Book Talk begins a new season of book discussions on September 12, when Dr. Elbert Hill, Professor Emeritus of English at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, will lead a discussion of “Breakfast of Champions” by acclaimed novelist Kurt Vonnegut. The 7:00 p.m. meeting is at Donald W. Reynolds Community Center & Library, 1515 W. Main in Durant.
The satirical novel tells the story of aging science-fiction writer Kilgore Trout, who attends an art festival and to his horror meets a fan who suffers from a chemical imbalance and thinks Trout’s fiction is truth. Alternately playful and sinister, the novel deals with such serious subjects as racism, politics, and destruction of the environment. But along with critique of American society, Vonnegut offers comic relief in his commentary and penned drawings.
Dr. Hill was, until his 2006 retirement from SOSU, a specialist in children’s and young adult literature and had taught for nearly 40 years. A native of Tennessee, he received the B.A. degree from Carson-Newman College, the M.A. from Memphis State University, and the Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska.
He did his doctoral dissertation about traditional Native American literature and sometimes taught courses in that subject at SOSU.
Copies of the Vonnegut novel are available for purchase at the Reynolds Library’s service desk.
The group’s choice for its October 10 meeting is “The Final Solution” by Michael Chabon. Dr. Alexa Smith-Osborne will lead that discussion.
