I'm Burning for You

All right, we'll admit it: We're totally biased when it comes to the Big Read. The pan-educational program endorses one of life's greatest pleasures — reading — by encouraging us all to read Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and then enter into a month-long series of conversations, debates and appreciations of Bradbury's dystopian vision. What reader hasn't imagined themselves a modern-day Granger, memorizing a favorite book line-for-line, just in case? Who hasn't noticed the svengali-like power of television in our society and shuddered at the thought of a cathode-ray-sedated nation of unimaginative, happy illiterates? And who among us hasn't thought about setting the boss on fire in an act of defiance? OK, maybe we're alone that in last thought. But still, this month of Big Read activities has been righteous. And we've been looking forward to tonight's event since mid-January: St. Louis Shakespeare performs a staged reading of Fahrenheit 451 at 8 p.m. in the Everyday Circus Ring at the City Museum (701 North 15th Street; 314-231-2489 or bigread.wustl.edu). That's right! The anti-censorship, pro-creative-thinking book gets a public workout in the pro-creative-thinking, anti-censorship cathedral of St. Louis. It'll be like stepping into the book — sorta like a human version of Wishbone. Admission to the City Museum is $8 to $12, but attending the performance is free.
Sat., Feb. 24