BREAKING: Blogger Has Awful Taste in Books

As one of likely two book club members who read Gawker's sports blog, Deadspin, the responsibility of reporting book club-related info appearing on that site probably falls to me.

So! It turns out Deadspin editor A.J. Daulerio differs greatly with book club consensus regarding one of our selections. When asked by an emailer who his favorite author and book are, he writes:

Favorite author right now is Charles Bock. Go grab "Beautiful Children" and read it 50 times. It's excellent.

50...times...? He is an Eagles fan, so maybe self-punishment is part of his DNA.

Eh? Eagles fan joke? Anyone?

A Starship Ride Has Been Promised to You By the Galactic Wizard

Word to the wise: Kelly Link recommended fortune cookies for our book club on November 2nd, where we'll be reading Stranger Things Happen.

I am currently amassing fortunes for all of you (see blog title for example a).

Submissions from Team Book Club should be placed in the comments.

Meet Kelly Link!

Good news: Kelly Link, our October book club author, is reading in Brooklyn tomorrow night!

I'm pasting the details here. Megan and I will both be there, and we'd love to see you. I'm going to ask Kelly if she has any recommendations for what we should eat while reading Stranger Things Happen. I haven't read anything from it yet, but I'm secretly hoping for something weird and cool, like Hostess Snowballs.


10/7/08

Community Bookstore

7 PM

143 Seventh Ave (between Carroll St and Garfield Pl)
Park Slope, Brooklyn | Map

718-783-3075

Subway: B, Q to Seventh Ave; 2, 3 to Grand Army Plaza | Directions

http://www.cbjupiterbooks.com

Tickets: Free

Description
The celebrated author of the fabulistic story collections Stranger Things Happen and Magic for Beginners reads from her debut foray into YA lit, Pretty Monsters.

Some Exciting Kelly Link-Related News (Part 1)

Folks, there is exciting news! Kelly Link's press (by that I mean both the press that publishes her AND the press she runs) Small Beer is offering FREE downloads of October's book club selection and several other high-quality awesome books.

I really like the explanation the publisher gives for why these books are offered for free:

We love books. We want to keep on publishing good books. Weird books. Interesting books. We are curious about the future. If everyone downloads books straight to the Kindlenub in their head, we might be in trouble. But if there are still people who like to read books on paper, maybe some of them will read some of these downloads and then decide they would like the actual books. Therefore we're releasing some of our books.

That's great reasoning, and it seems like the onus is put on you, the reader. Small Beer offers these books for free because they believe in them SO MUCH that they're convinced you'll become a fan of the press, and ultimately buy more books.

Do with that what you will, Best Book Club in Brooklyn! If you fall in love with Kelly Link, as I have, I hope that you'll supplement the free downloads with a purchase or two from the press.

And even if you prefer your books in the more traditional way (ie, ink on paper), DEFINITELY check out the creative commons section of the Small Beer site, since they have audio downloads of stories from Stranger Things Happen that are very enjoyable.

October's Book Club...

...is actually happening in November--on November 2nd to be exact. But whatever, I hope you can still make it!

Because of Halloween, we'll be reading STRANGER THINGS HAPPEN by Kelly Link. It's a short story collection!

In the words of Jelly Ink press: " These eleven extraordinary stories are quirky, spooky, and smart. They all have happy endings. Every story contains a secret prize. Each story was written especially for you."

Next Book Club: November 2nd!

EDIT FROM MEGAN: We were too busy having fun to take many photos, but here are a few. Note the pineapple full of pomegranate seeds. Truly exotic!


Yesterday's book club was a blast--I think Megan will have photos here later!--and we managed to decide on the next book club's date before heading home.



Please save Sunday, November 2nd for book club festivities at chez Greko, in Crown Heights.

Trying to decide between reading Kelly Link's Stranger Things Happen or Flannery O'Connor's The Violent Bear It Away. Please feel free to make your voice heard in the comments below.

BookClub is coming!

