A More Perfect Union
A More Perfect Union is a collection of books, organized thematically, to be used by libraries, book clubs, campus, religious, or school groups, UW-Extension programs, or any “public” group.
There are four sets of books, each designed to be used with our discussion guides to read about, think about, and talk about some ideas found in the pre-able to the U.S. Constitution. The books provide various angles, viewpoints, and interpretations on four provocative themes:
The first series, Wisconsin Reads, includes four books that examine the political process, political players, and what it means to live in and participate in a democracy.
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The Common Defense includes four books that consider how a nation chooses to, or not to, engage in military action.
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To Establish Justice includes four books and one film that look at some meanings of justice, as well as struggles for justice and against injustice.
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Domestic Tranquility includes four books that explore this broad and ambiguous theme by considering if and how we live peacefully on America’s vast landscape and how well we share that landscape with others.
Since 2004, the WHC has also proudly hosted authors of the A More Perfect Union books at the Wisconsin Book Festival, including Marge Piercy, Tim O’Brien, Anthony Grooms, Phillip Gourevitch, Jonathan Harr, James Yee, Christian Appy, T.C. Boyle, and Luis Alberto Urrea.
Hundreds of Wisconsin residents have participated in this free book discussion series. Join the conversation today!
To learn about a specific series, select it from the above menu.
To learn how to use these books with a discussion group of your own, click on “Borrow the Books” in the top menu.
The practice of reading and discussing literature as a means of reflecting on questions central to life in your community and world is personally transformative and collectively empowering.
This simple practice can help people talk more comfortably about values, think more deeply about choices, and respond more imaginatively to the needs of their communities.
If you have a topic you’d like to discuss, we have some tips for putting a book series together: click here
Additionally, the WHC offers a few other book discussion series on other topics, for example focusing on Latino literature or storytelling. Click here for more information.
To learn about WHC book discussion programs on other topics, click here.