham handles such emotional material without a shred of self-pity or sentimentality. She has a perfect pitch for the way the world feels to a child, and she uses some kind of literary magic wand that makes every detail both funny and true."
Although One Book was able to secure a National Endowment of the Arts grant to expand their program last year, this year, they're relying on funding from SUNY-New Paltz, the work of their volunteers, and the excitement and enthusiasm their book choice has inspired.
The One Book celebration will continue to highlight book discussions throughout the community, and a variety of book-related events (films, panel discussions and reading groups in local venues, such as coffee houses, libraries, bookstores, key community and religious institutions) as well as a keynote event -- a presentation and book-signing by the author.
"There also will be several other exciting experiences during the One Book 2008 week," Fallek said. (See sidebar for a full list of events.)
Both Fallek and Benjamin emphasize how critical the volunteer base is to making the One Book, One New Paltz celebration such a success.
"I would say that (One Book) has entered into the fabric of the community. People like the idea, value it and enter into it with great enthusiasm," Benjamin said. "It is terrific that we can sustain a collaboration between campus and community that is widely valued in both venues ... and the volunteers have been terrific.
"This would not work without them ... it is entirely open to those who want to join, and this, I think, is very rare and part of why we've been so successful. This is a testimonial to the character and vitality of our community. I am a communitarian, and I have lived in New Paltz for all of my adult life -- so continued interest in our community in this program is very gratifying to me."
Fallek concurred.
"How can you go wrong when volunteers simply work to enrich the life of their community?" she said. "Celebrating and building community by encouraging more people to discover the pleasure and power of reading benefit all of us and contribute to a lasting good ... we are able to do this ... by bridging and valuing differences that sometimes separate people."
Benjamin also thanked the New Paltz Times for its support and said the paper's role has been "key to making this work."
Now is the time to read Sleeping Arrangements to take full advantage of the slew of events that will begin on Nov. 16.
To learn more, log onto http://www.onebookonenewpaltz.org.
Click here to discuss this article in our forum.
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