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.

November 16, 2010

The Big Short by Michael Lewis (Heartland)

We met at Heartland's new space in downtown St. Paul and enjoyed a top notch dinner in a relatively quiet corner.  There was lots to talk about, especially election results and the fallout in the Minnesota Legislature.  But the book, a micro-level analysis of the current financial crisis, also got its due.  We discussed and quibbled over the big meaning of the meltdown, its "root causes", and what could or should have been done to prevent it.  Everybody agreed, however, that the book was well-written and made a very complicated issue a little clearer.  Next time we'll read Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.  Also suggested were Per Petterson's To Siberia and Bruce Chatwin's Songline.
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