Parisian Literary Salon

“Among other things, you’ll find that you’re not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior. You’re by no means alone on that score, you’ll be excited and stimulated to know. Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles. You’ll learn from them — if you want to. Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you. It’s a beautiful reciprocal arrangement. And it isn’t education. It’s history. It’s poetry.” - from
Catcher in the Rye

“The Salon is a place for the meeting of minds- to connect, to agree and disagree and to use books as a means through which to ponder the various aspects of human existence and experience in all of its messy glory.
It’s the cornerstone of my intellectual world and it’s terrific fun as well!”
–Ulysses Salon participant, June 2010

Fall 2010 Literary Line Up
Starting the week of September 13th….
• Monday afternoons 1-3 PM King Lear
• Tuesday Afternoons 1-3 PM Absalom, Absalom *3 spaces remaining
• Tuesday Evenings 8-10 PM The Catcher in the Rye meets The Great Gatsby
Starting 7th of October:
• Thursday evenings 8-10 PM Beloved (Three week study) *4 spaces remaining
*Descriptions for each of these works can be found under the “What Might We Read” section. I realize one of the hardest things for me to do for the Salon is to describe a book- to reduce it to a few pithy phrases makes me feel disrespectful of the work itself and the possible realms open for discussion in the Salon. That said, most of the following have been so reduced but realize however apt the description, the writing is what is transcendent- and the only way to grab hold of the writing is to read the book.
* Each of these is a six week study- so the final week is the 18th of October.
* Each Six-week Salon costs 75 pounds – this includes all copies, films and auxiliary materials.
* Three week study costs 45 pounds– this includes all copies, films and auxiliary materials.
* You do not need to have read the entire work before the study commences, but those who have found this approach useful, re-reading on the Salon schedule. I break the reading up into approximately equal weekly chunks and we discuss the designated section at the meeting.
* Opening notes and reading schedule will be sent out to you at the time of your inscription.
* Salons are limited to 10 participants-inscription is open now.
* To sign up for the Salon, email me your Salon choice and I will email you the inscriptions details: if this is your first Salon, you will need to send in a cheque for the Salon; if you have previously done a Salon, your emailed confirmation is sufficient.
* Someone has inquired into the possibility of doing more than one Salon for this series- anyone who is crazy/eager enough to do so will receive a discount on the two Salons.
* Salons will meet at my home in Kentish Town.
* Check out the participants comments section to get a broader understanding of the Salon.

Thanks all for your input—and please know that if the work you wanted is not offered now, keep asking. Dante, Woolf, more Shakespeare, Marilynne Robinson and Dostoevsky are all banging on the door….
Poem for Free—read it out loud, no matter where you are….
Variation on a Theme by Rilke by Denise Levertov

A certain day became a presence to me;
there it was, confronting me–a sky, air, light:
a being. And before it started to descend
from the height of noon, it leaned over
and struck my shoulder as if with
the flat of a sword, granting me
honor and a task. The day’s blow
rang out, metallic–or it was I, a bell awakened,
and what I heard was my whole self
saying and singing what it knew: I can.

See you in the pages….
Toby
July 7, 2010