Please join the WashU New York Network and the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement for a thought-provoking group discussion on Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie. Alumni and parents will meet to discuss the book as part of the Common Reading Program and get a reminder of the WashU academic experience while talking about the same questions raised on campus. In the spirit of civic engagement, these discussions will foster dialogue, learning, and listening which are the foundation of strong communities.

 

Originally named the First Year Reading Program, this initiative began in the fall of 2003 to provide first-year students a shared intellectual experience to start their academic career at WashU. The program was renamed the Washington University Common Reading Program in 2017 as the program now supports discussions among first-year students, parents, families, and alumni groups around the world.

 

This event will be hosted by: Jeremy Thomas, AB ’08, and Emily Thomas, AB ’07.

 

About the book:

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is an enchanting tale that captures the magic of reading and the wonder of romantic awakening. An immediate international bestseller, it tells the story of two hapless city boys exiled to a remote mountain village for re-education during China's infamous Cultural Revolution. There the two friends meet the daughter of the local tailor and discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation. As they flirt with the seamstress and secretly devour these banned works, the two friends find transit from their grim surroundings to worlds they never imagined.

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