10/13/2024
SUNY Cortland’s Student Book Club for a second time will focus on the impact of what’s invisible and ethereal but essential on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. in the Corey Union third-floor Caleion Room.
That's when they meet for a second time to discuss the university’s year-long “common read” titles, Bewilderment: A Novel by Richard Powers, and The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture, by Gabor Maté. The first book discussion was on Monday, Sept. 30.
This time, the group of students from the SUNY Cortland chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international honor society for students of English, will delve into Bewilderment, pages 37 through 79, and chapters one and three of The Myth of Normal.
Through the year, each future session will focus on a different subset of chapters in the books, chosen in collaboration with the Student Government Association. Participation is open to SUNY Cortland students, faculty and staff.
The book club discussions continue the university’s annual, yearlong academic series of lectures, discussions, film screenings and art exhibitions framed this year on the theme of “Air.” Organized by the university’s Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee (CICC), an all-campus group of faculty and staff appointed by the provost, events in the series are free and open to the public.
Students who commit to attending the book club may request a free copy of Bewilderment, generously provided by the Haines Fund. To claim a copy on a first-come, first-serve basis while supplies last, email Abigail Droge. Copies also will be on reserve at Memorial Library. The Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee (CICC) provides a free PDF of The Myth of Normal.
“The goal of the annual SUNY Cortland Common Read program is to bring together the campus community around shared texts, in order to build interdisciplinary connections and spark discussion on a chosen theme,” said Droge, a CICC organizer and assistant professor of British literature and culture in the English Department.
About the books:
In Bewilderment, a heartrending novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning and No. 1 New York Times best-selling author of The Overstory, the astrobiologist Theo Byrne searches for life throughout the cosmos while single-handedly raising his unusual 9-year-old, Robin, following the death of his wife.
A warm, kind boy, Robin spends hours painting elaborate pictures of endangered animals and is about to be expelled from third grade for smashing his friend in the face. As his son grows more troubled, Theo hopes to keep him off psychoactive drugs. He learns of an experimental neurofeedback treatment to bolster Robin’s emotional control, one that involves training the boy on the recorded patterns of his mother’s brain.
With its soaring descriptions of the natural world, its tantalizing vision of life beyond and its account of a father and son’s ferocious love, Bewilderment marks Powers' most intimate and moving novel. At its heart lies the question: How can we tell our children the truth about this beautiful, imperiled planet?
The Myth of Normal, by the acclaimed author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, is a groundbreaking investigation into the causes of illness, a bracing critique of how our society breeds disease and a pathway to health and healing. Renowned physician Maté eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise.
According to him, for all our expertise and technological sophistication, Western medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring how today’s culture stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance.
Maté brings his perspective to the great untangling of common myths about what makes us sick, connects the dots between the maladies of individuals and the declining soundness of society — and offers a compassionate guide for health and healing. Cowritten with his son, Daniel, The Myth of Normal is Maté’s most ambitious and urgent book yet.
To submit an event, volunteer to support this year’s activities and programming, or for more information, visit the “Air” website at cortland.edu/cicc or contact organizer Benjamin Wilson, associate professor and chair of the Economics Department, at 607-753-2436.