We are just one week away from the Kickoff Event to the One Book, One Philadelphia 2016 season. On Tuesday night, February 2, at 7:30 p.m. you are invited to join us in Parkway Central Library’s Montgomery Auditorium for a free event featuring One Book 2016 featured author Charles Frazier in conversation with Cold Mountain opera composer Jennifer Higdon. They will be discussing the intersection of literature and music, with Jennifer Lynn of WHYY. The evening will also include an excerpt from Opera Philadelphia’s Cold Mountain, which premieres Friday, February 5. (Even more exciting: Library cardholders receive a 15% discount on tickets, with the code ONEBOOK.) The night will conclude with an original musical work inspired by the novel Cold Mountain, composed and performed by students from the Curtis Institute of Music.

And get your calendar ready, because what follows the Kickoff is an incredible eight weeks of programming. There are film screenings, both of the One Book selections and other Civil War-related films, including Glory and Roots. There a special museum tours—at the Rosenbach, the Philadelphia History Museum, the National Museum of American Jewish History, and more—that focus on the Civil War. You can join writing workshops, musical performances, lectures from experts, and even cooking classes, all thematicly tied by One Book featured selection Cold Mountain and its nonfiction companion books Twelve Years a Slave and The Civil War.

And because One Book, at its heart, is a citywide book club—sprinkled throughout the season are book chats, discussions, talks, and panels, dotting every neighborhood to help Philadelphians bond over a shared reading experience.

But … what if you haven’t read the book …? You still have time! But if it just isn’t going to make it to the top of your to-do list, that should definitely not be a reason not to join the conversation! All you really need to be armed with are thoughts about slavery and the Civil War, and their connections to America today …

… But just in case, here are some talking points and guiding questions to help give you an edge:

• Quick summary: Inman is a Confederate soldier who has been away fighting for four years, when he becomes sick of the war and his role in it and deserts. He spends most of the book struggling to get back home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina—while on the run from the Home Guard who round up deserters. Back at home is his beloved (but really, they barely kissed before his departure) Ada, who had a wealthy father but is now struggling to maintain their farm and get by without him. She gets some help from a resourceful friend named Ruby, and together they figure out how to live during trying times.
   
• Cold Mountain is told from the perspective of Southerners during the Civil War—are you cool with sympathizing with such figures? Who really were the good guys/bad guys of the Civil War, anyway? Do those classifications even apply?
   
• Inman in many ways is the “hero” of the book—he helps other folks in needs on his journey, and he is far too honorable to even think about touching any of the women he encounters on his way. Yet he also kills a number of people on his journey, and not always for self-defense—sometimes out of vengeance. Can he still be a hero then? What is a hero, literature-wise, anyway?
   
• Did you know Cold Mountain is loosely based on Homer’s Odyssey? You’ll get mega book-chat points for bringing this up. Inman is modeled on Odysseus, who journeyed for 10 years to return home from the Trojan War. Along the way, he faces trials and temptresses that delay his return to his beloved, Penelope—just like Inman! Back at home, Ada is a contemporary Penelope, who had to defend herself and her land until O returned. (This is also part of why Cold Mountain is known as an American epic!)

With those book bits in your pocket, please join us throughout February and March for programs that unite Philly around one book, one topic, one citywide celebration of reading and discussing.

For a full list of events, visit our online calendar and download our printed guidebook. The eight weeks of One Book season, which concludes on March 30, are also chock full of programs for children and families. (Look for the (C) designation on the online calendar, or check out the Events for Children, Teens, and Families in the printed guide.)