November Book Club Material + Gender

In conjunction with New African Masquerades: Artistic Innovations and Collaborations, the MFA is proud to introduce Book + Belonging, a four-part book club that encourages participants to ponder the widely held ideas of the “anonymous African artist” and assumptions that masquerade is an unchanging, static art form solely rooted in the distant past. This month’s book club pick is Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm by Laura Warrell. Circus Palmer, a Boston-based trumpet player and old-school ladies’ man, lives for his music and refuses to be tied down. Before a gig in Miami, he learns that the free-spirited drummer Maggie, is pregnant by him. Instead of facing the necessary conversation, Circus flees, setting off a chain of interlocking revelations from the various women in his life. Each session will feature a specially paired wine, unlimited popcorn, a carefully facilitated book club discussion, and a gallery talk to bridge the artworks in the exhibition to the relevant and resonant conversations shaping our society today. Held in partnership with Book + Bottle. Books can be purchased at the MFA Shop and Book + Bottle. Thu, Dec 3, 6 PM – 8 PM Marly Room $25 for Members $35 for Not-Yet-Members Ticket includes program and one glass of wine. Additional wine available for purchase. TICKETS Not yet a member? Become a member today and enjoy all the benefits membership at the MFA offers! Enjoy free admission, special access, discounts at the MFA Shop and Café Clementine, and more. BECOME A MEMBER More about Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm by Laura Warrell Paperback – Published in 2023 – 368 pgs GMA BUZZ PICK • How do we find belonging when love is unrequited? A “gorgeously written debut” (Celeste Ng, best-selling author of Little Fires Everywhere) filled with jazz and soul, about the perennial temptations of dangerous love, told by the women who love Circus Palmer—trumpet player and old-school ladies’ man—as they ultimately discover the power of their own voices. “Elegant, unexpected and…unforgettable.” —New York Times Book Review “A modern masterpiece.” —Jason Reynolds, best-selling author of Look Both Ways It’s 2013, and Circus Palmer, a forty-year-old Boston-based trumpet player and old-school ladies’ man, lives for his music and refuses to be tied down. Before a gig in Miami, he learns that the woman who is secretly closest to his heart, the free-spirited drummer Maggie, is pregnant by him. Instead of facing the necessary conversation, Circus flees, setting off a chain of interlocking revelations from the various women in his life. Most notable among them is his teenage daughter, Koko, who idolizes him and is awakening to her own sexuality even as her mentally fragile mother struggles to overcome her long-failed marriage and rejection by Circus. Delivering a lush orchestration of diverse female voices, Warrell spins a provocative, soulful, and gripping story of passion and risk, fathers and daughters, wives and single women, and, finally, hope and reconciliation. About Book + Bottle Book + Bottle is a bottle shop, an independent bookstore, a coffee café, and a wine bar all rolled into one exquisite little package. They have the most passionate, friendly, and helpful team in town to help you choose a book or a bottle or to take care of you and your friends on your night off. They’re an independent, woman-owned, values-driven, sustainably run, local-first business that believes little kindnesses can make our community—and the world—a better place. bookandbottlestpete.com Sponsored in part by the State of Florida through the Division of Arts and Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts.