Ep. 40 Life and Literary Loss with The Long Before the End Bookclub 4-8-20

When we recorded with our guests for today’s episode over a month and a half ago, we had no idea how timely our discussion would be. Our topic today is mortality. The vast majority of people probably don’t like talking or thinking about that topic, but with Covid-19 confronting us every day, it's a subject that is certainly taking up space in our heads. But what we discovered during our discussion is that thinking about death also makes you think about the joys of life and humanity; and that’s something we can all use more of.

Justin Magnuson and Rebecca Sturgeon are co-moderators of a book club called The Long Before the End Book Club that started as part of The Before I Die Festival in Louisville Kentucky. They are an organization that along with other groups like Bevival and the Trager Institute at the University of Louisville promote discussions about the end of life through a variety of means including the arts. While it may seem bleak, the Long Before the End book club gives members a chance to be honest in a safe space in which everyone is in a shared boat of limited life.

Justin and Rebecca talk to us about how every book we read is a little bit about death, how their book discussions help members get through hard conversations with loved ones, and how it has been a gift to form a community by connecting with people they wouldn’t ordinarily meet.

Under normal circumstances, their book club meets once a month at a local coffee shop.
The COVID-19 pandemic has recently made it necessary for the book club to use distance technology for their book discussion. Toward the end of this episode, Carrie checks back in with Justin to find out how their bookclub is adjusting and thoughts on how the pandemic is affecting the way we live and the way we die.

Book Discussed:

1- The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
2- Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
3- Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters
4- Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
5- Spaceman of Bohemia by Jasoslav Kalfar
6- She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
7- The Vegetarian by Han Kang
8- The Plaque by Albert Camus
9- All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
10- How Not to Die Alone by Richard Roper
11- The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
12- The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
13- Near the Exit by Lori Erickson
14- The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry
15- LovingKindness by Sharon Salzburg
16- The Eyre Affair and the Thursday Next Series by Jasper Fforde
17- The Undying by Anne Boyer
18- The Last Massai Warriors by Jackson Ntirkana, Wilson Meikuya, and Susan McClelland
19- Short Stories by Kelly Barnhill
20- The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin
21- The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy

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Perks airs on Forward Radio 106.5 FM and forwardradio.org every Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursdays at 6 am and 12 pm. We have purchased the rights to the theme music used.