Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
OSHER BOOK CLUB
Speaker
Eileen Coblens
Geraldine Brooks: Horse
At the winter meeting of the Osher Book Club we
will again explore race relations in the U.S., this time
through the history of the champion nineteenth
century racehorse Lexington. The novel, which goes
back and forth between the period when Lexington
was champion and the twentieth century, confronts
relations between black and white people over the
course of two centuries. Geraldine Brooks, in her
prize-winning 2024 novel Horse, focuses on two
black men. Theo, a Ph.D. candidate in art history at
Georgetown University, pulls a painting of Lexington
out of a trash can in 2019; we then find ourselves in
1850 with Jarret, the horse’s skilled groom. Though
the main characters are fictitious, the themes
explored in the novel are all too real.
At the winter meeting of the Osher Book Club we
will again explore race relations in the U.S., this time
through the history of the champion nineteenth
century racehorse Lexington. The novel, which goes
back and forth between the period when Lexington
was champion and the twentieth century, confronts
relations between black and white people over the
course of two centuries. Geraldine Brooks, in her
prize-winning 2024 novel Horse, focuses on two
black men. Theo, a Ph.D. candidate in art history at
Georgetown University, pulls a painting of Lexington
out of a trash can in 2019; we then find ourselves in
1850 with Jarret, the horse’s skilled groom. Though
the main characters are fictitious, the themes
explored in the novel are all too real.
Speaker Bio
Facilitator: Eileen Coblens has been living full-
time in San Diego for over nine years after moving
from New York. A former middle school English
teacher who after retirement spent several years
as an adjunct professor at Stony Brook and
Hofstra universities, Eileen holds a B.A. and M.A.
from Adelphi University and a Ph.D. in English and
American literature from Stony Brook University.
time in San Diego for over nine years after moving
from New York. A former middle school English
teacher who after retirement spent several years
as an adjunct professor at Stony Brook and
Hofstra universities, Eileen holds a B.A. and M.A.
from Adelphi University and a Ph.D. in English and
American literature from Stony Brook University.
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