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.

December 16, 2008

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (B.A.N.K.)

Mea Culpa. I have gotten behind in updating this site on a timely basis. I was out of town for two months in the spring, got a new computer when I got back, and it took me--literally--two months to get all the bugs out of the new system and transfer all my data. Anyway, I'll pick up the thread now and try to keep it current.

A minor snowstorm slowed traffic as we made our way to our restaurant, B.A.N.K., which proved to be a rather unpopular choice. The setting is wonderful, but the food and service were not up to the standard one might expect from one of our most expensive venues. Overall, we ranked the place pretty low. Don and Jim had a premonition or something and skipped the event. Our discussion ranged from Morocco to the latest movies to Coleman/Franken. We ranked Lahiri's book (Interpreter of Maladies) fairly high, but we cited various topical and plot weaknesses in some of her short stories. For next time, Bill suggested two books on the current crisis, Peter Gosselin's High Wire: The Precarious Financial Lives of American Families, and Roger Lowenstein's While America Aged, plus Obama's memoir, Dreams from My Father. We chose the Obama book. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 13, and Roger will suggest the
next book.
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February 18, 2008

Blade Runner by Scott Bukatman and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip Dick (Luci Ancora)

We watched a movie this time, Bladerunner, and some read the novel on which it was based, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Paul made a strong case that the movie raises important issues regarding human identity and contemporary society. An incomplete group, we met at Luci Ancora and had a very satisfying meal. The next book is V. S. Naipaul, India: A Wounded Civilization. The meeting is April 1.
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February 4, 2008

All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (Amazing Thailand)

We mostly talked politics since the presidential campaign was heating up, but the book (All the Pretty Horses) was well received. We liked McCarthy's powerful, lyrical style and, after the first 100 pages or so, the story was compelling. Most of us also gave high marks to the restaurant (Amazing Thailand). The next assignment is to watch the movie Blade Runner and to read Scott Bukatman's Blade Runner and Philip Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
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