Eastside is a fairly new restaurant unexplored by all except one of us, who had been there five times already. It proved to be a popular choice, despite the limited menu. Everybody was happy. The book also pleased us all. It's a classic and we were surprised by how it resonated even after almost a century in the canon. The story of a newly-married idealistic young woman hoping to transform a small, rural town in Minnesota touched a bunch of nerves. She suffocates, moves away, and returns, reconciled. Unexpectedly, the book wowed us.
The next book is Bertolt Brecht, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. Also considered were Josephine Tey, The Man in the Queue, and Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian.
Next meeting is Tuesday, December 20. Jim will suggest the next title.
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.