Happy Mary Shelley's birthday
We're reading "Frankenstein" this October in book club. Save $50 if you sign up by tomorrow.
Don’t you think this illustration of Mary Shelley is to die for?
It was created by FrizzLit book club regular Kathryn Rathke, a Seattle artist whose work you’ve seen in The Economist and The Stranger and on Wendy’s signs. (Yes, she drew Wendy’s face.)
There’s also a black-and-white version of this portrait of the author of Frankenstein, which makes the bloody line of sutures around her neck really pop.
Don’t you think we should put Mary’s face on t-shirts?
Especially since we’re getting ready to read Frankenstein this October in the FrizzLit book club?
The colorful version of this portrait, at the top of this post, has too many colors for a t-shirt, but the black-and-white (and red 🩸🩸🩸) is perfect for a t-shirt.
And wouldn’t it be cool if we set up these t-shirt sales so people could get their Mary Shelley’s shirts by the first day of the Zoom club, on October 2?
Well… GOOD NEWS!
It's on a shirt! We made it happen. If you order yours before September 12, you’ll get it by the time the club starts on October 2.
You certainly don’t have to get of these shirts if you’re going to be in the book club. And you don’t have to be in the book club to get one of these shirts. But I have already ordered a shirt, and can’t wait to sign into that Zoom room on October 2 wearing mine.
More about this Frankenstein club
It’s going to be amazing. The whole world is thinking about artificial intelligence right now. And monsters. And women creators. And the intersection of science and art.
Plus, do you have any idea who’s leading this club?
The best person possible to lead a Mary Shelley club would be the novelist Rebecca Brown. And guess what? She said yes!!
Rebecca’s own works of fiction have explored macabre and fantastical realms, from the hallucinatory nightmare of like The Dogs to the twisted fairy tales in Not Heaven, Somewhere Else. In one of Rebecca’s most brilliant books, The Terrible Girls, one of the stories is called “Dr. Frankenstein, I Presume?”
Plus, a decade ago, she did a one-woman show at Northwest Film Forum ABOUT MARY SHELLEY.
So… she’s had Mary Shelley on her mind for a long time. Lucky us.
She’s also has been a participant in the FrizzLit book clubs since the very first one, so she knows how we do this thing.
I’ve been begging her for years to lead a club, but she’s retired, having taught literature and creative writing in universities for 40 years. In the past, when I’ve floated the idea, she’s always said no. But when I said, “How about Frankenstein?” her ears pricked up… and she said yes.
We’ll read and dissect the novel at a pace of about 50 pages a week, so we don’t miss a thing. Along the way, Rebecca will tell us about Mary’s life, her parents, her interest in science, the fiction she created, and how her fiction changed the world.
After we read Frankenstein, we’re watching Frankenstein movies
Rebecca’s co-leader for this club is horror filmmaker Neil Ferron, the recent winner of the Cannes Lion young director award for his scary flick Fishmonger.
Neil is also a longtime FrizzLit book club regular, and a particular standout in the Moby-Dick club, the Dracula club, and the Hamlet club.
He’s also directed music videos. You like the macabre and the fantastic? Here’s a rural alien fantasy nightmare in the form of a Shabazz Palaces music video:
Neil and Rebecca will choose which two Frankenstein adaptations we watch at the last two meetings of this book club. The titles are a surprise for now, and will only be revealed during book club.
If you sign up for the club by tomorrow, you can save $50
Today and tomorrow are your last chance to get $50 off the price of this eight-week experience.
It doesn’t start till October, but sign up now and save.
The early-bird discount was created for FrizzLit regulars and also subscribers of this substack, but technically it’s available to anyone who signs up before the end of the day on August 31.
What else do I need for this club?
After you have signed up for the club, you will need to get your hands on a copy of the novel Frankenstein.
Frankenstein was first published in 1818, with a prologue written by Mary’s husband, the poet Percy Shelley.
But we are reading Mary Shelley’s 1831 revised version of the novel, published after Percy’s death, with her own introduction added.
To have the same page numbers as everyone else during discussions, get this edition.
If you prefer to get a different edition, or if you prefer to check out a copy from the library, that works too.
You don’t need anything else
Unless you want a t-shirt.
What about you?
Whoever you are, reading this — I have a couple burning questions for you. Put your answers to any or all of these questions in the comments:
Have you ever read Frankenstein? Was it the 1818 or 1831 edition? How long has it been since you picked it up?
What’s your favorite Frankenstein film? There are so many to choose from.
What do you want to know about Mary Shelley?
I've never read Frankenstein, and as I'm a big scaredy cat, it's been on my to-read list for a long time and I've made ZERO progress on crossing it off. But I'm excited about this club! You all will help me face my fears.
Also: does Young Frankenstein count? I love that movie.
1. I started reading Frankenstein as a teen and the language was a bit tricky for me to get used to. I got so annoyed that she kept using "countenance." Just say "face," Mary! But I think I'm ready for it now.
2. As much as I love a Universal Monster movie, I did the 2 night feature of seeing the National Theatre Live screenings of the Frankenstein with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller trading the leading roles. It was fascinating to see the same story told with that switch between performances.
3. Mary's parents were radicals and her mother was an early feminist. She basically created science fiction because of a rainy day, and she may or may not have banged on her mother's grave. She's a whole goth mood.
I'm so excited for this book club!