We are seven handsome and charming* guys who meet at a different restaurant every month or so, having read a book in common, and discuss whatever we want--generally the assigned book, but usually many other timely topics as well. We rotate the responsibility to suggest titles, but the group has the final say. Our book club rules: 1) Anything goes, fiction or nonfiction; 2) paperbacks are preferred; and 3) staying under 300 pages is desirable (N.B., we violate this one all the time). We rate all books and restaurants on a 5-point scale.

* All other adjectives were vetoed.

August 22, 2005

Austerlitz by W. G. Sebald (Phil's No Name Boat)

We did meet on Phil's noname boat at Watergate. It was a cool, clear evening and we ate take out chicken and ribs from Famous Daves's up the road. Sebald's book evoked a spirited discussion and was rated above average by everybody because of its unconventionality and deep resonance on more than one level. We picked John Hassler's Staggerford and Bruce Chatwin's In Patagonia for our next meeting: October 11.