Elizabeth Long is an associate professor of sociology at Rice University. She is the author of "The American Dream and the Popular Novel" and the editor of "From Sociology to Cultural Studies."

Texte du rabat

Book clubs are everywhere these days. And women talk about the clubs they belong to with surprising emotion. But why are the clubs so important to them? And what do the women discuss when they meet? To answer questions like these, Elizabeth Long spent years observing and participating in women's book clubs and interviewing members from different discussion groups. Far from being an isolated activity, she finds reading for club members to be an active and social pursuit, a crucial way for women to reflect creatively on the meaning of their lives and their place in the social order.

Résumé
Why do women join book clubs? What do the women discuss when they meet? to answer questions like these, Long spent years observing and participating in women's book clubs in the Houston area. She discovered that members find reading a crucial way for them to reflect on their lives.