BROWSE

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PROGRAMS / READING GROUPS / Y U So Obsessed Wit Me?

What does it mean to be obsessed?

In our current moment, “I’m obsessed” is often shorthand for “I really like that.” In literature, obsession is teased out into a more complex idea: a persistent, all-consuming preoccupation, a soul besieged. How can books challenge and deepen our colloquial understanding of obsession?

OVERVIEW

In this reading group, we will interrogate the driving force of obsession at the levels of author, plot, characters, and text. We will explore how obsession unfolds as well as the role it plays on the author’s writing process—and the (un)intended consequences. The books we’ve selected will (we hope!) activate a robust and wide-ranging conversation around obsession as plot device, as infrastructure, as guiding principle.

Over the course of this reading group, we hope to challenge and deconstruct cultural concepts around obsession and analyze how texts interact with and subvert these conceptions. How does a character’s and/or an author’s obsession act upon the text? What do obsessive writers and characters teach us about the human experience? Can we distinguish between living obsessively and just…living? Are we all obsessed here?

Let’s discuss!

MEETING AND READING SCHEDULE

The group meets in the Bound on the second Wednesday of the month from 5:30–7pm. The group will meet on the second Thursday in November due to Veterans Day.

Weds, September 9
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Weds, October 14
Nightwood by Djuna Barnes

Thurs, November 12 *Note the group meets on the second Thursday this month
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

Weds, December 9
The Lying Lives of Adults by Elena Ferrante

Weds, January 13
Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Weds, February 10
Y/N by Esther Yi

Weds, March 10
Milk Fed by Melissa Broder

Weds, April 14
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Weds, May 12
Repetition by Vigdis Hjorth

GROUP FACILITATORS

Sydney Healey (she/her/hers) loves to ask fellow readers if they prefer something that is plot-forward or beautiful at the sentence level (though she acknowledges it is possible to have both). She has been an enthusiastic member of the Athenæum and its reading groups since 2019.

Sage Bierman (she/her/hers) is a former English major and has participated in the Athenæum’s reading groups as a substitute for pursuing a PhD since 2024, and it shows. She works at Boston University and lives in Providence with her two cats.

Registration will open to members in two windows: Wednesday, July 15 at 8am and Saturday, July 18 at noon. Half the available spots will be released during the first window and the remaining half during the second. Participation is reserved for Athenæum members, so please consider becoming a member if you’d like to join a group! Members may participate in one group each year. If you have any questions, email readinggroups@provath.org.

This group has reached capacity. To be added to a waitlist, please email readinggroups@provath.org with OBSESSED as the subject line.

The Athenæum is deeply grateful to our wonderful volunteer leaders. Please note library reading groups are not classes or courses, but rather a way for individuals to discuss readings together, guided by both expert and amateur enthusiasts. Participants should expect discussion-based, not lecture-style meetings.