November 2010 Programs

 

New Members' Reception!

Monday 11/1, 5:30-7pm

Join us for a tour of the building, refreshments, and a chance to meet other members as well as the staff. For new Athenaeum members and their guests.

 

SALON - Lauren Webb on Her Book In Cheap We Trust: The Story of a Misunderstood American Virtue

Friday 11/5, 5-7pm

In hard times, questions about Americans’ conflicted relationship with consumption and frugality become more urgent and provocative. Why do we ridicule people who save money? Where’s the boundary between thrift and miserliness? Is thrift a virtue or a vice during a recession? Join Weber for a colorful ride through the history of frugality in the United States and an exploration of contemporary expressions and dilemmas of thrift. From economist John Maynard Keynes’s “Paradox of Thrift” to today’s recession-driven enthusiasm for frugal living, she teases out the meanings of cheapness and examines the wisdom and pleasures of not spending every last penny.

For Athenaeum members and their guests.

Sponsor: Lefkowitz, Champi, Garfinkel & DiRienzo P.C., lgcd.com.

 

Proust, Prismatically - Part One: Author Louis Begley on His Book Why the Dreyfus Affair Matters

Wednesday 11/10, 7pm

As the first part of our Annual Proust Event, award-winning novelist and retired attorney Louis Begley will discuss his book on Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer framed for treason in 1894 by the French Army in an explosive case that exposed the entire French society’s virulent anti-Semitism. Writing with a lawyer’s expertise and a novelist’s eye, Begley uses this tragic history to examine the situation of today’s prisoners at Guantanamo, and calls on the writers of our time to scrutinize the facts of their imprisonment with the same subtlety that Proust brought to his treatment of Dreyfus in In Search of Lost Time.

Free and open to the public!

Sponsor: Chace Ruttenberg & Freedman, LLP, crfllp.com.

 

SALON - Proust, Prismatically - Part Two: Arnold Weinstein on "Love in Proust: You Can't Get There from Here"

Friday 11/12, 5-7pm

For the second part of our Annual Proust Event, esteemed writer, literary critic, and Brown University Professor of Comparatiev Literature Arnold Weinstein returns to the Athenaeum with a talk on three major strands of Proust’s novel: homosexual love, with its perceptual challenge (with Baron Charlus as a major example); the evolving saga of the narrator’s conquest of Albertine (possibly the greatest analysis of jealousy ever written); and the exquisite relationship of the narrator and his adored grandmother.

Free and open to the public!

Sponsor: Studio Hop, 810 Hope Street, 401-621-2262.

 

Poetry and Fiction Reading with Black Lawrence Press Authors

Saturday 11/13, 4pm

Black Lawrence Press, an imprint of Dzanc Books, is an independent press specializing in books of contemporary literature. Founded in upstate New York, in the land between the Black River and St. Lawrence River, the press is now located in Brooklyn. Four New England authors have had their books published by BLP. Helen Marie Casey is a poet and essayist; her series of poems about Mary Dyer, Inconsiderate Madness, was published by BLP in 2007. Jason Tandon’s first collection of poetry Give Over the Heckler and Everyone Gets Hurt was selected for the 2006 St. Lawrence Book Award from BLP. Tina Egnoski (Athenaeum Weekend Circulation Supervisor) received a merit fellowship in literature from the RI State Council on the Arts in 2007; her fiction chapbook Perishables, was published this year by BLP. Norman Waksler received a Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in Fiction in 1998 and the Chaffin Award for Fiction in 2004; his short story collection Signs of Life was published by BLP. Join us to meet all four authors and hear their work!

Free and open to the public!

Sponsor: The Peck Building, LLP.

 

Gregory V. Sullivan on “The First Amendment: Five Freedoms, If We Can Keep Them – Where Do You Draw the Line?”

Monday 11/15, 5:30 reception; 6pm program

Co-presented with Access/RI.

Attorney Gregory V. Sullivan will outline the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment - religion, speech, press, assembly and petition - and then trace the historical and ongoing clash of those freedoms with other governmental and societal interests, including national security, public safety, privacy, education and protection of children, and reputation protection. ACCESS/RI is a broad-based, non-profit freedom of information coalition of organizations, including the ACLU and Common Cause, dedicated to improving citizen access to the records and processes of government in Rhode Island – more at accessri.org.

Free and open to the public!

 

SALON - Community MusicWorks presents BACH FEST!

Friday 11/19, 5-7pm

This Salon will feature musicians of CMW, including members of the Providence String Quartet, and Brown Choral Director Fred Jodry talking about and playing Bach, and is one of the events in CMW’s November series “Bach Fest.” From solo partitas and sonatas to concerti and cantatas, the musicians of CMW along with guest artists will present an expansive exploration of the music and life of Johann Sebastian Bach, including at least one marathon concert. More information at communitymusicworks.org.

For Athenaeum members, their guests, and friends of CMW.

Sponsor: The Curatorium, thecuratorium.com.

 

The John Russell Bartlett Society Presents a Book Auction and Talk by Rick Stattler

Saturday 11/20, 2pm

Rick Stattler, Director of Printed and Manuscript Americana at Swann Auction Galleries in New York City, will discuss his experiences at Swann, one of the largest book specialty auction houses in the world. In addition to Stattler’s talk, we will conduct a mini-book auction of books donated by JRBS members.

Free and open to the public!

 

SALON - James Hall on “Beyond Benefit Street: What’s Next For Preservation?”

Friday 11/26, 5-7pm

When the preservation movement was born in Providence to save Benefit Street, the idea of urban preservation was on the cutting edge. What will preservation mean in the early decades of the 21st century? James Brayton Hall, Executive Director the Providence Preservation Society, discusses preservation challenges facing our city today, the role of policy in preservation, and the growing need to protect architecture of the recent past.

For Athenaeum members and their guests.

Sponsor: Couture Design Associates, couturedesignassociates.com.

 

December 2010 Programs

 

SALON - A Poetrical Marathon! Part One

Friday 12/3, 5-7pm

Alan Boegehold, Brown Classics Professor Emeritus, on his recent translation, Cavafy: 166 Poems. Considered the greatest Greek poet of modern times, Constantine Cavafy (1863-1933) never published a book in his lifetime, preferring to distribute self-printed pamphlets to his friends. While his work influenced poets all over the world after his death, it was not until 1975 that an authoritative translation of his collected poems appeared in English. The themes that characterize his poems are historical, philosophical, and erotic; some poems intertwine all three. Join Boegehold for a discussion of the poet and a reading from Boegehold’s new translation of his work.

For Athenaeum members and their guests.

Sponsor: Elad, Inc.

 

SALON - A Poetrical Marathon! Part Two

Friday 12/3, 7pm

Poetry Aloud! Join us for a favorite Athenaeum tradition, declaiming verse in the Reading Room. Bring a poem you’ve written, a poem you’ve loved, or come browse our poetry shelves that evening and find one you can’t resist, and we’ll take turns reading aloud. Don’t miss this chance to wax lyrical with old friends and new!

For Athenaeum members and their guests.

Sponsor: M&S Rare Books, msrarebooks.com.

 

WRNI Presents Policy and Pinot

Tuesday 12/7, 6-7pm

A timely conversation series on vital issues affecting our state: “Evaluating the 2010 Elections.” Join everyone’s favorite political pundits, the WRNI political reporting and analysis team of Scott MacKay and Ian Donnis, to discuss the outcomes and consequences of the 2010 elections, nationwide and here in RI. More on WRNI: wrni.org.

Free and open to the public, reservations required: reservations can be made starting on November 23 by contacting Danielle Blasczak at dblasczak@wrni.org.