Meriwether Academy launches free Chattanooga men's book club on Plutarch

A new free men’s book club in downtown Chattanooga meets every Tuesday at 7 a.m. to read Plutarch’s Lives, drawing about 20 men to its first session. The chapter is part of Meriwether Academy’s effort to build fellowship and serious reading among men before the workday starts.

Why it matters: - The Chattanooga chapter adds a men-only, early-morning space for fellowship and serious reading in a city that already has many general-interest book clubs. - The club is framed as a response to loneliness and declining reading habits among American men, especially younger men. - The format makes participation possible before work, which may lower barriers for men who want community but have limited time.

What happened: - Meriwether Academy launched the Chattanooga chapter of the Gentlemen's Classics Book Club on Sept. 15, 2026. - The group meets every Tuesday at 7 a.m. in a downtown Chattanooga coffee shop. - About 20 men attended the first meeting. - The club is free and does not require prior training in classics. - The chapter reads one life each week from Plutarch's Lives.

The details: - The first text was Plutarch's Life of Caesar. - Recent readings have included the lives of Phocion, Cato the Younger, Agis and Cleomenes. - Members discuss how each figure's virtues and vices shaped his rise and fall. - Dr. Joshua Trevino leads the Chattanooga chapter. - Trevino is a Fellow of Meriwether Academy, holds a PhD in political philosophy from the University of Dallas and has taught in classical schools. - Members read the Dryden translation of the Lives, revised by Arthur Hugh Clough. - The chapter follows a published calendar that runs through the first week of January 2027. - Meetings draw men across a wide range of ages. - One member, David, said, "It's a highlight for me each time."

Between the lines: - Meriwether Academy is using classical texts as a vehicle for character formation, not just literary study. - The club's design suggests a deliberate attempt to combine habit, accountability and discussion into a standing community. - Warren Steury, president of Meriwether Academy, said Plutarch intended readers to measure their own character against great men of Greece and Rome. - Steury said the Tuesday gathering gives men the kind of fellowship that asks something of them. - The group launches amid broader concerns about male loneliness, fewer close friendships and declining reading for pleasure in the U.S. - A 2025 Gallup analysis found 25% of American men ages 15 to 34 felt lonely during a lot of the previous day. - The Survey Center on American Life reported the share of American men with no close friends rose from 3% in 1990 to 15% in 2021. - A 2025 iScience study found the share of Americans reading for pleasure on a given day fell from 28% in 2004 to 16% in 2023.

What's next: - The Chattanooga chapter will continue one Life per week through early January 2027. - Men interested in joining can register through the Meriwether Academy website, and meeting details are sent by email after sign-up. - Meriwether Academy also runs a Nashville chapter that meets Wednesday mornings on the same reading calendar. - The nonprofit says its longer-term goal is to found a classical boys' school in Tennessee.

The bottom line: - Meriwether Academy is betting that old books, a fixed weekly ritual and an early start can build both character and community for men in Chattanooga.