Hi Dearies! So, I finally bought my book today. I think probably most of you don't have it yet, so I will share a little info I gleaned today: The Strand doesn't have any, so don't bother there, but as of tonight, the B&N Union Square had 2 copies, and they say that the B&N on 82nd has it, too. I'm not sure about any other indies... anyone else been able to find it around? Oh, and you can also buy it directly from the publisher's site. It's an extremely slim, so I don't think anyone will have a problem finishing it within a weekend or so. More updates and research to come!

Sorry if this post was disjointed; I'm being a little distracted by America's Next Top Model.

Best Quote Ever

"I have a gift for enraging people, but if I ever bore you it will be with a knife." – Louise Brooks, from her autobiography, 'Lulu in Hollywood.'

I am working to have it stitched on a pillow by the book club meeting on September 28th.

I love you, BookClub

Someone asked me a day or two ago if BookClub had disbanded. This HORRIFIED me. Of course BookClub is going strong. Just because we took a little break during the disgusting heat of the past month doesn't mean we don't still love each other. And our BookClub books. We love those too. Also, brunchy drinks. So let's DO meet a the end of September for BookClub (more on that later) but also maybe like next weekend for brunch? Who's free? Sat or Sun?

OK, as far as our official next meeting goes, it will be in late September, and the book we will discuss is called The Invention of Morel. I think it will be good. It is a MYSTERY BOOK. I found the name of this book written on a post-it on my desk a couple weeks ago, written in my handwriting, but I have no idea when or where I heard of the book. Spooky! Something to do with Borges, I guess, because his name was written down, too. And there also appears to be a Louise Brooks connection. I am a big fan of hers. Ami, share that quote you found from her with everyone.

So... more to come regarding the book and the meetup, but in the meantime, comment, weigh in, and let me know how you're all feeling. I'm still willing to be swayed toward Atmospheric Disturbances if everyone's gung-ho for it, and if you have a strong feeling about the date this next meeting should take place, feel free to cast your vote now!

Ah, here, my deeries, is a better link, i think: http://www.nybooks.com/shop/product?usca_p=t&product_id=1229
Still, I have to say that I think the less read about this book before actually picking it up, the better. Let the mystery unfold first! Background info later.

Follow up, mostly on Jeeves

Just to recap Sunday's lovely afternoon in the park: Midwesterners, all of your worst fears have been confirmed. People who live in Brooklyn really do flounce about in parks sipping refined alcoholic beverages and discussing British novelists. John Edwards is right--there really are two Americas. As a former Michigan resident, I'm just pleased that I wound up in the one with Jeeves.

In case anyone wants to do some additional reading, I've got links here to things discussed:

• Frankly, you should all just read this Wikipedia entry about Jeeves, because there are some fabulous facts (for instance, Jeeves once resigned a job because of his employer's eccentric choice of evening dress).
  
• Here are the two stories narrated by Jeeves: 'Ring for Jeeves' and 'Thank You Jeeves.'
  
• It is a real bummer that the Jeeves and Wooster television series never worked out because just look at this list of characters.
  

We should have August's book up soon. Megan is hosting this month, which means no end to the great streak that we've been on.

Wodehouse in July

I'm excited to announce that for the July book club we'll be discussing stories from The Most of P.G. Wodehouse in Prospect Park on Sunday, July 27th! This will be, by far, the tweediest book club meeting we'll ever have. I'll bring the scones!


Although Wodehouse is a breeze to read, he's also extremely prolific, and as such I picked the edition that you should be able to find no matter how many (or few) Wodehouse books there are at your favorite bookstore.

Also, as this is kind of a big book, in order to make sure that everyone enjoys this month's choice and it never feels like a chore I've included a guide for what people should read and what they can skip over in this collection:

DEFINITELY, ABSOLUTELY READ:

All Drones Club stories
All Jeeves Stories
The Lord Emsworth story

DEFINITELY, IF THERE'S TIME:

Mulliner Stories

IF YOU'RE KILLING TIME (say, on a bus to Atlantic City)

Stanley Featherstone Ukeridge stories

NO NEED:

Golf Stories
Quick Service

More details (such as where we'll meet at the park, back-up plans if it's supposed to rain, etc.) to come!

