Book Club Discussion: What I Meant to Say, the Private Lives of Men, edited by Ian Brown
The Writer’s Guild of Alberta & Wordfest Present: Book Club Discussion in acknowledgement of Freedom to Read Week
Monday, February 23, 2015 • 7-9:30pm
Barley Mill Pub & Restaurant
201 Barclay Parade SW (Eau Claire), Calgary
FREE ADMISSION
Join Anne Logan (WGA) and Jo Steffens (Wordfest) for a guided book club discussion on What I Meant to Say: The Private Lives of Men anthologized by Ian Brown. In 2011 this collection from twenty-eight of Canada’s most thoughtful and articulate male writers was challenged on the basis of sexism and added to the Freedom to Read Challenged Works List. The book is of interest to both men and women and we expect an animated discussion about this colourful anthology! Don’t miss this community book club discussion where we plan to address associated topics regarding freedom of expression, including Charlie Hebdo and the controversy surrounding The Interview.
Also new this year—and supported by PEN Canada—is our first Writing Campaign whereby participants will receive complimentary postcards to write messages of solidarity and hope to writers imprisoned for practicing their right to free expression. The messages will be collected at the end of the event and mailed out.
Pick up your copy of What I Meant to Say: The Private Lives of Men edited by Ian Brown at Shelf Life Books—10% of book sale proceeds will go to PEN Canada!
About the Book
Are the men you know obsessed with strange details? Do they sometimes seem to have less interest in you than they do in box scores and the history of the bolo tie? Do they become sexually aroused at unusual moments — perhaps while reading a history of the Battle of Trafalgar? Why are they fixated on cars and heroes and strippers and silence? Do they ever think about anything but sex? Are they ever faithful? And how can a man be so headstrong about not asking for directions and such a wimp about pain?
What I Meant to Say: The Private Lives of Men answers these and other questions about the male animal — whether you’re a woman seeking enlightenment, or a man looking for company. After all, there’s a lot to clear up. Thanks to the women’s movement and gay liberation, contemporary manhood has changed beyond recognition in the past forty years. At the same time, the age-old preoccupations of men—their unreachable loneliness, the unstoppable physicality of their bodies and desires—remain as bewildering and mysterious as ever. Until now.
What I Meant to Say presents new and unpublished work from twenty-eight of Canada’s most thoughtful and articulate male writers, as they map the uncharted terrain of men’s private lives. At once touching and hilarious, insightful and provocative, What I Meant to Say is a personal tour of the secret male psyche, but this time it’s open to men and women alike.
