A riveting, raw, and beautiful memoir of tragedy and hope: the life of a Cambodian woman who emerged from years of sexual slavery to become a rescuer of girls from the hellish brothels of Southeast Asia. “An inspiring story from the front lines of a global tragedy. Somaly Mam reminds us that one person can stand up and change the fate of others for good.”—Mariane Pearl, author of A Mighty Heart
Raising fundamental questions about the nature of family ties and the often fragile dance between despair and joy, Blue Genes is ultimately a profound meditation on healing. The questions and discussion topics that follow are intended to enhance your reading of Christopher Lukas’s memoir.
What does Kit Lukas’s memoir demonstrate about the potential bonds between brothers? How does his relationship with Tony compare to the way you interact with your siblings?
What did those special childhood years with Elizabeth mean to both boys? What experiences were they able to savor because of their youth? What aspects of their life were made more painful because they were so young when she died?
Christopher Lukas discusses the complex and shattering effects of a family legacy of depression and suicide on himself and his brother, the award-winning journalist, J. Anthony Lukas.
To get involved with suicide prevention, join the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Out of the Darkness Walks this fall. Go to www.afsp.org to find out more.
In The Poet of Baghdad, the life story of one of Iraq’s most revered poets, Nabeel Yasin, is framed against the turbulent crises in his homeland that took place before, during, and after the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein. Written by Jo Tatchell, a journalist who has spent many years in the Middle East and who is a close friend of Nabeel Yasin’s, The Poet of Baghdad is the gripping story of a family and its fateful encounter with history.
How did Jo Tatchell’s description of life in Iraq differ to how you imagined it before reading The Poet of Baghdad? What does the book reveal that particularly shocked and surprised you?
Discuss Nabeel’s mother Sabria. In what ways did Sabria shape the person Nabeel was to become? Do you personally know of a strong woman such as Sabria? If so, how has she impacted your life?
“In these uncertain times, a poet’s aim is to reach people with truth,” (page 77). Consider this statement, as well as the fact that Nabeel’s truth-telling through his poetry is what put him at dangerous odds with the Iraqi government. Why did he speak out in this way?
The Strong Man is the first full-scale biography of John N. Mitchell, the central figure in the rise and ruin of Richard Nixon and the highest-ranking American official ever convicted on criminal charges.
Atlantic contributor Ta-Nehisi Coates reads passages from his memoir and reflects on education, hip hop music, and his father’s powerful presence. Also, Coates expolores Bill Cosby’s transformation from TV dad to outspoken social critic in an essay entitled This is How We Lost to the White Man.
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The Strong Man is the first full-scale biography of John N. Mitchell, the central figure in the rise and ruin of Richard Nixon and the highest-ranking American official ever convicted on criminal charges.
