Dear Great Book Guru, We just came back from an amazing vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, and now I am ready for a new book to suggest to the family for discussion.  Something that would appeal to the whole group would be ideal.  Any ideas? In Search of a Family Favorite

Dear In Search of a Family Favorite, I have just the book for you: THE FUGITIVITIES by Jesse McCarthy.  This novel travels around the world: Paris, Brooklyn, Brazil, and Montevideo.  We first meet Jonah Winters in Brooklyn as he is about to begin his teaching career in a “Teach America” sort of program.  He is eager as a young Black American to enrich the lives of his students and give back to his community, but he soon finds things are much more complicated than he anticipated.  Having spent much of his childhood in Paris, he is unnerved by the racism he finds in his native land. When he receives a small inheritance from an uncle, he sees a way out of his present despair. This money, combined with a chance encounter with a retired NBA player, change the course of Jonah’s life.  The older man had resolved many of the issues Jonah was confronting and his advice to travel the world to search out people and places challenges him in ways he never expected.  While some of the outcomes seem quixotic, the overall message rings true as our hero finds answers to life’s existential questions.  Recommended!