*Virtual* EX LIBRIS: George Packer

The Providence Athenaeum enriches the mind, inspires the spirit, and elevates public discourse.As an independent, member-supported library and cultural center located on Providence’s historic Benefit Street, the library has welcomed illustrious writers, spirited thinkers, and intellectual community members through its doorsover its nearly 200 years of existenceto engage in reading, conversation, and debate.

Providence Athenæum

Acclaimed National Book Award-winning author George Packer on Last Best Hope.

<h4>The EX LIBRIS program series from the Providence Athenæum features an array of humanities scholars, authors, historians, and thought leaders, illuminating fascinating topics and inspiring the intellectually curious. EX LIBRIS programs take place at the Athenæum in front of a live studio audience and are simulcast via Zoom, as well as recorded. This is the VIRTUAL event. Members can purchase $5 in-person tickets <a href="https://provath_georgepacker101824.eventbrite.com" title="https://provath_georgepacker101824.eventbrite.com" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">here</a>.</h4> Democracy seems to be teetering on the edge, and renowned author George Packer shines a spotlight on the fractures that led to today's prevalent feeling of American despair. Last Best Hope is a sharply observed exploration of the narratives that have shaped America: the individualistic Free America, the elitist Smart America, the nationalistic Real America, and Just America, fraught with inter-group oppression.With the turbulence of 2020 as the backdrop, from the devastating pandemic to economic crises and contentious elections, the book presents an insightful dissection of America's social ethos. Each narrative is explored under his discerning lens, making a case for how they have collectively failed to sustain the country's democracy.To point a more hopeful way forward, Packer looks for a common American identity and finds it in the passion for equality - the “hidden code” - that Americans of diverse persuasions have held for centuries. Today, we are challenged again to fight for equality and renew what Alexis de Tocqueville called the art of self-government. In its strong voice and trenchant analysis, Last Best Hope is an essential contribution to the literature of national renewal. <h4>If you have registered for this program and have not received the Zoom link via email within 24 hours of the event, please contact programs@provath.org.</h4>-George Packer is an award-winning author and staff writer at The Atlantic. His previous books include The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America (winner of the National Book Award), The Assassins’ Gate: America in Iraq, and Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century (winner of the Hitchens Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for biography). He is also the author of two novels and a play, and the editor of a two-volume edition of the essays of George Orwell.

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Virtual EX LIBRIS: George Packer

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*Virtual* EX LIBRIS: George Packer

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Virtual EX LIBRIS: George Packer