Charles Bock Reading June 18th

Even more extra credit!

Charles Bock will be reading in NYC on June 18th at Housing Works, starting at 7 PM. Housing Works is a great little bookstore in Soho that sells booze, which of course means members of this book club can attend this literary event without worrying about a bad case of the DT's.

I'll be headed over for sure, and possibly even taking notes for the blog. If anyone else is interested, hit me up in the comments. A critical mass means we can even meet up for happy hour at Botanica beforehand.

*Sidenote: I found this information while perusing the website for Beautiful Children. I was actually trying to get to the bio information, but the stupid Easter eggs got in my way and I wound up in the events page. I have to say, that website kind of made me want to punch someone in the face. Cripes. I suppose it might be good if you somehow accidentally stumbled on it and had NO idea what the book was, but as far as going with the intention of, I don't know, securing information on the author or the novel, it's a no-go.

Beautiful Children

Here is the first chapter if you want to get started:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/books/chapters/1st-chapter-beautiful-children.html?_r=1&ref=books

And I think Ami might be able to link you to pdf of the entire book if you want to read online.

The meeting will be at Paul's place at 247 Garfield (between 7th & 8th Aves in Park Slope) on June 22 at 1:00.

Beautiful Children

Those of you clamoring to know our June book club pick (say, maybe because you're preparing to get on a plane to LA) should check the sidebar--it's Beautiful Children by Charles Bock. I'm sure Helen will set it up more thoroughly in the future, but here are some things to get you started:

• Here is Charles Bock on TitlePage.tv, where he was roundly teased for wearing a concert t-shirt under a True Value button up
• Here is Bock's complicated-but-lauded website
  
• And for extra credit this month, read The Delivery Man by Joe McGinniss Jr. It covers much of the same territory as Beautiful Children, and I'd love to discuss the intersection of the two novels, as well as how interesting it is that Las Vegas is turning into a *real* city, with teenage unrest and rock bands and novels of its own.
  

Just a few more pictures...

Sunday Afternoon

I want to thank everyone for coming to Sunday's book club meeting. I had a really fun time and I'm glad the book was well received and managed to serve as a basis for a good discussion. As I think I mentioned today, the book has pretty much everything but zombies.

I took a few pictures and figured I should post them to the blog.

I know there was nothing Polynesian about the book but I do love a chance to break out the tiki mugs. I think learning a few good drink recipes is the next step.



Shek made fantastic guacamole. Apparently, it's the only thing people in California eat.



After we finished talking about the book a few games of Apples to Apples were played. I think Ami threw down a card for "body surfing." No one gave her points for that! Shame on that person for not letting the book's theme tie into our game.

I hope everyone had a good time and I'm looking forward to the next meeting.

Veering off topic for a minute

Ami has been riding a nonstop wave of excitement since learning this month's book served as inspiration for POINT BREAK. Today she pointed me toward this very exciting news about the film's sequel!

Please thank her for bringing this info to our attention as it keeps me from a rambling post about the excesses of the 1970's.

From Buying A Board to the Spicoli Effect

As Ike learns early in the novel, not all surfboards are created equal. The surfboard has undergone quite an evolution since its initial development in Polynesian culture. TAPPING THE SOURCE's young protagonist from the desert doesn't realize he should've purchased a noserider instead of a gun. Ehow.com didn't exist in the mid-to-late 1970s.

Ike and Michelle don't come from the most stable backgrounds. The same can be said for pro surfer and actress (John From Cincinnati) Keala Kennelly, who "[grew] up fully immersed in the culture on Kauai, she lived in a geodesic dome designed by her bohemian mother, who split from the family one day while Keala was at school and left a note on her pillow."

A few weeks ago Kem Nunn and others got together at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books for a discussion about "Surf Culture." The "tendency to portray surfers as unintelligent slackers," aka the "Spicoli Effect" was addressed.

