JANUARY 2010 READING SCHEDULE
DIGGING DEEPER meets every Monday from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Mandolin Café, 3923 S. 12th St., Tacoma, WA.
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January 4, 2010: DIGGING DEEPER CVIII: Joe Bageant's America
Joe Bageant, Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War (New York: Crown, 2007). — "Bageant mixes a reporter's keen analysis, a storyteller's color, and a native son's love of his roots in this absorbing dissection of America's working poor. Returning to his hometown of Winchester, Virginia, after 30 years of life among the élite journalistic class, Bageant sought to answer the question of why the working poor vote for Republicans . . . Through the lives of his friends and family, Bageant explores the importance of hunting, religion, and redneck pride in what he describes as the ‘American hologram.’” — Booklist.
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January 11, 2010: DIGGING DEEPER CIX: Globalization, 'free' trade, and T-shirts
Pietra Rivoli, The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2005; paperback 2006). — “A fascinating exploration of the history, economics, and politics of world trade . . . exhibits the ugly, the bad, and the good of globalization, and points to the unintended positive consequences of the clash between the proponents and opponents of free trade.” —Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, TX).
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January 18, 2010: DIGGING DEEPER CX: Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy, The Checkbook and the Cruise Missile (Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2004). — "Whether discussing her childhood or the problems of translation in a multilingual society, Roy and Barsamian . . . engage in a lively and accessible manner.” — Book description.
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January 25, 2010: DIGGING DEEPER CXI: Bobby Kennedy's vision for America
Norman MacAfee, ed., The Gospel According to RFK: Why It Matters Now (Boulder and Oxford: Westview Presss, 2004). — "In The Gospel According to RFK, writer Norman MacAfee has brought together for the first time the best of Kennedy's presidential campaign speeches and contributes lively and engaging commentary that makes them fresh and relevant. Issues of peace, justice, equality, and responsibility, which were at the center of RFK's campaign, have just as much meaning today as they did in 1968. The Gospel According to RFK is a book for combative Democrats, liberal, independents, progressives, and even moderate Republicans to carry around, read for inspiration, and quote. It is a book for people who believe they can change the government, the society, even the world.” — Book description.
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Since July 2004, United for Peace of Pierce County’s “Digging Deeper,” a Monday-evening book discussion group, has examined more than 275 books. (Summaries of many of them have been posted online on the website Scribd.) Topics discussed have included the Iraq war, Peak Oil, climate change, torture, the corporation, Islam, Iran, U.S.-Iran relations, Barack Obama and the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., the writings of Robert Baer, parallels between the U.S. and ancient Rome, Israel/Palestine, sustainability, war and human nature, the nature of money, September 11, energy geopolitics, the debt crisis, American immigration policy, the 2000, 2004, and 2008 presidential elections, financial crisis, the politics of assassination, and Saul Alinsky’s life and writings, as well as abiding themes of war, peace, and social change. Occasionally the group has spent several weeks reading longer works, like Daniel Yergin’s The Prize or Robert Fisk’s The Great War for Civilisation — Participation is free and open; anyone interested is welcome. Try King’s Books (218 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma) or other local bookstores for copies of books. More information: contact Mark Jensen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or see www.ufppc.org.