| Welcome to the fifth season of All
Fairfax Reads! Every adult who lives, works or goes to
school in Fairfax County is invited to participate in this “one
book, one community” project through September 2008. All
Fairfax Reads is one of more than 100 similar initiatives across
the U.S. that encourages residents to read and discuss the same
book.
This year, Gerald Connolly, chair of the Fairfax
County Board of Supervisors, and the Fairfax
County Public Library, encourage you to read The
Uncommon Reader, a novella by award-winning
English playwright Alan
Bennett.
In The Uncommon Reader, the Queen of
England stumbles upon a mobile library on the
grounds of Buckingham Palace and begins to explore
new horizons. Her new-found passion for reading
at first alarms the palace staff and finally
has consequences for  the
country as a whole. Bennett’s comic romp
can be read both as satire and a more serious
treatise on the subversive power of reading.
As you read The Uncommon Reader, we
hope you use these questions to
enliven your discussion of the power of the written
word with family, friends and neighbors.
Once a week, staff post an entry about The
Uncommon Reader to the Fairfax
County Public Library moderated discussion.
We invite you to read it and participate by
commenting.
Join us in September for free events celebrating
Bennett’s witty and thought-provoking novella.
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