Books & Brunch to discuss 'Lincoln in the Bardo' this Saturday

The National Press Club's Books and Brunch group will discuss the book "Lincoln in the Bardo," by George Saunders, at noon on Saturday, May 19, in the Fourth Estate Restaurant.

Saunders won the 2017 Man Booker Prize for this novel. He is only the second American to win the award.

The novel is a combination of film script and Lincoln-focused scrapbook, alternating between ghost dialogues and excerpts from Civil War historical accounts from the Civil War. It begins with the death of Abraham Lincoln's son, Willie, and his grief stricken father's visits to the borrowed crypt where Willie is interred at Georgetown's Oak Hill Cemetery. It depicts a ferocious and sometimes comic struggle over Willie's spirit while he is in the Bardo, the Tibetan Buddhist transition from death to rebirth, during which one's next life is up for grabs.

Books and Brunch is open to all Club members and their guests. Lunch may be ordered off the restaurant's menu. It is not mandatory to read the book.

If you plan to attend, contact Fay Iudicello at [email protected] or call her at 703-989-4503 by noon on May 17 to to ensure adequate seating and service for all attendees.