10:00 - 11:30
Discuss a longform magazine or newspaper article with a group of longreads fans in this new monthly club from the Magazines and Newspapers Center. It’s like a book club, but instead of books we discuss periodical articles of 5,000 — 10,000 words in length, which take about an hour to read.
To participate, read the month's selection ahead of time, then join the discussion at the appointed time and location.
The agenda of the meeting includes round-robin introductions, a forty-five minute discussion utilizing the shared inquiry method, and then a final twenty minutes to share any other thoughts the article brought up for you.
Typically, selections can be investigative journalism, creative writing, personal essay or another genre, as long as it was originally published in a periodical.
April 2026 Selection
"A Good Death" by William Vollmann. Exit Strategies: After the fashion of disaster planners who serve us best by preparing for the worst, I propose that no matter what reassurance we receive from the well-intentioned, we might as well expect our breaths to be punched out and our hearts to be smeared with the gall of misery. Harper's Magazine, November 2010, pp. 36-43, 46, 48, 50, 52.
Saturday, Apr 25, 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. at the North Beach Branch Library, Program Room
Access options:
- Read on ProQuest, a library database that provides access to Harper's Magazine (SFPL card required) (this is a text-only version)
- Read on the Harper's Magazine website (personal Harper's subscription required)
- Email mnc@sfpl.org to request a PDF scanned from the print version that includes the accompanying photographs