Penn Yan Public Library invites you to join critical explorations of critical books, a few chapters at a time. This year’s pick is CASTE: THE ORIGINS OF OUR DISCONTENTS by Isabel Wilkerson, one of the seminal works in global race and class commentary from the past few years.

“‘As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power—which groups have it and which do not.’

“Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Isabel Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people—including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball’s Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others—she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity.”

We will read this book in small parts starting April 21, meeting on first and third Mondays of each month to discuss what we’ve learned and what the text has raised in us.  For this session, please read parts 1 & 2.

Copies of the book are currently available by request through the Southern Tier Library System, including in standard and large print editions; limited numbers are also available in audiobook, ebook, and e-audiobook formats. Talk to library staff about reserving a copy that works for you.  Copies will also be available at Long’s Cards & Books.

To register for this virtual series, please visit https://tinyurl.com/3bm24su7.