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.

July 2, 2014

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.
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