Rhode Island Center for the Book
Announces the 2014 Reading Across Rhode Island Title
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore
PROVIDENCE, RI –
Reading Across Rhode Island, the only One Book, One State community read kicks off its 12th year by inviting everyone to join in the statewide reading of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. Reading Across Rhode Island is a project of the Rhode Island Center for the Book made possible through a vibrant collaboration of librarians, teachers, book group leaders and readers from across the state. The 2014 program runs from January to May with readers in Rhode Island classrooms, libraries, bookstores and book groups invited to join discussions and participate in local community events such as lectures by historians, art exhibits, poetry readings and dramatic interpretations centered on this year’s selection.
Dyana Koelsh, Principal, DK Communications and Robin Kall, host of Reading With Robin, serve as the program’s Honorary Chairs.
About This Year’s Book
A thrilling adventure with philosophical questions about technology, books and the power both contain.
I wrote this book because it’s the one I wanted to read, and I tried to pack it full of things I love: books and bookstores; design and typography; Silicon Valley and San Francisco; fantasy and science fiction; quests and projects. If you love those things too, I hope and believe you will enjoy a visit to the tall skinny bookstore next to the strip club.
-Robin Sloan
About the Author
Mr. Sloan, a 32-year-old former Twitter manager and self described “media inventor” from San Francisco, has established himself over the past few years as a “notably nimble thinker on the future of digital culture”. Growing up in Troy Michigan, the son of a salesman and a home economics teacher, Mr. Sloan loved both computers and books. At Michigan State University, he majored in economics and started a literary magazine but never considered a literary career. He wrote “Epic 2014” a 2004 eight-minute flash video describing an apocalyptic near-future in which the traditional news media are vanquished by a conglomerate called “Googlezon.” This pre-YouTube video was viewed more than a million times. In the spring of 2009, inspired by a friend’s tweet –“just misread 24-hour book drop as 24-hour bookstore, the disappointment is beyond words” – he began to write what would become his first novel, Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore.
Reading Across Rhode Island Kicks Off With a Screening of the Documentary
Google and the World Brain
January 26th
2-4:30pm
Providence Public Library
Screening of the documentary Google and the World Brain followed by a discussion led by RISD Professor Benjamin Shaykin.
$20 (includes a copy of the book, retail value $15)
Light refreshments will be provided. To learn more and reserve your seat, contact Kate Lentz at kate@ribook.org or call 401-273-2250.
Rhode Islanders are invited to attend the kick-off of this year’s program. Designed to give book group leaders an introduction to the book and the resources and materials to develop an interesting discussion, attendees will screen Google and the World Brain and participate in a lively discussion.
Other Planned Events: Robin Sloan will be the keynote speaker at the annual Reading Across Rhode Island Author Breakfast at Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet on May 3rd and will present to students around the state on May 2nd. Registration forms for the Breakfast will be available on the Rhode Island Center for the Book website mid-February. Look for other upcoming book related events throughout the year at ribook.org
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