For our monthly meeting on May 17, 2026, we will begin our reading of Chesterton's What I Saw in America in the new semiquincentennial edition from ACS Books!  For more information, click here. As always, meetings will be held at Ivy Hall at 6 PM. See the meeting info page for more.

In this meeting, we will discuss:
Up to page 61:
"Introduction" by Dale Ahlquist.
"What Chesterton Saw and What We See" by Joseph Pearce.
Chapters 1 - 4, "What is America?," "A Meditation in a New York Hotel," "A Meditation in Broadway," and "Irish and Other Interviewers."

​RSVP for this meeting below the jump!

This summer, the Society will be reading through the new Chesterton Society edition of G.K. Chesterton's What I Saw in America, featuring essays by Dale Ahlquist, Dan Kerr, Joseph Pearce, William Fahey, and Christopher Check, and some explanatory annotations by your humble webmaster.

Purchase your copy today at the Society of GK Chesterton's website!

See below the jump for our meeting schedule and the plan of reading! 

We will meet on the following dates to discuss the indicated sections. I have also noted chapters from the original for those who will be using other editions (be advised, the supplementary content will be fair game for the discussion, so you may be missing out!). For those using our chosen edition, follow the page numbers, as these include the commentary.

• May 17, 2026: Up to page 61:
  • "Introduction" by Dale Ahlquist.
  • "What Chesterton Saw and What We See" by Joseph Pearce.
  • Chapters 1 - 4, "What is America?," "A Meditation in a New York Hotel," "A Meditation in Broadway," and "Irish and Other Interviewers."
  • RSVP FOR THE MAY MEETING.
• June 14, 2026: Pages 63-148:
  • "The Good Traveler" by Dan Kerr.
  • Chapters 5-9, "Some American Cities," "In the American Country," "The American Business Man," "Presidents and Problems," and "Prohibition in Fact and Fancy."
  • RSVP COMING SOON.
• July 19, 2026: Pages 149-212:
  • ​"Creeds and Chaos" by Christopher Check.
  • ​Chapters 10-14, "Fads and Public Opinion," "The Extraordinary American," "The Republic in the Ruins," "Is the Atlantic Narrowing?," and "Lincoln and Lost Causes."
  • RSVP COMING SOON.
    
• August 16, 2026: Pages 213-end:
  • ​"A Little Fugue in GKC Major" by William Edmund Fahey.
  • ​Chapters 15-19, "Wells and the World State," "A New Martin Chuzzlewit," "The Spirit of America," The Spirit of England," and "The Future of Democracy."
  • "G.K.C. on the U.S.A." (pp. 281-294).
  • "Chesterton's Second Trip to America" by Dale Ahlquist.
  • "A Closing Thought" from G.K. Chesterton.
  • RSVP COMING SOON.
    

Our postponed conversation from February will be held Sunday, March 15 at 6:00 PM at Ivy Hall — as we discuss the infamous relationship of Chesterton and Shaw through the lens of some recorded debates between the two. RSVP for this meeting below the jump (click "Read more" if you're on the homepage).

We'll note the tactics and positions of these two titans, and inquire as to how they maintained such a cordial friendship in spite not only of such deep disagreements, but also the fact that, at least sometimes, those disagreements seemed from the outside to be rather disagreeable!

Our readings are assembled in the packet which you can download here or using the button below. 

Note that we are deviating from our norm of third-Sunday meetings this month, owing to scheduling difficulties. 

For our meeting in December 2025 - on Sunday, December 21st, at 6:00 PM at Ivy Hall - we are going  to try again for a reading and discussion of the reading packet we put together last year. Owing to illnesses and travel and other schedule conflicts, our meeting in December 2024 was only attended by a couple of guests, but we think the collection of readings we've put together are very worth revisiting and discussing with a larger group.

​As with last year's attempt, we will again include as part of this meeting a practical demonstration of the game, "Snapdragon." It will be important to see the game played because, as the discussion will hopefully bring out, the "principle" Chesterton discerns behind this game could, with no exaggeration, be called the core principle of his whole philosophy of life and morality - no, really! 

RSVP below the jump, and download the reading packet using the button.