Dog-Eared Books Official Book Club

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens’ anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can’t imagine leaving behind.

Purchase a copy to read, or grab it from the library, and join us December 15, for a thoughtful and entertaining discussion about Demon Copperheadby Barbara Kingsolver. This book club is free to anyone who wishes to participate. No registration necessary.

Content Warnings for Official Book Club 2022

Content Warnings for Demon Copperhead

Content Warnings for Official Book Club 2022

Content Warnings for Now is Not the Time to Panic
Content Warnings for Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone
Content Warnings for Babel, or the Necessity of Violence
Content Warnings for Inciting Joy
Content Warnings for The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
Content Warnings for Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm