Short, Cheap, Nearly Great Books SE Denver: August 2026

Friday, August 7, 2026

The Sins of Others: Tues, Aug 11 @ 7:30 PM [MT] via Zoom

Please read The Sins of Others by Hector Tobar and join us for a discussion.

The story was inspired by Kafka's The Trial and U.S. immigration detention.

Find it on page 263 of The Best American Short Stories - 2022.

Contact me for the Zoom Link.

Hector Tobar

Basic Guidelines for Shared Inquiry

Read the selection carefully before participating in the discussion. This ensures that all participants are equally prepared to talk about the ideas in the work.
Most of us need to read short stories more than once.
Support your ideas with evidence from the text. This keeps the discussion focused on understanding the selection and enables the group to weigh textual support for different answers.
Discuss the ideas in the selection and try to understand them fully before exploring issues that go beyond the selection. Reflecting on the ideas in the text and the evidence to support them makes the exploration of related issues more productive.
Listen to other participants and respond to them directly. Directing your comments and questions to other group members, not always to the leader, will make the discussion livelier and more dynamic.
Expect the leader to only ask questions. Effective leaders help participants develop their own ideas, with everyone gaining a new understanding in the process. Participants should look to the leader for questions, not answers.