Great Books are inspiration for great meals
| Published: 09/11/2003 |
|
Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) has announced its book selections for this year’s popular Great Books Dinner and Discussion Series.
In its eighth year, the monthly evenings have become a local literary experience, comprising a reception, book discussion lead by an MSOE faculty member, followed by a chef-prepared meal that reflects the book’s theme.
Chef John Hornburg, who helped run the Oconomowoc Inn before coming to Food Services Inc. at MSOE this year, said he found the books the perfect inspiration to get his creativity flowing to craft the menus. For the September selection, The DaVinci Code, Hornburg came up with a French dinner for the murder-mystery set in Paris’s Louvre museum. The meal includes escargot, “Supreme de volaille Francoise,” (a chicken breast wrapped with asparagus spears and a double-baked potato) and “Death by Chocolate” dessert.
Great Books evenings are held 6-9 p.m. Wednesdays in MSOE’s beautiful and historic Alumni Partnership Center, former headquarters of Blatz Brewery built in 1890. The cost is $50 per program and includes handout materials and dinner (books are not included).
Reservation and fees must be received one week prior to the discussion. For information, contact MSOE’s Cathy Varebrook at (414) 277-4523 or varebroo@msoe.edu. A registration form can be downloaded from the Great Books Web site.
The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
6-9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2003
Discussion leader: Judy Steininger, MSOE professor emeritus
Beginning
with a death in Paris’ famed Louvre museum, a mild-mannered professor
finds himself entangled in a deadly conspiracy that stretches back
centuries.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
6-9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2003
Discussion leader: Dr. Carma Stahnke, MSOE assistant professor
The eerie tale of a once-wealthy Englishman who sells his soul for eternal beauty; but his portrait marks his decline.
The Lovely Bones by Alice Seebold
6-9 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2003
Discussion leader: Sue Locke, MSOE professor emeritus
The
victim of a rape and murder narrates this story from heaven, as she
tries to help her loved ones on Earth cope with the grief of her loss.
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
6-9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2004
Discussion leader: Judy Steininger, MSOE professor emeritus
Franzen
won the National Book Award (2001) for this novel about the decidedly
unusual but highly recognizable five members of the Lambert family.
Atonement by Ian McEwan
6-9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2004
Discussion leader: Sue Locke, MSOE professor emeritus
A
British teen witnesses an event she doesn't fully understand and, being
an imaginative child and budding novelist, fabricates what she doesn't
know for sure. When she declares her fiction to be fact, her lie ruins
lives.
Possession by A.S. Byatt
6-9 p.m. Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Discussion leader: Dr. Carma Stahnke, MSOE assistant professor
Winner
of England's Booker Prize, this rich and intriguing novel parallels the
stories of two young scholars with their research subjects, two
Victorian poets. As the scholars uncover the secret relationship
between the two poets, their relationship also evolves.
Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor
6-9 p.m. Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Discussion leader: Dr. David Kent, MSOE associate professor
When
Flannery O'Connor died in 1964 at the age of 39, she was considered one
of America's best writers. This posthumously published collection of
nine of her finest short stories features imperfect, beautifully drawn
characters who struggle for meaning in a tragicomic world.
Proof: A Play by David Auburn
6-9 p.m. Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Discussion leader: Dr. Katie Wikoff, MSOE associate professor
The
death a genius mathematician, leads his daughters and student to
explore how elusive "proof" can be when the issues are the
unpredictable, emotional complications of human nature itself.
6-9 p.m. Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Discussion leader: Dr. Katie Wikoff, MSOE associate professor
Tolkien's epic fantasy masterpiece in which a sinister ring, forged eons ago, has awoken the stirrings of evil in far-off Mordor. Frodo Baggins, a simple country Hobbit, must carry the ring he inherited to the only place it can be destroyed -- the fiery cracks of Mount Doom.