by Umbra Fisk
Dearest
readers,
You know
what an extraordinary book nerd I am.
And the secret’s out: I know many of you are, too. That’s where the
splendiferous new Ask Umbra’s Book Club comes in, because there’s just too much book
love to keep all to myself.
Here’s how
it’ll work: I’ll announce a juicy eco-minded book at the beginning of each
month, giving you a few weeks to track it down and drink it in. Then we’ll have
a no-holds-barred, message-board-style
discussion for four days at the beginning of the next month.
This isn’t
your standard, granola-snorting (ouch!) green
book club; there’s absolutely no requirement for “green” or “eco” in the title. Sometimes a book’s author may not even have
had an intentional eco-slant in mind.
I’ll pose questions,
interesting tidbits, and quotes from the book to help spark discussion and then
open the floor to you. Bonus: You don’t
even have to get out of your bathrobe. And
if you have books you’d like to suggest for the club, shoot me an email. I’d love to hear from
my bookish comrades.
For our
inaugural Ask Umbra’s Book Club selection, I give you truly an oldie but a goodie, Possum Living: How to Live Well Without a
Job and With (Almost) No Money, originally published in 1978—difficult
to find for many years—and rereleased by Tin House
Books in January 2010 with a foreword by David Gates and an afterword from
the now 30-year-older author.
Read more
about the book and pseudonymous author Dolly Freed below. And then, get
reading! We’ll begin our Possum Living chat Tuesday, April 6.
Book
synopsis from Possum Living website:
In the late ‘70s, at the age of 18, and
with a seventh-grade education, Dolly Freed wrote Possum Living about the five years she and
her father lived off the land on a half-acre lot outside of Philadelphia. Known
for its plucky narration and no-nonsense practical advice on how to live
frugally while keeping up a middle class facade, at the time of its original
publication, Possum Living became an instant classic.
About the author from Possum Living website:
Following her success as an author, Dolly Freed grew up to
become a NASA aerospace engineer. She aced the SATs with an education she
received from the public library and put herself through college. She’s been an
environmental educator, business owner, and college professor. She now lives in
Texas with her husband and two children.
Page-turnily,
Umbra
Related Links:
Jeff Biggers talks about his new book on coal
Could novels about climate change shake us to our senses?
