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.

October 26, 2009

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley (Al Vento)

Al Vento offered great dinner options that pleased everyone: Duck, lamb, scallops. Plus, wine was half-price on Mondays. Our book was Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres, which most of us rated as above average as a portrait of a seriously flawed Iowa farm family, but nearly everyone had quibbles about the book, especially the story about the poisoned sausages. Most of us didn't mind the somewhat exaggerated stories, but we drifted into discussions of incest and sex offenders in Minnesota institutions. We selected Wallace Stegner's The Spectator Bird for next time (December 7). Other ideas included Philip Roth, Indignation, Diane Ackerman, the Zookeeper's Wife, and David Lodge, Deaf Sentence. The next book will be suggested by Max.
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