Chris Bohjalian, originally uploaded by 1 Book, 1 Valley.

Chris Bohjalian signs copies of his books after the 2009 One Book, One Valley big event on October 29, 2009 in North Conway. Buzz after the event was enthusiastically positive. Bohjalian spoke about reading, especially reading fiction and sequential narrative in this age of hyperlinks, about what influenced and inspired his novel “The Double Bind,” and about being a writer.

Book discussion in Madison last night–lots to talk about, mostly trying to separate “real” events from the imagined or delusional, an interesting distinction when talking about a work of fiction, to say the least. All agreed that reading the book along with a larger community did add something to the experience, from something to talk about with the neighbors to raising awareness of certain issues. Most agreed that Bohjalian’s weaving Gatsby settings and characters into the narrative was seamless and believable. Many found reading the book frustrating, but felt less frustrated after reading the ending that places the pieces of the story into context. Everyone agreed that the novel was expertly and tightly constructed and admired Bohjalian’s ability to pull together all the elements into a cohesive story.

What did your group talk about? Share by writing a comment.

Last chance to join a discussion group before author Chris Bohjalian’s appearance in North Conway on Thursday. Come whether you’ve started, finished (or even read) the book, then plan to come Thursday to hear some live gatsby-era jazz music at 6:15 and Chris Bohjalian at 7 pm:

• Monday at 10:30 am (better hurry!) at the Freedom Public Library
• Monday at 7 pm at the Madison Library (homemade apple cake, too)
• Tuesday at 4:30 pm at the Jackson Public Library

Many of you may have finished or are finishing up reading The Double Bind. This week, there are several chances to explore the themes in the book beyond the book:

• On Tuesday at 7 pm at the Bartlett Public Library, Janine Lapete, a peer support advisor at Conway’s Alternative Life Center, will talk about her experience with mental illness and her work at ALC helping others through recovery and maintaining wellness. Janine’s talk in Conway earlier this month answered a lot of questions and provided a human perspective to counter the stigmas attached to this frequently misunderstood illness.
• On Thursday at 7 pm, Starting Point will present a “Clothesline Project” exhibit and discussion at the Madison Library. The “Clothesline Project” is a display of T-shirts decorated to commemorate victims of sexual and domestic violence. Attendees can choose to create a T-shirt to commemorate a victim.
• See two different film versions of “The Great Gatsby.” On Wednesday at 7 pm, the 1974 version with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow will be shown at the Cook Memorial Library in Tamworth, and on Thursday at 6:30 pm, you can see the 2000 A&E network version with Mira Sorvino, Toby Stevens, and Paul Rudd at the Conway Public Library.

North (Bartlett) to south (Effingham), east (Fryeburg) to west (Tamworth), there is a discussion of The Double Bind happening somewhere near you this week (if you’re in Carroll County, NH, that is.) And, if reading the book has renewed your interest in The Great Gatsby, the film will be shown in Fryeburg at the Leura Hill Eastman Performing Arts center. There is a $3 for adults, $2 for students admission charge (the only One Book, One Valley event that has one), but the comfy seats and awesome sound system are definitely worth it.

Over the past few decades, many, if not most, high school students have been assigned F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” But, whether you read the book ages ago or last year, you may still want to know, “What’s so great about “The Great Gatsby”?” What about it makes it required reading? James St. Pierre will answer this question at a One Book, One Valley presentation on Thursday, October 8 at 7 p.m. at Granite State College in Conway.

Speaker James St. Pierre is an instructor of literature and writing at Granite State College and teaches English at Fryeburg Academy. One Book, One Valley is the Mount Washington Valley’s annual community read program. This year’s book is Chris Bohjalian’s “The Double Bind,” for which a series of book discussions and programs related to themes in the book–including this “What’s So Great About “The Great Gatsby” program–are taking place during the month of October in locations throughout the valley. In “The Double Bind” Bohjalian used characters and settings from “The Great Gatsby,” an approach that works because of readers’ familiarity with Fitzgerald’s novel.

One Book, One Valley is sponsored by ten area libraries, White Birch Books, the New Hampshire Humanities Council, the Tamworth Foundation, the Pequawket Foundation, the Believe in Books Literacy Foundation, and local libraries’ Friends groups. For more information about the One Book, One Valley community read project, including a full schedule of events and directions to locations, see http://onebookonevalley.wordpress.com.

Those of you who have started reading The Double Bind know that one major theme in the book is homelessness. We’ve just added a link to Tri-County CAP Homeless Programs, http://www.tccaphomeless.org/, a service organization serving this area. In addition, an informational program about the challenges of homelessness in rural areas is in the works. According to Joie Finley Morris at Tri-County CAP Homeless Programs, Carroll County has one Homeless Outreach Worker and is the only county in NH without any homeless shelters.

Wednesday, September 30th at 6 pm: See the film “The Great Gatsby” at the Effingham Public Library. Made in 1974 from a Francis Ford Coppola screenplay, it stars many of the 1970s brightest: Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Bruce Dern, Karen Black, and a young Sam Waterston. Characters and settings from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s jazz-age novel The Great Gatsby appear in The Double Bind.

Friday, October 2nd at 10 am: the first book group discussion of The Double Bind takes place at the North Conway Library.

See Events page for more.

While we’ve listed dates and times for book discussions of The Double Bind that will be taking place at libraries and at White Birch Books over the next month, there are other area book clubs that are reading and discussing the book, too. These include the Colby Hill Book Group in Madison and the Women’s Group at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Eastern Slopes in Tamworth. If you are in a book group that’s reading The Double Bind this month, let us know by leaving a comment.

Just as we’re gearing up the publicity for One Book, One Valley 2009, Library Journal publishes an article on One Book programs around the country.