What is the nea big read?
ONE BOOK. MANY VOICES. A SHARED EXPERIENCE.
The NEA Big Read brings communities together through the shared experience of reading and discussing one book.
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Documentary Screening + Live Virtual Conversation with Tim O'Brien and Aaron Matthews— THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8TH
Vietnam veteran and National Book Award–winning author Tim O’Brien is one of America’s most influential literary voices. His landmark work, The Things They Carried, blends fiction and lived experience to explore war, memory, truth and the lasting emotional burdens carried by soldiers and their families.
After stepping away from writing for nearly two decades to raise his two sons, O’Brien returns to writing—confronting his own experiences in Vietnam and reflecting on a nation still engaged in war.
The War and Peace of Tim O’Brien follows this deeply personal journey, revealing the connections among duty, art, fatherhood and the trauma of war. Along the way, the documentary asks enduring questions: What makes a war worth fighting? What responsibilities do citizens carry? How do we tell the truth about war—and what do individuals, families and communities carry forward?
WATCH THE TRAILER
Then join us on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8 for a FREE COMMUNITY SCREENING followed by a LIVE VIRTUAL CONVERSATION with Tim O’Brien and director Aaron Matthews.