On Tuesday, April 4 a comittee met in Minne Lounge to narrow down the possibilities for the Winona State University 2008-2009 common book. Four finalists were selected from thirteen book nominations, and on April 22 the final selection will be made.
The common book is selected every year to be taught in many of Winona State’s lower level English courses, especially English 111—College Reading and Writing. A major part of the common book selection is ensuring that the author of the book can come to Winona State for a period of time each semester.
“The common book is chosen based on a number of criteria, including the expense of getting the author to visit campus, their willingness to participate in the program, and the way each book works into our curriculum,” said Paul Johnson, Professor of English at Winona State. “The authors also have to be willing to visit classrooms, visit students, and be part of panels.”
The four nominations for next year’s common book are: What Is the What by David Eggers, The Blue Death: Disease, Disaster, and the Water We Drink by Robert D. Morris, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.
What Is the What by David Eggers is the novelized autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, who grew up in Southern Sudan and survived the Sudanese civil war. Deng saw many atrocities during the war and eventually settled in the United States.
In the preface to the book Deng states: “My desire to have this book written was born out of my faith and beliefs in humanity; I wanted to reach out to others to help them understand Sudan’s place in our global community.”
The Blue Death: Disease, Disaster, and the Water We Drink by Robert D. Morris is a non-fiction book that recounts some of history’s epic drinking water disasters and points out many of the problems with our drinking water systems today.
“The book provides science in the form of a fast-moving narrative by giving a fascinating history of water-borne diseases and mankind’s quest for drinking water,” said Joan Francioni, Professor of Computer Science at Winona State.
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin is a non-fiction book that tells the story of Mortenson’s journey. He went from failing to climb Pakistan’s tallest mountain to successfully building schools in some of Afghanistan and Pakistan’s most remote regions.
“The text offers engaging perspectives on the life and culture of those living in the Middle East and equally challenging opinions on Americans from a Middle Eastern viewpoint,” said Lisa Ketelsen, a member of the English Faculty.
The Glass Castle is the true story of Jeannette Walls, who grew up in a quirky and neglectful family. Walls and her siblings had to fend for themselves when their father got drunk and disappeared for days and their mother refused to take on the responsibility of raising a family.
“Chronicling her life growing up in poor, largely dysfunctional family, The Glass Castle offers thematic inroads to issues of class, family structure, morals, gender, mental illness, and social institutions and their responsibility,” said Ethan Krase, Professor of English.
These books will be available at the Winona State Library under the common book reserve until the selection meeting on April 22. A blog where students and faculty can comment on any of these books can be found at wsucommonbook.worldpress.com.
“All of these books look like they would be excellent for this project,” said Johnson. “They are thought provoking and interdisciplinary. Another great thing is that even the ones that aren’t selected have a tendency to make their way into the curriculum in some classes.”

Contact Greg at GJEichte1670@winona.edu