In 1982 some high school kids made an 8mm movie about a day spent surfing. A lot of it was shot on the waves at Hunting Beach (note the oil drilling platform in the background of some of the shots).



If Monday's entry about the history of HB wasn't enough as for setting the scene, I found a few other great photos:

HB in 1957
The Sheraton Beach Inn, 1964
Both of those photos are from this collection of found photos, which chronicles the travels of a local HB family from 1953 to 1968.

HB in 1986
OP Pro Surf Contest Riot, 1986
(Things got a little out of control, apparently.)

For Sunday's gathering I don't plan to have surf videos playing in the background. You'll have to make do with the following:

A teaser for the film THE FANTASTIC PLASTIC MACHINE

The opening sequence to OFF THE WALL II (the music is great)

This may be stretching things a bit, but I like how the theme lightly ties in with the novel - Punk vs. Surfer Moped Chase (1981)

Hang loose!

About May's Author

"It's hard to get people in New York to take books with surfers and bikers in them seriously."

As Megan noted , TAPPING THE SOURCE garnered a National Book Award Best First Fiction nomination for Kem Nunn. Published in 1984, it's been suggested the book was an influence for 1991's POINT BREAK. When asked about that, someone commented Nunn was "taciturn on the subject."

James Frey calls TAPPING THE SOURCE one of the top 10 books to read about Los Angeles.

In addition to being a novelist, Nunn has worked as a screenwriter. From what I've been able to gather, he's done quite a bit of rewriting (including the 1998 Kevin Bacon / Matt Dillon thriller WILD THINGS).

In the mid-aughts, Nunn hooked up with David Milch and served as a writer for DEADWOOD. The connection between the two continued as they co-created the HBO series JOHN FROM CINCINNATI.



Slate.com did a story about what JFC gets right about surfing.

In 2004 Kem Nunn spoke with Bookbuffet about TIJUANA STRAITS, the third book in his "surf-trilogy" which appears to have influenced JOHN FROM CINCINNATI. In the interview (audio files available) he discusses what it was like growing up in Southern California and how he came to surfing.

(FYI: All the above links are spoiler-free, go ahead and click 'em.)

All this really has me stoked for Sunday’s book club meeting, brah!

From King City to Huntington Beach

During the novel, Ike travels from just outside King City, CA to Huntington Beach, CA. I thought it might be helpful to take a look at these two places on the map. Driving distance between the two cities is five hours.


View Larger Map

In addition to the heavy surfing backdrop, TAPPING THE SOURCE pays a good amount of attention to motorcycles, particularly Preston's Harley Davidson Knuckle. The Knucklehead was introduced in 1936 (the same year as the one owned by Ike back in San Arco). The Knucklehead is so named because part of it resemble knuckles on the back of a hand.

To learn more about the history and pleasures of the bike, skip to 1:28 in this video from Discovery's THE GREATEST EVER:



And if you can't get enough of that sound, check out this clip of a guy kick starting a 1942 knucklehead.

Another presence in Huntington Beach that doesn't go unnoticed is that of the oil fields and pier. Oil was discovered there in 1920. The pier has also been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times. (see the history of Huntington Beach and this awesome photograph from the 1960s)

And to get a sense of HB in 1985, take a look at this image of a few storefronts.

Interactive Book Club

I wish the title of this post referred to surfing lessons. Or maybe a mechanical surfboard in my living room? Heck, maybe it references some Wii surfing game that doesn't exist?

If you've finished the book, you know there will be healthy discussion about Part Four. Megan suggested everyone come to the meeting (THIS SUNDAY - 1PM) with a new ending for the book. She suggests "this could be anything from one sentence to a fully written 50-page project, depending on how much time anyone wants to put into it." I fully support this idea and can't wait to hear what everyone comes up with.

Beyond reading the book, that's the assignment for this one and perhaps the key point of discussion.

Pick up TAPPING THE SOURCE already. It's the story of a teenager's quest to find his sister. And it's about surfing and motorcycles and so much more. If you want to borrow my copy, send me an email.

