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Events

Michael Jackson’s Thriller

The Great Hall Auditorium/Virtual 400 Cedar Ave, West Long Branch, NJ, United States

It’s just like book club but with albums! With new advances in technology, the way we consume music through our devices, apps and on demand streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and iTunes is making the idea of the “album” as an art form extinct. Get together with other music enthusiasts on Tuesday nights to discuss some of the greatest records of all-time! Listen to the album beforehand and then come prepared to discuss. This event will feature Michael Jackson’s Thriller .

Free and open to the public, but RSVP is required.

Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth

Virtual

Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack. This month’s novel is The Rise and Fall of an American Myth by Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson, and Jason Stanford. Three noted Texan writers combine forces to tell the real story of the Alamo, dispelling the myths, exploring why they had their day for so long, and explaining why the ugly fight about its meaning is now coming to a head.

Free and open to the public, but RSVP is required.

The Zombies’ Odessey and Oracle

The Great Hall Auditorium/Virtual 400 Cedar Ave, West Long Branch, NJ, United States

It’s just like book club but with albums! With new advances in technology, the way we consume music through our devices, apps and on demand streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and iTunes is making the idea of the “album” as an art form extinct. Get together with other music enthusiasts on Tuesday nights to discuss some of the greatest records of all-time! Listen to the album beforehand and then come prepared to discuss. This event will feature The Zombies’ Odessey and Oracle.

Free and open to the public, but RSVP is required.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Virtual

Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack. This month’s novel is The Secret History by Donna Tartt. A contemporary literary classic and “an accomplished psychological thriller … absolutely chilling” (Village Voice), from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Goldfinch.

Free and open to the public, but RSVP is required.

Billy Joel’s The Stranger

The Great Hall Auditorium/Virtual 400 Cedar Ave, West Long Branch, NJ, United States

It’s just like book club but with albums! With new advances in technology, the way we consume music through our devices, apps and on demand streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and iTunes is making the idea of the “album” as an art form extinct. Get together with other music enthusiasts on Tuesday nights to discuss some of the greatest records of all-time! Listen to the album beforehand and then come prepared to discuss. This event will feature Billy Joel’s The Stranger.

Free and open to the public but registration is required.

J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye

Virtual

Join us for Tuesday Night Book Club! Hosted by Monmouth University’s Ken Womack. This month’s novel is J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. One of the greatest American novels of all time, The Catcher in the Rye is a classic coming-of-age story: an elegy to teenage alienation, capturing the deeply human need for connection and the bewildering sense of loss as we leave childhood behind.

Free and open to the public but registration is required.
Recurring

British Invasion Part 1: Beginnings and Influences

Virtual

This two-session virtual course taught by Kit O’Toole examines the influences of these genres on what would become the British Invasion, which would ultimately transform music worldwide. The class will survey the artists that would predate the Beatles: Billy Fury, Cliff Richard, the Shadows, Tommy Steele, The Vipers Skiffle Group, and much more. It will reveal just how different the UK and US charts looked prior to the British Invasion, and how these artists and numerous genres contributed to the transformation from 1950s to 1960s sounds.

$50 (for two sessions)
Recurring

British Invasion Part 1: Beginnings and Influences

Virtual

This two-session virtual course taught by Kit O’Toole examines the influences of these genres on what would become the British Invasion, which would ultimately transform music worldwide. The class will survey the artists that would predate the Beatles: Billy Fury, Cliff Richard, the Shadows, Tommy Steele, The Vipers Skiffle Group, and much more. It will reveal just how different the UK and US charts looked prior to the British Invasion, and how these artists and numerous genres contributed to the transformation from 1950s to 1960s sounds.

$50 (for two sessions)

Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

The Great Hall Auditorium/Virtual 400 Cedar Ave, West Long Branch, NJ, United States

It’s just like book club but with albums! With new advances in technology, the way we consume music through our devices, apps and on demand streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and iTunes is making the idea of the “album” as an art form extinct. Get together with other music enthusiasts on Tuesday nights to discuss some of the greatest records of all-time! Listen to the album beforehand and then come prepared to discuss. This event will feature Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

Free and open to the public but registration is required

Benjamin Nugent

Great Hall 104 (Julian Abele Room)

Benjamin Nugent is the author of Fraternity: Stories (FSG, 2020). He was awarded The Paris Review’s 2019 Terry Southern Prize for his fiction, which has been published in The Best American Short Stories and other anthologies. He’s written for Harper’s, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine, and other publications. He grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts, and is currently Director of the Mountainview Low-Residency MFA at Southern New Hampshire University.

Free and open to the public