Book Club with a Beverage!
Sunday, May 18, 2025
1:00 pm

MAC Gilkey Community Room
Cost: $20 members, $24 non-members 

About the Program: After reading the month's selected book, come to the MAC to join in the discussion facilitated by local writer and lecturer, Jenny Davis. Davis has a MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Iowa and is the managing editor for the literary magazine Guernica. A complimentary glass of wine (21+) or bottle of water is included. 

May Book: You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue

One morning in 1519, conquistador Hernan Cortés enters the city of Tenochtitlan - today's Mexico City. Later that day, he will meet the emperor Moctezuma in a collision of two worlds, two empires, two languages, two possible futures. 

Cortéz is accompanied by his captains, his troops, his prized horses, and his two translators: Friar Aguilar, a taciturn friar, and Malinalli, an enslaved, strategic Nahua princess. After nearly bungling their entrance to the city, the Spaniards are greeted at a ceremonial welcome meal by the steely Aztec princess Atotoxtli. As they await their meeting with the emperor - who is at a political and spiritual crossroads, and relies on hallucinogens to get by - Cortés and his entourage are ensconced in the labyrinthine palace, begins to question the ease with which they were welcomed into the city, and wonders a the chances of getting out alive, much less conquering the empire. And what if... they don't?   

If you have any questions about this program, please contact AdultEducation@northwestmuseum.org.