May is Surf Noir Month!

Everything I know about surfing I learned from watching Australians hang ten on ESPN during the summer of 1989 and by freaking out to the appearance of Dick Dale on Beverly Hills, 90210. I haven't let that get in the way of selecting a book for May's book club meeting.

Let's read TAPPING THE SOURCE by Kem Nunn.

How can we go wrong with something described as "surf noir?" From the notes I've read online, the book is about a guy who grows up in California's desert then moves to Huntington Beach where he finds the seedy underbelly of the surf world and tracks down rumors of his sister's murder.

You've got less than a month to purchase and read the book. Due to Memorial Day and other late May commitments, the meeting will be held SUNDAY, MAY 18th at 1pm.

I'm hosting the gathering at my apartment in Fort Greene.

Booze is up to you. As for the "brunch" portion of our day, I'll order a few pies from the word-burning oven at Graziella's. (Sadly, there is no California Pizza Kitchen in Brooklyn.)

Look for a discussion guide and reminder in a week or two.

Awesome Bookclub yesterday! Pickled things!

Bookclub was so fun and very yummy yesterday, thanks to Anastasia's wonderful cooking and even more delicious (who'd have guessed?) horseradish-infused vodka! Unfortunately, as usual, we didn't think to take pictures until after most of brunch was consumed. Also, I think that I left the camera on night-mode from earlier in the weekend, and as a result the pictures are a little blurry. Know what wasn't blurry, though? Our incisive commentary on the book and our sharp wits that even the booze couldn't blunt. It was a long, relaxing Russian Orthodox Easter Sunday for all of us. Um, I can't really think of much else to report, so i'm going to include one last picture i just found on my phone, of Alexis' scary cat from time before last:

Oh, and May bookclub will take place in Prospect Heights at Marc's.

Anastasia or anyone else, please feel free to add more details to the blog about our meeting of bookclub stalwarts yesterday.

EDIT: I almost forgot!!! We also learned about a totally cuddly but slightly melancholy friend of Anastasia's from the old country. His name is Cheburashka and she translated a song he sings about himself for us. Sorry you missed it? Pretend you were there, minus the live translation services she rendered, and cry a small tear, after clicking here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9ZRcgRm4ds.

Musing on Russian Easter

Our April pick Book Club date will fortuitously coincide with the Russian Orthodox Easter. FYI, the correct protocol when exchanging Easter greetings is the following between two people:

"Christos voskres!" (Christ has risen!)
"Voistinu voskres!" (Indeed, he has risen!)

Followed by three alternating kisses on the cheeks (Russians like to do everything three times, as it is the divine number of the Trinity). Anyhow, it's just an excuse to kiss.

Our BookClub is so talented! And funny! And cute, too!

Anyone wondering what Ami, Megan, and most notably Alexis, will be doing tonight should check out the event described below. Stalkers welcome, right, Alexis?

FOCUS - A live talk show/spoof of The View (and various other lady talk shows)

Tuesday, April 22nd, 9:30pm

Guests: Sarah Mather, American Idol Hollywood-semi-finalist and Bones Rodriguez, Star Trek Enthusiast and author of the recently released Captain Kirk's Guide to Women.

Giveaways! Cheap beer! Ladies!

The Magnet Theater

254 West 29th St. (between 7th and 8th)

Anyone who was wondering how their Tuesday could possibly get any better should come out with us to see Alexis do her thing!

Just when you thought we could not get any dorkier

Megan and I will again be bringing our unique combination of booze and (insert brainy activity here) into your life.

Trivial Pursuit (Millennium Edition) this Friday, April 18th, at Buttermilk in South Slope. Game starts around 9 or so. Team play, and the losers buy the next round.

New Blog!

Like taxes, members of the opposite sex, and the weather, poetry is one of those things that tends to get more attention in the spring. Capitalizing on this natural inclination toward reading the best words in their best order, I'll again be running FSG's month-long poetry blog. Please visit early and often!

www.fsgpoetry.com

See you in the comments!

Memoirs of a Muse, by Lara Vapnyar

Our April's pick will continue to explore the themes of literary dreams, the origin of inspiration, search for self-actualization, and immigration (voluntary exile, if you please).

"As a fatherless girl in Moscow, Tatiana becomes fascinated by the great Russian writers, especially Dostoyevsky. As an adolescent, she is told by a lecherous teacher that she will become "the muse to a great man." When she immigrates to America to pursue a graduate degree in history, she chooses to fulfill her destiny as a muse instead, readily abandoning the stifling immigrant enclave in Brighton Beach for a writer's Central Park apartment." Needless to say, her chosen object - a young New Yorker who is more interested in fashion, dining out, and TV - is not exactly the budding Dostoyevsky. The book is allegedly a great parody of a self-obsessed male artist, as well as a "withering critique of the immigrant experience".

The book club will be hosted in Greenpoint - one of Brooklyn's staunchingly Slavic neighborhoods. Being myself a recent (and Russian) arrival in New York, my curiosity is peaked both in regards to the book and to the menu:

-delicious blinis
-herring
-potatoes
-pickles
-shots of ice-cold vodka
-horseradish martinis
....and more

Where and when: April 27, 1:00pm, 146 Milton Street, #2, Brooklyn (Take the G train to Greenpoint Avenue - but check the MTA weekend advisories first...)

What Were YOU Doing Last Sunday?

Because members of the best damn book club in Brooklyn were eating this:


Jealous??

Michael Silverblatt Rules Book Interviews 4-EVA

Ever since listening to this Bookworm interview with Junot Diaz, I think of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao differently.

The interview raises what I see as essential questions about the book and the intention of the author. I tried to type them up exactly as they were phrased on the show, but I don't think I captured them all completely--definitely listen to the show to get the full questions and discussion around them. (Warning: there are sort-of spoilers in the interview, so maybe wait until you've finished the book.)

• Was it possible for Yunior to ever love Lola? Does his failure to love her brother Oscar represent a failure to love not only Lola, but Dominican history as a whole?
  
• Is this book--Yunoir says my book--is this [book] a warding off of the curse (fuku) or is it the next generation of the curse?
• We're usually not very tolerant of other small lives, even if our lives have been small. And sometimes we'll be tolerant of a small life, and then next thing we know we're not longer tolerant...Being human--one of the things Oscar's character keeps asking is is being human something that you do once, you make one choice and it proves that you're human? Or is it a choice you have to keep making through your whole life? I think most people like to pretend you reach a certain age and you become a human. I've always felt that every day life puts you in a box and says are you human today or are you an animal?
• Or does the book ask, are you human today, or are you an addict (to sex, to a fantasy world, to a dictatorship)? Are you fighting the daily fight or have you given up to an addiction?

Seriously, this interview is amazing and absolutely a cliff notes on what we should talk about at book club. Here it is embedded, because that's a cool thing bloggers do:

Some thoughtful print coverage of the Diaz

I just got done reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and started going through all the press that was written on it. Thought you all might be interested.

The thoughtful first:

Powells.com interview with Diaz: "That's more a product of very hard work than any skill. Certainly I wanted that voice to come off as fluid, but I'm sure there are people out there for whom this stuff comes easy. For me, this is the product of thirty rewrites."

LA Times review: "People talk about the Great American Novel and the immigrant novel. Pretty reductive. Díaz's novel is a hell of a book. It doesn't care about categories. It's densely populated; it's obsessed with language. It's Dominican and American, not about immigration but diaspora, in which one family's dramas are entwined with a nation's, not about history as information but as dark-force destroyer."

Really, it's a love novel."

Slate.com interview with Diaz: "And as a footnote: No one can write a straightforward political novel about the Trujillato and capture its phantasmagorical power. That's another reason I had to go hard-core nerd. Because without curses and alien mongooses and Sauron and Darkseid, the Trujillato cannot be accessed, eludes our 'modern' minds. We need these fictional lenses, otherwise It we cannot see."

NYTBR (A. O. Scott): "Díaz’s novel also has a wild, capacious spirit, making it feel much larger than it is. Within its relatively compact span, “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” contains an unruly multitude of styles and genres. The tale of Oscar’s coming-of-age is in some ways the book’s thinnest layer, a young-adult melodrama draped over a multigenerational immigrant family chronicle that dabbles in tropical magic realism, punk-rock feminism, hip-hop machismo, post-postmodern pyrotechnics and enough polymorphous multiculturalism to fill up an Introduction to Cultural Studies syllabus."

And some not-so-thoughtful, but maybe worth reading for discussion's sake:

New York Times (Kakutani)

Salon.com (Roland Kelts)

Wondrous Book Club March 30!

Our March pick is The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz.

I for one, am very excited to read this one... as it was on numerous Best Books of the Year lists...

PW said: "Junot Diaz's dark and exuberant first novel makes a compelling case for the multiperspectival view of a life, wherein an individual cannot be known or understood in isolation from the history of his family and his nation"

I'll email the directions/address, but you will have to trek to Astoria (it doesn't really take THAT long). And there will be delicious Paula Deen French Toast Casserole Yumminess (With extra butter and cream of course).

This Is What We Call A Win-Win

Okay, I know we are all publishing types who have yet to hit it big in terms of $$$. However, I think there is something you should all know about:

These are available for sale from the blog The Written Nerd, which is written by Jessica Stockton Bagnulo, aka the events coordinator for McNally Robinson,* aka someone who was incredibly friendly to me and Josh when we met her earlier this year at a mixer (even though we had both been drinking two-for-one red wines for the better part of the evening at Botanica and were, as they say, feeling no pain).

ANYWAY, Jessica is working to get funding for a bookstore that she's planning to open up in Brooklyn--in *our* Brooklyn: Prospect Heights, or PLG, or maybe even South Slope. There's more about her business plan here. The money she raises from these shirts will help make the store a reality so that we won't have to trek so far to pick up our book club selections--it's a win-win!

I will be wearing my Book Nerd shirt to April's book club. And I hope that you all will be too! (How nerdy is that???)

* I always post to this section of the McNally Robinson website because I kind of can't process all the conflicting feelings it brings up in my on my own, and I want other people to have to read it, too. LOVE the bookstore...classism I am not so fond of.

A Reading Guide for Sunday

I hope everyone is getting excited for Book Club on Sunday! I am going shopping on Wednesday evening to provide us with all sorts of Roman/Italian goodies to eat, so get your requests in now! There will be olives, red wine, cheeses, biscotti (traditionally Roman), lasagna (not so much traditionally Roman, but good anyway.) If some sort of venison or game is available, I may get it, though I do have to say most of the food Ovid eats at Tomis is distinctly unappetizing.

As far as the book is concerned, I'm excited to dig into it and see what y'all think of it. In the hopes of guiding our discussion, I thought I would provide a few questions for people to think about as they read (don't worry, no spoilers). I would appreciate if everyone could provide 500 word typed answers for circulation at the meeting.

1. Ovid is most famous for the Metamorphoses, a set of poems with transformation between states of being as its main theme. In Malouf's book, what is Ovid transforming into, and what is the Child transforming into? How are these transformations related?

2. What does the Child himself represent? Why does he appear only at the edges of Ovid's life, in very early childhood and again near death?

3. Malouf is an Australian, and according to Wikipedia, "wrote this novel when issues with the treatment of the Indigenous people of Australia was under question, and the White Australia Policy and paternalistic mentality were inherent in society." What is Malouf saying in this novel about colonization, and interactions between powerful and 'barbaric' cultures?

4. My favorite passage in the novel is this one:

"But we are free after all. We are bound not by the laws of our nature but by the ways we can imagine ourselves breaking out of those laws without doing violence to our essential being. We are free to transcend ourselves. If we have the imagination for it."

Disregarding its potential as a Successories poster (I'm picturing a hawk flying over a dewy golf course in autumn), do you agree or disagree with this statement? Is there such a thing as transcendence of the self, or is one always within one's personality? Discuss, preferably with embarrassing personal stories.

