Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo (Forepaugh's)

Located in a historic house in one of St. Paul's oldest neighborhood, Forepaugh's has a reputation for dressing up for the holidays.  When we visited, the place was charming and the food was very good.  Too bad it was so slow in coming out of the kitchen.  More than an hour for a basket of bread, entrees 90 minutes.  We conversed some about politics, but spent a good chunk of time talking about the book, Behind the Beautiful Forevers.  A grim story about life in the slums of Mumbai, it is beautifully written--almost novelistic--but hard to read.  Next time we'll read two books: Being Mortal by Atul Gawande and Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant by Roz Chast.  We plan to meet on Tuesday, January 12.

Stories about the end of the world (The Salt Cellar)

We read several science fiction short stories about the end of the world suggested by one of our members who is teaching a class about the subject.  Stories from E. M. Forster to Isaac Azimov constitute a mixed bag, but we all found something of interest.  The restaurant is a beautiful place and the menu is innovative, but the service was mediocre even though the number of staff seemed to outstrip the number of diners. Expensive, too.

Our next meeting is scheduled for December 15 and we're reading Katherine Boo's book about India's underclass entitled Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Other titles considered were Being Mortal by Atul Gawande and Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee.  Bill is on deck for the next book selection.

The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert (Parella)

Whether it's frogs, corals, trees, or glaciers, today is not your grandfather's world. Literally, according to Kolbert.  She says it's the 6th time in geologic history that huge numbers of species are going extinct, and it's the first time that it's caused by one of those species--humans.

Kolbert's book influenced our group in different ways.  Some expressed despair about the earth's future, others accepted the prognosis as "nature's way". Interestingly, the whole issue seemed more infused with politics than science.

Paul suggested we read a couple of classics next time (Beau Jeste, or Three Musketeers) or a collection of short stories about the "end of the world" he selected for a class. Given our mood of the night, we chose the latter.  Paul will send the PDF files.

Phil will suggest the next book.  We'll meet Monday, Nov. 2.

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger (Public Kitchen)

We enjoyed dinner at Public Kitchen, a relatively new place on Mears Park in Lowertown, which offers an eclectic American-style menu.  Good food and good service.  Our conversation touched on presidential politics, travel, summer activities, sports, etc.

The book, Ordinary Grace, was an unexpected hit that impressed almost all of us.  It was a story well told and well written about small-town characters and relationships that was emotionally moving and deeply meaningful. It could be described as a coming-of-age story, a murder mystery, or an evocation of 1950s or 1960s Minnesota.  One criticism was the plethora of characters and the unlikely coincidence of multiple deaths from diverse causes in a short time.

The next book is The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert.  Other titles considered were The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner and A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople by Patrick Leigh Fermor.  Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, September 29, and Paul will suggest the next book.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Third Bird)

This is an easy-to-read novel about the convergence of two young lives during WWII: a blind French girl and a radio tech-savvy member of the Hitler youth corps. It's a simple--some might say simplistic--story related in beautiful prose (although some of us found the non-chronological presentation needlessly confusing).  If you want a somewhat romanticized story about the war, with little realistic grit and almost no cursing, this is for you.  It won a Pulitzer, probably for the prose,  The Third Bird is a new place on Loring Park with a quirky menu and mixed quality.  The biggest complaint was about service.

The next book is William Kent Kreuger's Ordinary Grace, a coming-of-age story set in rural Minnesota.  Other titles considered were Mary Ellis' Bohemian Flats and Daniel James Brown's Boys in the Boat.  We'll meet on Tuesday, August 11, and Roger will suggest the next book.

The Black Count by Tom Reiss (Nye's Polonaise)

The Black Count is the story behind the 18th century novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas.  It's a fascinating, engaging history covering the years surrounding the French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon.  And, yes, Dumas' father was a swashbuckling black man born in Haiti who rose to be a top general in the Republican Army.  We gave this one a top rating.  The rest of our discussion focused on the Tesla motorcar and the foibles of the legislative session.  Nye's Polonaise was the same as ever.  As we remarked, "it is what it is."

Our next book is All the Light That We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.  We also considered The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee and 1215: Year of the Magna Carta by Danny Danziger. We'll meet on Thursday June 18; Don will suggest the next book (if he's back in town).  Roger is next.

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson and A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre (Trattoria da Vinci)

Scheduling conflicts forced us to skip a meeting, so we ended up discussing two books at the same dinner, not a desirable thing to do but it worked out well.  We had a voluble discussion about one book and pretty much shunned the other.  The spy book was uniformly praised as an informative, interesting, and intriguing account of the Hollywood-like exploits of the WWII/Cold War spymaster, Kim Philby, who was the leader of a group of loosely-affiliated, idealistic Cambridge students in the 1930s.  Written in a breezy style, the only questions unanswered by the book were why did Philby follow his youthful communist vision in the face of Stalin's outrages, and how did he fool so many of those closest to him?

