About Let's Talk About It
Since 1985, Oklahoma Humanities has strengthened communities by connecting Oklahomans through its dynamic book club program, Let’s Talk About It.
Each program begins with a literary expert giving a 30-40 minute talk, offering a deeper understanding of the text, the author, and the themes related to the book, allowing readers to gain new insight before the discussion unfolds. The expert’s talk inspires the dialog that follows, where readers contemplate the thoughts and actions of the characters, consider the intentions of the author, and offer their own observations.
Dates
1st Tuesday of the month
August 2, 2022 - November 1, 2022
6:00 - 7:30 PM
Location
Enid Public Library
120 West Maine
Enid, OK 73701
Private Investigations: Staff Video
Private Investigations: The Books
This series is titled, Private Investigations: Hard-Boiled and Soft-Hearted Heroes, which focuses on detective stories that are uniquely American. This series begins with Raymond Chandler, who perfected and defined the genre and samples three more contemporary authors. Each month, we will read and discuss a different book.
Date: August 2, 2022
Title: The Big Sleep and The Long Good-Bye
Author: Raymond Chandler
Scholar: Dr. Aaron Mason, NWOSU
Summary: Detective Philip Marlowe deals with questions of loyalty, friendship, and love.
Date: September 6, 2022
Title: Death in a Tenured Position
Author: Amanda Cross
Scholar: Dr. Roxie James, NWOSU
Summary: Follows Kate Fansler who is a university professor of Victorian literature. The story details the dangers of academic politics in the midst of the women's movement.
Date: October 4, 2022
Title: The Ghostway
Author: Tony Hillerman
Scholar: Dr. Benjamin Bates, Langston University
Summary: The story features Navajo Tribal Police Officer Jim Chee and Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn who solve investigations while juggling between the white and Navajo worlds.
Date: November 1, 2022
Title: Killing Orders
Author: Sara Paretsky
Scholar: Dr. Richmond Adams, NWOSU
Summary: Private investigator Victoria Iphigenia Warshawski (or V.I.) deals with scandals as well as the changing view on the American family and its conventions.
The Scholars
Dr. Aaron Mason
Dr. Aaron Mason currently serves as Professor of Political Science at Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva. He received his Ph.D. from Northern Arizona University in 2006. He has published articles on American Indian tribal governments and state government interaction as well issues dealing with the founding fathers and the U.S. Constitution. He serves as the Co-Executive Director of the NWOSU-Institute for Citizenship Studies. He also has additional teaching and research experiences at various institutions of higher education in the states of Texas, Oklahoma and Arizona. Finally, he is the proud husband of his wife DeeAnn and dad to their children Hannah and Morgan.
Dr. Roxie James
Bio coming soon.
Dr. Benjamin Bates
Bio coming soon.
Dr. Richmond Adams
Bio coming soon.
*Books, services, and other materials for this series are provided by Let’s Talk About It, a project of Oklahoma Humanities. Generous funding and support for this series was provided by the Kirkpatrick Family Fund and Oklahoma City University. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in these programs do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or Oklahoma Humanities.
