Their Eyes Were Watching God

The National Endowment for the Arts has a program called The Big Read.  The purpose of The Big Read is to restore reading to the center of American culture.  The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest.  The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

I first heard about The Big Read in a St Petersberg Times Newspaper in Education insert.  In the past I had gotten a little goofy and sappy over another publication by the St Pete Times called tbt*.  The tbt* is a free, daily publication that has a witty, articulate and humerous voice that is most soothing.  I have to tell you though, the NIE brings on a whole nuther level of goofiness!  Here is a description in their own words:

Beyond newsprint. In the know. Online. Plugged in. In The Times.

The Times Newspaper in Education program offers students and teachers a world of free learning resources including classroom newspapers and supplements, multimedia reports, podcasting and blogging opportunities.

A newspaper that truly cares about education within the community!  And another thing, an association with the NIE speaks volumes about their sponsors.  The sponsors are listed on the right hand side page of the Web site.

Sorry, got a little side tracked.  The book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is why I started writing here today in the first place.  This book was written by Zora Neale Hurston and published in 1937.  This is a touching, powerful, humerous and scary trek through early twentieth century, rural Florida that takes Janie Crawford, a southern black girl who clashes with the values others impose on her, on a journey to find herself.

If you read and write about non fiction business topics, you must read this book.  Zora's brilliant use of metpahors combined with oscilating narrative and southern black dialogue will shake the business cobwebs from your head and provide much needed humanism to infiltrate your subconscious.

Visit here to learn more about Zora Neale Hurston. 

Comments

[Robin 'Roblimo' Miller]

Here's a video of local poet Venus Jones at the Big Read opening: http://www.roblimo.com/node/382