Book Meet-Up | The Great Believers

Note: Our discussions are held in English. If you're interested in setting up a German-language Book Club, please let us know: hello@quekusa.at 

Tying in with Salzburg's Pride Week, this month's book is "The Great Believers" by Rebecca Makkai.

Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect. Thanks! 

Find us in the backroom of Academy! Academy serves tea and coffee as well as beer, wine, etc. You can also bring in your own food.

About this month's book: "A dazzling new novel of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss set in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris

In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico's funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico's little sister.

Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estranged daughter who disappeared into a cult. While staying with an old friend, a famous photographer who documented the Chicago crisis, she finds herself finally grappling with the devastating ways AIDS affected her life and her relationship with her daughter. The two intertwining stories take us through the heartbreak of the eighties and the chaos of the modern world, as both Yale and Fiona struggle to find goodness in the midst of disaster.

The Great Believers has become a critically acclaimed, indelible piece of literature; it was selected as one of New York Times Best 10 Books of the Year, a Washington Post Notable Book, a Buzzfeed Book of the Year, a Skimm Reads pick, and a pick for the New York Public Library's Best Books of the year." (Goodreads)

About the QueKuSa FLINTA+ Film and Book Club:

• Our Book and Film Club Meetups are casual spaces to discuss, dissect and debate representations of FLINTA+ people in film and literature. 
• No need to have a film studies or lit degree - just bring your own opinions (however well/ill-informed) and respectfully agree or disagree with those of others. 
• No need to identify as FLINTA+ but we expect all attendees to appreciate the centring of FLINTA+ people in our discussions.
• This is a "brave space" (where we encourage discussion) not a "safe space" (where we expect everyone to agree). 
• But remember: while we might be tough on the issues, we try to remain kind to each other.