Copies of “The Grapes of Wrath” are available at several locations. See the list at the end of this story.Getting a feel for the Great Depression
Reading of novel 'The Grapes of Wrath' starts this week
Monday, March 12, 2007
GALESBURG - Community-wide reading of John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" kicks off this week with a free screening of the 1940 movie of the same title starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford.The screening, at 7 p.m. Friday in the Orpheum Theatre, 60 S. Kellogg St., is the first event in The Big Read, a program devised by the National Endowment for the Arts to revitalize literary reading in American communities.
The Sandburg Days Festival, which commemorates the life and work of the Galesburg native and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, received a $20,000 matching grant to develop programs for community-wide reading and discussion of the novel in the month leading up to the annual festival, April 26-28.
The festival committee selected "The Grapes of Wrath" because Steinbeck and Sandburg were contemporaries and both were interested in the lives and struggles of ordinary people, according to festival director Gary Tomlin.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel chronicles the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and tells the story of an Oklahoma family forced to travel west to California after being driven off their homestead.
The novel "evokes quintessentially American themes of hard work, self-determination and reasoned dissent," according to NEA chairman Dana Gioia.
Copies of the novel will be sold for $15 at the movie screening. The book comes with a reading guide from the National Endowment of the Arts and an audio guide on CD, as well as a bookmark, pin and bumper sticker.
The book and supporting materials also are available for purchase at the Galesburg Public Library, Knox College bookstore, Carl Sandburg College bookstore, Packinghouse Dining Company, Calico Cat Gift Shop, Innkeeper's Fresh Roasted Coffee and The Landmark Caf<0x00E9> and Creperie.
The edition available features an introduction by prominent Steinbeck scholar Robert DeMott, who will visit Galesburg and give three public lectures April 24 and 25. DeMott teaches at Ohio University and is the author of several books on Steinbeck.
"We couldn't get the author of 'The Grapes of Wrath,' but with Professor DeMott, we are very fortunate to offer readers the next best possibility," said Tomlin.
A number of other events are planned to coincide with community-wide reading of the novel, including discussion groups led by Galesburg High School English teachers Laurie Aten and Gayle Stewart at Kaldi's Coffeehouse and Tearoom on March 20 and 27 and April 10.
Aten said reading "The Grapes of Wrath" is a great way to capture the feel of the 1930s.
"I've always thought that students, after reading this novel, have a much better understanding and also more sympathy for those who were down and out during the Depression," Aten said.
Staged readings are planned at Knox College and Carl Sandburg College in April. Organizers are planning a gallery walk featuring art from the Depression on April 27 and a "Californy or Bust" Jalopy Parade and Hooverville Migrant Camp at Standish Park to coincide with the Sandburg Days Festival on April 28. Readers are invited to dress in period clothes and walk in the parade. Drivers of pre-1942 automobiles also may participate.
Book clubs, area libraries, business and other groups also are encouraged to start their own discussion groups, Tomlin said.
The Hawthorne Study Club, a long-running group of women who meet monthly, is one example of an existing group planning to read and discuss the book together for The Big Read.
Caroline Porter of Galesburg will lead the discussion for the group. She said she bought the book in January and has been reading the book and researching its themes to prepare for The Big Read. All 30 women in the group purchased books through Carl Sandburg College, she said.
"Everybody should read it," Porter said.
Get Your Copy... and Get Reading
Copies of the Penguin Classic edition of "The Grapes of Wrath," featuring an introduction by Steinbeck scholar Robert DeMott, and supporting materials are available for $15 at the following locations:
Galesburg Public Library, 40 E. Simmons St.
Carl Sandburg College bookstore, 2400 Tom L. Wilson Blvd., Building B.
Knox College bookstore, 2 E. South St., basement of Seymour Union.
Packinghouse Dining Company, 441 Mulberry St.
Calico Cat Gift Shop, 88 S. Seminary St.
Innkeeper's Fresh Roasted Coffee, 80 N. Seminary St.
The Landmark Caf<0x00E9> and Creperie, 62 S. Seminary St.
The Big Read
March 16: Free screening of the 1940 John Ford movie Grapes of Wrath, 7 p.m., The Orpheum Theatre, 60 S. Kellogg St.
March 20: Group discussion led by Galesburg High School teachers Laurie Aten and Gayle Stewart, 7 p.m., Kaldi's Coffeehouse and Tea Room, 124 E. Simmons St.
March 27: Group discussion led by Galesburg High School teachers Laurie Aten and Gayle Stewart, 7 p.m., Kaldi's Coffeehouse and Tea Room, 124 E. Simmons St.
April 10: Group discussion led by Galesburg High School teachers Laurie Aten and Gayle Stewart, 7 p.m., Kaldi's Coffeehouse and Tea Room, 124 E. Simmons St.
April 11: Staged readings of "The Grapes of Wrath" by Carl Sandburg College theatre department, 6:30 p.m., room F118 at CSC, $5 admission includes refreshments. Registration required. Call 341-5231.
April 24-25: Public lectures by Steinbeck scholar Robert DeMott of Ohio University.
April 27: Gallery Walk in downtown Galesburg featuring Depression-era art and artifacts, 4 p.m.
April 28: Staged readings from the play "John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath" by Knox College theatre department, 3 p.m., Harbach Theatre in Ford Center for the Fine Arts at Knox College.
April 28: Hooverville Migrant Camp at Standish Park featuring music and dramatizations and "Californy or Bust" Jalopy Parade, from the Galesburg Rescue Mission to Standish Park.
