Just in (7/22):
If any of you would be interested in
attending a telephone chat with an author,
I invite you to come to Prendergast Library
to participate in one tomorrow evening,
Tuesday 7/22, from 7 to 7:30 p.m.
   Ted Kerasote, who wrote Merle's Door:
Lessons from a Freethinking Dog,
will be calling us and taking questions about
his book.
   A Wyoming resident, Ted has written
six books ( including one
on the ethics of hunting) and many magazine articles about the
outdoors and wildlife, . He is
very concerned about the environment
and issues such as global warming.
   If you can think of someone who
loves dogs or is interested in nature,
please recommend this
chat experience to them, or
consider coming yourself.
    We had scheduled a discussion
of the book from 7-8:30 p.m.,
and that discussion will continue
after the chat. People are welcome
even if they haven't read - or haven't
finished - the book.

Dog Lovers To Discuss ‘Merle’ At Prendergast Library

        Prendergast Library will offer the opportunity to discuss Merle’s Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog by Ted Kerasote at 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 16, and 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 22, in the Fireplace Room at the library.

This title is the fourth selected for a series of book discussions made possible by a Community Service Grant from the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation through a project called Talk To Me About Books.

Discussions are free and open to the public, and refreshments are served.

The book for July tells the story of a man and his dog, complete with conversations in which the author has translated the dog’s thoughts and feelings into English.

“I invite dog lovers to bring pictures of the special dogs in their life and to share stories about them,” said Anne Plyler, special projects librarian.

 “Since this book describes the wonderful relationship between Merle and Ted, it invites comparison to the experiences readers have had with dogs,” she said.

“Anyone who ever loved a dog will find something to enjoy in Merle’s Door,” according to a review in The Christian Science Monitor.

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of Dogs Never Lie About Love, said, “I can’t think of a single other book that conveys the love of a human for a dog so well.”

Library staff members will continue to lead monthly book discussions through January 2009. Afternoon and evening discussion times are available.

 Copies of each title will be available to borrow at Prendergast Library approximately a month before the discussions; if available, the library will also make CD and digital audio versions available.

Upcoming titles to be discussed are Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Home to Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani, The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, and March by Geraldine Brooks.

Initial titles were Next by Michael Crichton, Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, and Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith.

The books were selected by the staff members who will lead the discussions, but many of the titles have appeared on lists of recent and ongoing book club favorites, said Library Director Catherine Way.

The project follows up last fall’s Big Read focusing on Fahrenheit 451 and responds to requests from the public for more library-sponsored book discussions.

Movie showings of books that have been made into films are also part of the project.

The library is located at 509 Cherry St., Jamestown. For more information about the book discussions, call 484-7135, Ext. 225.