What we’re about
In this group, we'll explore the Stories that Matter in our lives: From the classics of literature, film, even the stories we tell ourselves about our own lives.
We will approach them several different ways.
Deep Reads: We will regularly select a longer text, and spend months working through it, savoring it.
Shorter Works/Films: Other times, we will select a short text or film to consume in one setting.
Stories of Our Lives: Otherwise, we will find ways to connect around the things that make life worth living.
The organizer, Sean Doyle, is the author of Mud and Dreams; Essays on falling deeper in life (https://amzn.to/2xDQSYQ) and taught positive psychology at NCSU for a decade. Whether I intend it or not, every meeting we will draw from the science of happiness, well-being and flourishing. For more info, see www.JohnSeanDoyle.com
Upcoming events (3)
See all- Deep Reads: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (Final session)Lynnwood Brewing Concern, Raleigh, NC
Over a period of 2 months, we’ll read we will be reading Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.
You can find a copy here: If you buy any of the versions after clicking on my link, I will get a few pennies to help support the cost of the meetup.
This month we will finish the book.
Ellison’s groundbreaking novel delves into race, identity, and invisibility in 20th-century America. Told through the eyes of an unnamed African-American narrator, the novel follows his journey from the segregated South to the streets of Harlem as he confronts prejudice, betrayal, and the elusive search for self-definition. Ellison’s lyrical prose and surreal style illuminate the psychological and social challenges of a man rendered “invisible” by the blindness of others.
A cornerstone of American literature, Invisible Man remains strikingly relevant today, speaking to ongoing struggles with systemic racism, political manipulation, and personal agency. First published in 1952, its insights into power, perception, and human dignity continue to provoke thought and conversation. This is more than a novel—it’s a vital invitation to see and to be seen.(Thanks ChatGPT for help with this summary! haha)
[On a personal note, I will be interested in thinking about Levinas' conception of our encounter with the other as we read and discuss the work. Check back for links on background on this topic]
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Note! Meetup recently doubled the cost of the meetup to about $352/year ($176 twice a year) Want to help support the group? A few of you generously offered. If you would like to contribute $5, $10, $20 or any amount, the easiest way is venmo: @JohnSeanDoyle or just reach out to me directly. Thanks for considering it! - Deep Reads: The Peregrine by J.A. BakerLynnwood Brewing Concern, Raleigh, NC
This month we will read The Peregrine by J.A. Baker
You can find a copy here: If you buy any of the versions after clicking on my link, I will get a few pennies to help support the cost of the meetup.
First published in 1967, J.A. Baker’s The Peregrine has become a cult classic of nature writing, renowned for its haunting, lyrical descriptions of a man’s obsessive quest to witness and inhabit the life of the peregrine falcon. Set in the flat landscapes of eastern England, the book is less a field guide than a poetic immersion in the fierce, cold, and ecstatic world of the bird. Baker’s prose dissolves the line between human and animal: “The hardest thing of all to see is what is really there.”
Filmmaker Werner Herzog calls it “the most important book about nature I have ever read,” and includes it on the reading list for his legendary Rogue Film School. Herzog explains that The Peregrine exemplifies “ecstatic truth,” the kind of visionary intensity that transcends fact to reach something more profound and elemental. He urges aspiring filmmakers to study Baker’s language because of its raw power to transform observation into a form of possession—into an experience so immersive it feels like flight itself.The Peregrine is not only about birds, but also about perception, obsession, and the frailty of human presence in the natural world. As Baker writes, “The hunter must become the thing he hunts.”
Join us to discuss this extraordinary work—a book that has inspired not just naturalists but artists, filmmakers, and dreamers around the world.(Thanks ChatGPT for help with this summary! haha)
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Note! Meetup recently doubled the cost of the meetup to about $352/year ($176 twice a year) Want to help support the group? A few of you generously offered. If you would like to contribute $5, $10, $20 or any amount, the easiest way is venmo: @JohnSeanDoyle or just reach out to me directly. Thanks for considering it! - Deep Reads: The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo TolstoyLynnwood Brewing Concern, Raleigh, NC
This month we will read Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich, a short but searing masterpiece that asks the question: What does it mean to live a good life?
You can find a copy here: If you buy any of the versions after clicking on my link, I will get a few pennies to help support the cost of the meetup.
** Note, because of the Thangiving holiday, we will meet one week earlier than usual!
Tolstoy's novella tells the story of Ivan Ilyich, a successful judge in 19th-century Russia who has carefully built a life of comfort, social status, and respectability. When he falls gravely ill, Ivan is forced to confront not only the reality of death but also the emptiness of the values he has lived by. In his final days, he comes to see the truth that comfort, ambition, and appearances cannot substitute for love, authenticity, and compassion.
Though written in 1886, The Death of Ivan Ilyich feels startlingly modern. It speaks directly to our own age of career pressure, materialism, and distraction, where it is easy to mistake busyness for meaning. The book challenges us to consider how we spend our time, how we treat others, and how we prepare—consciously or unconsciously—for the end of life.
At just over 100 pages, Tolstoy’s novella is concise but profound, offering not only a moving portrait of mortality but also an invitation to live more fully.
On a personal note, as a "death doula" and having taught positive psychology and the pathways to a meaningful life for over a decade at NC State, I m particularly interested in what Ivan Ilyich has to teach us about living, dying, and finding what really matters?
(Thanks ChatGPT for help with this summary! haha)******
Note! Meetup recently doubled the cost of the meetup to about $352/year ($176 twice a year) Want to help support the group? A few of you generously offered. If you would like to contribute $5, $10, $20 or any amount, the easiest way is venmo: @JohnSeanDoyle or just reach out to me directly. Thanks for considering it!
