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 18, 2018

Janesville: An American Story by Amy Goldstein (It's Greek to Me)

Again a small group, but we got back a couple of snowbirds this month.  Everyone liked the book which resonated as a ubiquitous story of community devastation in the rust belt in the wake of the 2008 recession.  The author tells personal stories and shows how a whole community suffers from economic forces beyond their control. Who knew that job retraining could be worse than sticking it out with lower wage jobs? 

The restaurant was a good choice (leg of lamb and moussaka).  Our next book is E. B. White's Writings from the New Yorker, 1927-76.  Other titles considered were Bill Holm's The Heart Can Be Filled Anywhere on Earth, Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, and Thomas Payne's Age of Reason.  Next meeting date is set for Tuesday, June 26.  Don will suggest the next book.



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