Brad's Big Fat Book Club for Winter/Spring 2024

Brad’s Big Fat Book Club

Don’t be intimidated by the big ones. We’re here to help with Brad’s Big Fat Book Club, meeting virtually the first Sunday of every month.

One of the greatest, longest, and most influential novels of all time in an award winning new translation by Christine Donougher. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo’s epic tale of injustice, heroism and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to protect his adopted child, and put his criminal past behind him. He is relentlessly pursued by his nemesis, Javert, the rigid embodiment of the law. A story told in generations, across France, and on a vast stage people with a huge cast of vivid and convincing characters, few human documents have reached a wider audience since the book’s publication in 1862.

All are welcome to join and learn more about the book club from Brad. This book club is free to join and you simply need to click on the provided link to register. Thank you for supporting your local independent bookstore!

The first new Penguin Classics translation in forty years of Victor Hugo's masterpiece, the subject of The Novel of the Century by David Bellos--published in a stunning Deluxe edition. Winner of the French-American Foundation & Florence Gould Foundation's 29th Annual Translation Prize in Fiction.

The subject of the world's longest-running musical and the award-winning film, Les Misérables is a genuine literary treasure. Victor Hugo's tale of injustice, heroism, and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to put his criminal past behind him, and has been a perennial favorite since it first appeared over 150 years ago. This exciting new translation with Jillian Tamaki's brilliant cover art will be a gift both to readers who have already fallen for its timeless story and to new readers discovering it for the first time.

Victor Hugo (02/26/1802 — 05/22/1885) was a great Romantic poet, playwright, and novelist. He was also a champion of the cause of humanity and regularly used his pen as a weapon against inequality, superstition, and political oppression. His greatest novel was written in exile from France after he was forced to flee from arrest by the government of Napoleon III. Les Miserables was smuggled into his homeland, published secretly in installments, and contributed to the eventual liberation of France. When Hugo returned from exile on e he was elected a Senator of the Republic. His funeral in Paris was one of the largest single events in the history of the city, with at least twice the total population attending.

Brad Craft is a beloved bookseller at University Book Store with over 30 years of experience. His passion for literature can be seen on his usedbuyer2.0 blog (http://usedbuyer.blogspot.com). Brad is also the gifted author and illustrator of 102 Clerihews, The Hat and Other Sentimental Essays, and his new book, Plates: A Christmas Concatenation are all available at University Book Store.