The Big Read

The Big Read Corporate Edition - 2009

The Libraries of Greater Kansas City joined together to celebrate the Tobias Wolff novel Old School for The Big Read during April and May, 2009. Through a series of talks and workshops, movie screenings, and book groups — not to mention a public discussion with Tobias Wolff and a regular radio broadcast brought The Big Read into your home, your workplace, or your car — there was a lot for readers to talk about.

Big Read Corporate Edition events at the Kansas City Public Library

Real Characters: The Writing Lifestyle Depicted in Old School - Wednesday, April 8, 2009
The Forked Tongue: Truth and Fiction in Old School - Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Beyond Mere Embarrassment: Jewish Identity in Old School - Thursday, April 30, 2009
A Conversation with Tobias Wolff - Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Tobias Wolff special event - photos on Flickr
Audio recording of the Tobias Wolff event
Old School related reading
Film Series: Old School Ties
Common Grounds book group discussion about Old School

The Big Read - 2007

The Big Read was a community-wide celebration of A Farewell to Arms in Kansas City during October-November, 2007. It was an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.

The Big Read in Kansas City encouraged residents to read, enjoy, contemplate, and discuss Hemingway’s landmark novel of love and war on the Italian Front during the World War I. It was developed by a consortium comprising Park University, The Kansas City Public Library, and the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial.

Steve Paul, senior writer and editor at The Kansas City Star and a published Ernest Hemingway scholar, opened The Big Read with an illustrated talk about Hemingway’s classic A Farewell to Arms on Wednesday, October 24, 2007, at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.