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Named Best Literary Magnet By Atlanta Magazine 2007

Past Selections:

April, 2008:
The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman

March, 2008:
What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage

The Literary Center at the Margaret Mitchell House presents

Atlanta Burning Book Club

Get Lit!

If you’re in a book club or looking for reading ideas, join us as we read great books.

Each month our Atlanta Burning Book Club will select an author who will soon visit the Literary Center at The Margaret Mitchell House.

Why should your book club register with us? 

• Early updates on authors visiting The Lit Center
• Exclusive opportunities to engage with select authors
• Networking opportunities with other book clubs
• Bring six or more members from your book club and pay just $5 per person. (regular admission is $10; free for MMH members) Pre-payment required: 404-814-2058

To register, send book club name, number of members, anda contact name with email address to sarah.dollacker@gwtw.org

June’s Selection:
Courtesans: Money, Sex, and Fame in the Nineteenth Century
by Katie Hickman

Synopsis:

During the course of the nineteenth century, a small group of women rose from impoverished obscurity to positions of great power, independence, and wealth. In doing so they took control of their lives—and those of other people—and made the world do their will.

Extremely accomplished, well-educated, and unusually literate, courtesans exerted an incredible influence as leaders of society. They were not received at court, but inhabited their own parallel world -- the demimonde -- complete with its own hierarchies, etiquette, and protocol. They were queens of fashion, linguists, musicians, accomplished at political intrigue, and, of course, possessors of great erotic gifts. Even to be seen in public with one of the great courtesans was a much-envied achievement<./p>

Review from Booklist:

Hickman has penned a collective biography of five of the nineteenth century's most intriguing and influential women. Though their names might not be readily familiar, Sophia Baddeley, Elizabeth Armistead, Harriette Wilson, Cora Pearl, and Catherine Walters wielded tremendous power during their heyday. In an era when men unquestionably dominated the spheres of business, education, and government, intelligent, desirable courtesans were able to rise above the restrictions placed on conventional women, reveling in their exceptional status as the most sought-after creatures in that curious shadow society, the demimonde. Exploiting their wit, their charm, and their originality, these women brokered their sexual, intellectual, and financial independence, bringing kings, artists, and power brokers to their knees without lifting so much as a finger. Serving as a microcosm of the courtesan phenomenon, these fascinating life stories provide a provocative slice of social history.

Biography from Bloomsbury • Background Information on Courtesans

Other Books by Katie Hickman:

Fiction
The Quetzal Summer
The Aviary Gate
Non-Fiction
Dreams of the Peaceful Dragon
Travels with a Circus
Daughters of Britannia
Courtesans

Katie Hickman visits The Lit Center on Tuesday, June 17 to discuss her new novel, The Aviary Gate. For the special book club price, the club's contact must call 404-814-2058 to pay for six or more members in advance. More information about Katie Hickman’s upcoming release.

May’s Selection:
Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz

Tony Horwitz will visit the Margaret Mitchell House on Wednesday, May 14 to discuss his forthcoming book, A Voyage Long and Strange.

Synopsis:

The Civil War still rages across the South in ways both quirky and compelling. “Hardcore” re-enactors crash-diet to resemble starved Confederates and spoon in ditches to stave off frostbite. A Scarlett O’Hara impersonator lifts her skirts for Japanese tourists. And Sons, Daughters, and Children of the Confederacy gather to sing “Dixie” and salute the rebel flag.

Pulitzer Prize-winner Tony Horwitz takes us on a ten-state adventure, from Gettysburg to Vicksburg, from Charleston graveyards to Tennessee taverns. Probing both the history of the Civil War and its potent echo in the present. Horwitz crafts an eloquent, fast-paced, and penetrating travelogue of the South.

Review from Amazon.com:

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tony Horwitz returned from years of traipsing through war zones as a foreign correspondent only to find that his childhood obsession with the Civil War had caught up with him. Near his house in Virginia, he happened to encounter people who reenact the Civil War--men who dress up in period costumes and live as Johnny Rebs and Billy Yanks. Intrigued, he wound up having some odd adventures with the "hardcores," the fellows who try to immerse themselves in the war, hoping to get what they lovingly term a "period rush." Horwitz spent two years reporting on why Americans are still so obsessed with the war, and the ways in which it resonates today. In the course of his work, he made a sobering side trip to cover a murder that was provoked by the display of the Confederate flag, and he spoke to a number of people seeking to honor their ancestors who fought for the Confederacy. Horwitz has a flair for odd details that spark insights, and Confederates in the Attic is a thoughtful and entertaining book that does much to explain America's continuing obsession with the Civil War.

Reading Guide • Interview with Tony Horwitz

Other Books by Tony Horwitz:

Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before
The Devil May Care: 50 Intrepid Americans
On the Road: An Outback Adventure
Baghdad Without a Map and Other Misadventures in Arabia

Tony Horwitz visits The Lit Center on Wednesday, May 14 to discuss his new novel, A Voyage Long and Strange. For more information and to receive the special book club price, the club's contact must call 404-814-2058 to pay for six or more members in advance. More information about Tony Horwitz’s upcoming release.