5. As Malouf writes in the revealing epilogue, this novel has no basis in fact, besides that Ovid was exiled to Tomis. What do you think Ovid, an urbane poet not known for his belief or sincerity, would think of this presentation?

That's all I got for now, folks. I hope that people are enjoying this book that I very much love, though I would be curious to hear the opinions of those who don't feel that way as well. And we shall eat and drink well, regardless.

See the previous post for directions to my place on Sunday, and hope to see all of you there!

Mike D

Book Club in Exile

On February 24, Book Club is leaving the borough of Brooklyn for the first time! Journey to the isle of Manhattan, a dark and strange place with alien customs that are opaque to outsiders.

To best reflect this momentous occasion, I have chosen a favorite book of mine whose main character is highly literate and has been exiled to a foreign land, a dark and strange place with alien customs opaque to outsiders.

An Imaginary Life, by David Malouf

Jacket copy:

In the first century A.D., Publius Ovidius Naso, the most urbane and irreverent poet of imperial Rome, was banished to a remote village on the edge of the Black Sea. From these sparse facts, Malouf has fashioned an audacious and supremely moving novel. Marooned on the edge of the known world, exiled from his native tongue, Ovid depends on the kindness of barbarians who impale their dead and converse with the spirit world.Then he becomes the guardian of a still more savage creature, a feral child who has grown up among deer. What ensues is a luminous encounter between civilization and nature, as enacted by a poet who once cataloged the treacheries of love and a boy who slowly learns how to give it.

This book is great, short, and one does not need to know anything about the Metamorphoses to enjoy it. (Though anyone whose Ovid knowledge is half as deep as Clara and Andrew's Monkey King expertise would be most welcome to share it.)

This book, about a Roman poet, also allows us to eat Italian food and drink red wine. And as Malouf is Australian, Foster's will be supplied as well.

I know this will be the best-attended book club yet, so I'm sure all of you are eager for the details, so here's the nitty-gritty:

When:
February 24 at 1:30.
Some of you may note this is the same day as the Oscars, which anyone is welcome to stay and watch afterwards.

Where:
391 Convent Ave, Apt. 2

How to Get There:
Take the A-C or B-D to 145th Street. Exit on the north end of the subway (onto St. Nicholas Avenue). Walk one block west to Convent Avenue. 391 is between 146th and 147th Streets.

To Bring:
An empty stomach, an eagerness to drink, a passing familiarity with this (short!) novel and perhaps a thematically appropriate food. Or not.

I hope to see all of you there. As I missed the last meeting to see a family member get married, Megan has moved my book club grade down to a D. I'm hoping that a successful hosting can pull me back up to a C+.

Mike D.

Aunt Hagar's Cram Session

With the next Brooklyn book club meeting in less than a week, you should be heading into your last fifty pages. Unfortunately, you're still stuck on page 12, fighting through "In the Blink of God's Eye."

That's why we got cramming! With limited time to get through 14 thirty-page stories, it's time to get your priorities straight. Figuring out which stories are superior and which are little more than filler, however, is virtually impossible without magic. Lucky for you I've already read the whole book, so I'm in a good position to recommend a good alternative to unreliable, scattershot methods like "random guessing" and "reading the stories in order."

If I had to do it again, and I only had time to read a third of the book, these are the stories I'd tackle first:

Old Boys, Old Girls

Bad Neighbors

A Rich Man

All Aunt Hagar's Children

Blindsided

For my money, those are the five best. If you have more time and want to dig a little deeper, here are another five that probably won't kill you:

Common Law

Spanish in the Morning

The Devil Swims Across the Anacostia

A Poor Guatelmalan Dreams...

Resurrecting Methuselah

And honestly, I would only read these last four if I wanted to capture Edward P. Jones at his least impressive:

Tapestry

In the Blink of God's Eye

Root Worker

Adam Robinson

Good luck, folks, and happy cramming! Hope to see you at 1:30 this Sunday.