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.

May 2, 2012

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (The Lowry)

We all enjoyed the Lowry restaurant, a modestly priced but innovative place in Minneapolis.  Our discussion ranged widely across multiple topics: the Senser trial, golfing in soggy England, the Modern Toilet restaurant chain in Taiwan, etc.  The book was mostly praised for its wise and innovative analysis of human decision making, relying on a psychological perspective in contrast to the classical rational (economic) theory about how people make decisions.  People think intuitively as well as slowly and deeply, and they are profoundly influenced by previous experience, psychological cues, and numerous other factors that run counter to the rational model.  We talked about where "character" comes from, effects of optimism/pessimism, effects of the "nudge" factor, and the assumptions of libertarianism.  The biggest criticism was the presentation, which some thought plodding, repetitive, and overly long.

The next meeting will be on June 6.  The book will be Adam Hochschild's King Leopold's Ghost.  Other books considered: Sebald's Vertigo, Caro's Passage of Power, Johnson's Train Dreams, and Steiner's Le Crime.  Max will suggest the next title.
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