HomePV Reads 2023

Penn's Village Reads with Polly MacIntyre

January and March 2023

Getting it Right by Maeve Binchy

Goodbye and Good Luck by Grace Paley

This Evening Reads will look at love from different perspectives. “Getting it Right” by Maeve Binchy tells a simple love story, which of course, turns out not to be that simple. Most of Binchy's stories are set in Ireland, characterized by a sympathetic and often humorous portrayal of small-town life in Ireland, and containing surprise endings. Her novels, which were translated into 37 languages, sold more than 40 million copies worldwide and made her one of Ireland's best-loved and most recognizable writers.

“Goodbye and Good Luck” is a short story written by Grace Paley that was published in her collection The Little Disturbances of Man in 1959. One of the more known stories from her collection, this story is a heartwarming tale of a woman in pursuit of love and her struggles with tradition in her journey to attaining it. Grace Paley was an American short story author, poet, teacher, and political activist. Paley wrote three critically acclaimed collections of short stories, which were compiled in the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist The Collected Stories in 1994.

“How to Win a Mink” by Anita Loos

“The Coarse Actor Prepares,” by Michael Green and

“Fur,” by Saki

This Evening Reads featured three humorous stories to make you forget about any holiday drama.

We started with “How to Win a Mink,” by Anita Loos, who is famous for commenting on women’s liberation: “They keep getting up on soapboxes and proclaiming that women are brighter than men. That’s true, but it should be kept very quiet or it ruins the whole racket.” A veteran of Hollywood screenwriting, Loos is best known today for her wickedly funny novel Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Polly then moved on to a sequel from a previous reading called A Coarse Actor Prepares by Michael Green. Green updates his description of a coarse actor to include: “one who can remember their lines but not the order in which they come; one whose eyebrows are attached to their feet (so every facial expression involves the whole body as well; one who limps on both legs simultaneously; and one who knows everybody else’s lines better than their own.”

Finally, Fur is a humorous short story by the British author Hector Hugh Munro, who wrote under the pseudonym of Saki. In the story, a young woman named Suzanne wants to encourage a wealthy relative to buy her an expensive present for her birthday. Her friend Eleanor comes up with a clever plan to help her steer him towards a silver-fox stole but when Suzanne refuses Eleanor's request for a favor in return, the plan takes an unexpected turn.

Polly MacIntyre started acting in Houston, Texas during the1980s, eventually becoming a company member at Main Street Theater. She created “Belles of Dublin,” an evening of Irish theatre and music. Polly’s film work includes “Bob and the Trees,” which won the Grand Prize at the Karlovy Vary Festival and “Down With the King,” which premiered recently at Cannes and won the Grand Prix at the Deauville Film Festival.