We met at Strip Club, a mostly meat place that's closing in July. The four of us who could make it were very happy with the food (try the pork chop) and service (we had a literary-savvy waitress). Our conversation touched on the book, of course, but was mainly directed at non-political topics like travel to Fiji and Palm Springs. Even Bryson fans thought this book somewhat grumpy. One of us hated it; most liked it.
The next book is Willa Cather, Death Comes for the Archbishop, which was selected over a selection of chapters from Gibbons' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (very tempting). Don is next in line to suggest the next book. April 18 is the next meeting.
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.