The other book, set in contemporary North Korea, reminded us of other novels describing life in totalitarian societies, like 1984, but was so confusingly organized that we almost lost interest.  Most of us plugged on, trying to see the spark of brilliance the Pulitzer committee saw in the novel.

We met at a place we previously visited 15 years ago--and despised.  This visit was better, but the large portions of richly-sauced pasta still didn't quite make it.  The Cioppino, however, was pretty good.

Our next book is Tom Reiss, The Black Count, the story behind the Count of Monte Christo.  Other titles discussed were Evan Thomas, Ike's Bluff, and Jon Mecham, Winston and Franklin. We'll meet on April 29.   Here's the batting order: Don is up next, followed by Jim, then Roger.

Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves (Corner Table)

Graves' memoir of the years surrounding WWI, published in 1929, is a stunningly vivid account of the Great War from a personal perspective. His prose is sober and hauntingly beautiful.  We had few quibbles and rated it as one of our best book choices, appropriately timed to remember the war's centennial.  Our restaurant choice was also popular, and we had a lively discussion about a range of other topics like almost travelling to Antarctica and the hack of Sony Pictures.

Our next book is Adam Johnson's Orphan Master's Son.  Other ideas were Moon's Blue Highways and Kerouac's Lonesome Traveler.  We plan to meet on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 6:30 pm.  Bill is up next.

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (Libertine)

Libertine is a new restaurant in Uptown that specializes in meat.  It has an energetic vibe that was not very conducive to a group discussion, but I think we were all glad to have tried it.  We talked about the World Series, the election, and travel to places like Berlin, Sicily, and Aruba.  Several of us had read Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle many years ago and considered it a minor classic. Others, reading it for the first time, were somewhat less impressed.  A bitter satire on modern culture, religion, and science, it is pretty bleak and nihilistic but Vonnegut's outrageous sense of humor and underlying compassion pull the tale into balance.

Next time, we'll read Robert Graves, Goodbye to All That.  We also considered Ernst Junger, Storm of Steel.  We'll meet on Monday, December 22, and Phil will suggest the next title.

The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn (Sea Salt)

To take advantage of the last days of summer, we dined at a picnic table in Minnehaha Falls Park and stood in line to order seafood at Sea Salt. Most of the offerings were good, with an emphasis on large portion size rather than culinary finesse.  Our conversation focused mainly on local politics, rumors, and scandals (the usual fodder).  We treated the book with respect and gave it an above average rating, subtracting points for occasional wordiness, tedium, and--for one--an annoying focus on baseball.  Most of us did like the insights into sports writing as well as the jumping forward in time in the second half of the book to learn what ultimately happened to the Dodger heroes of the 40s and 50s.

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 28; the book is Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle.  Other books considered were Herman Koch, The Dinner; Carl Hiaasen, Bad Monkey; and Daniel James Brown, The Boys in the Boat.  Paul will suggest next month's selection.

The Round House by Louise Erdrich (Ward Six)

We met at Ward 6 on St. Paul's east side and enjoyed a variety of dishes, including fish and chips, duck ravioli, and chicken risotto.  For much of the evening, the noisy atmosphere precluded extended conversation and at 8 pm, as we were closing out our dinner, an MC grabbed a mike and started a trivia game.  Our book discussion revealed a near consensus on The Round House:  we thought it was a little disjointed with some unnecessary side-stories confusing the basic story line, and most of us felt a little disappointed for a book that has received so much critical acclaim. Nevertheless, the book's depiction of life on a reservation, contemporary native culture, and the challenges of growing up in a small town were compelling.  Jim suggested the next book: The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn.  Other titles considered: The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt, Radicalization of the American Revolution by Gordon Wood, and Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright.  The next meeting is set for Tuesday, September 23.  Roger will suggest the next book.

Listening Is an Act of Love by Dave Isay (Coup d'Etat)

We met at Coup d'Etat, a fairly new place in Uptown.  We rated the restaurant as fair, with generally good food but some rough edges.  The bill was high, but we ordered lots of extras.  Our conversation ranged from Obama's visit, to Light Rail, to saving old audio tapes, to Amazon's bullying, and finally to the book, which is a sampling of some of the StoryCorps interviews from NPR. Most of us liked the book because it captured genuine human stories, many touching and meaningful, that are easy to relate to.  The biggest criticism was that the book did not convey the stories as well as the actual recorded voices heard on NPR.

The next book is Louise Erdrich's Roundhouse. Other titles suggested were Barbara Tuchman's Guns of August, and James McBride's The Good Lord Bird.  We'll meet on Monday, August 25.  Jim will suggest the next book.