Cal Poly is proud to announce PREFACE: Cal Poly Shared Reading Program. 

PREFACE is a new program that creates a wonderful opportunity for the entire campus community of students, faculty, and staff -- across all disciplines-- to share a common intellectual experience by reading the same book during the summer.  In this inaugural year, the Cal Poly Honors Program students will read “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien.  The entire campus community is invited to pick up the book and read along.

All those interested in participating, will read the book selection over the summer and then get together in small groups on October 9, 2002 from 7-8:30pm to discuss it.  Then, on October 18, author Tim O’Brien will be on campus to give a talk on the book and meet with PREFACE participants.

 

Download the five supplementary documents to complete your PREFACE packet. There you will find materials that should help you to understand and appreciate some of the issues raised in the book.

The Things They Carried is a profound collection of short stories about Alpha Company, a U.S. army unit in the Vietnam War.  The soliders carried letters, photographs, Bibles, dope, M&M’s, dog tags, food rations, and weapons for killing and staying alive.  O’Brien wrote, “On occasions the war was like a Ping-Pong ball.  You could put fancy spin on it, you could make it dance.”  The book is not only an enlightening honest portrayal of the Vietnam War, but also a story about the human understanding of those who survived it.