Philadelphia Classics Book Club

Join us to read and discuss classic literature: books that have captivated readers, changed lives, influenced society, and embodied language as art. They also must be time-tested. By our definition that means at least 40 years old. Think of it as Gilgamesh through Midnight's Children. Among the many authors whose works we have read: Cervantes, James, Tolstoy, Ellison, Morrison, Flaubert, Austen, Vonnegut, Proust, Waugh, Dickens, Wilde, Bronte, Voltaire, Fielding, Nabokov, Eliot, Hemingway, Zola, Dostoyevsky, Baldwin, Calvino, Twain, Hardy, Mann, Wilde, Shakespeare, and Homer.

We meet every three weeks in the homes of our members. Alternate meetings operate on different tracks: the Western canon and under-represented authors (writers of color; LGBTQ+ writers; writers from emerging nations). A virtual meeting focused on a different title is hosted once a month by our Albany outpost.

At the beginning of each meeting, members take turns sharing their general impressions: what about the selection they loved or loathed, found intriguing or unfathomable. For this first round, people speak uninterrupted. After that, it's a free-for-all.

At the end, we choose a book for the next meeting. People are invited to throw out suggestions and we discuss until we reach something resembling consensus. It can get messy. But the process keeps long-standing members invested. And we love it when new people suggest titles we had never considered.

We are a diverse group, always looking for new perspectives.

If you check out Past Events, you’ll see all 200-plus books we’ve discussed since our founding in 2011.