Jeff writes: I admire Musil’s remark that “the truth is not a crystal that can be slipped into one’s pocket, but an endless current into which one falls headlong”. Books can be an effective antidote to the reductive urge. The conception of Muslims, Mexicans, Russians, Indians, Jews, and, well, alas, women, for example, about whom we have recently heard so much from the cultural forces that look to caricature and simplify human beings is a conception that might be slipped into one’s pocket. I have been reading, re-reading, or planning to read these books as a way of falling headlong into a stream whose complexity and subtlety portray a reality that is more beautiful, more human, and more truthful.
Carolyn Purnell is a French historian who received her PhD from the University of Chicago. Recently, she visited the Co-op to discuss her new book, 
Thomas M. Grace is a professor of history at Erie Community College. A 1972 graduate of Kent State University, he earned a PhD in history from SUNY Buffalo after many years as a social worker and union representative. He is the author of 
Bill Ayers is an activist, teacher, and scholar, and the host of our ongoing series 
