ASU Book Group: 'A Good Map of All Things' and 'Not Go Away Is My Name' by Alberto Ríos

The ASU Book Group's September 2021 reading selections are "A Good Map of All Things” (novel) and “Not Go Away Is My Name” (poetry) by Alberto Álvaro Ríos. The book group is open to all in the ASU community and meets monthly from noon–1 p.m. with two different options for attendance: either in-person at the Piper Writers House or virtually on Zoom. In-person attendees are invited to join the author for lunch after at the University Club, no-host.

Haven't read the book? Come anyway! Authors are always present.

Synopses

In Rios’ new picaresque novel, "A Good Map of All Things,” momentous adventure and quiet connection brings 20 people to life in a small town in northern Mexico. The stories take place in the mid-20th century, in the high desert near the border—a stretch of land generally referred to as the Pimería Alta—an ancient passage through the desert that connected the territory of Tucson in the north and Guaymas and Hermosillo in the south.

Resistance and persistence collide in "Not Go Away Is My Name," a book about past and present, changing and unchanging, letting go and holding on. The borderline between Mexico and the U.S. looms large, and Ríos sheds light on and challenges our sensory experiences of everyday objects. In searching for and treasuring what ought to be remembered, Ríos creates an ode to family life, love and community, and realizes “All I can do is not go away. / Not go away is my name.”

The books are available on amazon.com and through local bookstores.

Alberto Álvaro Ríos is director of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at ASU, where he is University Professor of Letters as well as Regents Professor of English and holds the Katharine C. Turner Chair in English.

About the book group

The ASU Book Group meetings and selections for 2021-2022 are:

• Sep. 29: “A Good Map of All Things” and “Not Go Away Is My Name” by Alberto Álvaro Ríos
• Oct. 27: “Blackface,” by Ayanna Thompson
• Nov. 17: “Now in Color” by Jacqueline Balderrama
• Dec. 15: “Doodling for Writers” by Rebecca Fish Ewan
• Jan. 26: "The Art of the Bee" by Robert E. Page, Jr.
• Feb. 23: "Everyday Life in the Aztec World" co-authored by Michael Smith
• Mar. 30: “Perspectives of Five Kuwaiti Women in Leadership Roles” by Souad T. Ali
• Apr. 27: “Appleseed” by Matt Bell

The ASU Book Group is sponsored as a community outreach initiative by the Department of English and organized in partnership with the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing.