The Atoka County Library will continue with the Let’s Talk About It series featuring “The Gilded Age” with “The Red Badge of Courage” by Stephane Crane on Thursday, October 5th at 6:00 PM. Dr. Bill Hagen will serve as the evening’s scholar.
Henry Fleming dreams of the thrill of battle and performing heroic deeds in the American Civil War. But his illusions are shattered when he comes face to face with the bloodshed and horrors of war. Now he’s a raw recruit, Henry experiences both fear and self-doubt. Will war make Henry a coward or a hero? A vivid fictionalized account of the experiences of an ordinary innocent young soldier on the battlefields of the American Civil War, introduced by American writer, illustrator and historian, Wendell Minor.
This book discussion will be led by Dr. Bill Hagen, retired from Oklahoma Baptist University in 2012, where he taught courses in Western Civilization, fiction, film, and drama for 38 years. His degrees are from Davidson College (NC), the University of North Carolina, and the University of Iowa. He has published articles on Joseph Conrad, detective fiction, silent Westerns, film adaptations, and regularly reviews for World Literature Today. Articles include “First Ladies of Noir,” in the Oklahoma Humanities Magazine (2016), and two essays on Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, published in the Pioneer Library System Magazine. He writes a monthly column for The Shawnee News-Star. Dr. Hagen has been involved in the Let’s Talk About It programs since the mid-1980s and has authored two themes: Oklahoma Private Investigations and The Oklahoma Experience: Re-Visions. He has served on Pioneer’s Board of Directors and presently serves as president of the Board of the Friends of the Shawnee Library and on the Friends of the Libraries in Oklahoma (FOLIO) board.
Funding for LTAI is provided in part by a grant from the Oklahoma Humanities (OH) and the Kirkpatrick Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of OH.
This program is free and open to the public. Copies of the books are available at the library. For more information, call the Atoka County Library at (580) 889-3555 or visit us at 279 East A Street in Atoka. The Atoka County Library is a branch of the Southern Oklahoma Library System (SOLS).