22nd Meeting: The Hobbit

In December (yep, I'm over six months behind...), the Eat, Drink, and Literarians had their 22nd meeting. Aaron hosted, and in honor of the first installment of The Hobbit movies (btw, we all agreed that it was outrageous to make it a trilogy of films), Aaron selected Tolkein's classic to discuss.

This definitely strayed from our normal book-picking policies. While it is not a rule, we typically follow the guideline that books should only be picked if they haven't been read before. Books that are already read and known come along with baggage-- if a host has strong emotional ties to a character or plot, and the rest of the book clubbers decide they hate it, discussion can become awkward if not defensive. But, in the case of The Hobbit, we all agreed it would be fun to re-read ( or read for the first time, for a couple of the Eat, Drink, and Literarians).

Since most of us were re-reading the book, discussion was focused on our changing views of the book, and not on our first impressions. Everyone remarked that they discovered something new about the story. In my case, I discovered how silly and funny the whole story is! When I was 12, I read the book (and watched the cartoon- anyone remember that terrible thing?), and I remember all of the adventure, but none of humor. Also, I realized how Bilbo's journey can be construed as a "coming of age" story in the way he grows as a person.... er... hobbit.

While this meeting was much different than most, we unanimously enjoyed the classic tale and felt amply prepared to bash the new films for straying from Tolkein's vision. (Just a note-- we had plans to see the movie together, but it never worked out, so I still haven't seen it or done any real bashing! This must be remedied.)

20th Meeting: The Lathe of Heaven

After reading Ray Bradbury for our 19th book club, Mandy was inspired to choose another old school sci-fi book for our 20th meeting. She selected The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin (1971).

It seems that sci-fi is a good genre for our reading group, as the book received a pretty warm reception overall. The story follows a man named George Orr who realizes that his dreams are literally coming true. If he dreams about a horse running in a field, he wakes up to see a painting change from a mountain to a horse; if he dreams there was a plague that wiped out half of the population, when he wakes up, reality confirms that it's true. When Orr visits a psychiatrist, Dr. Haber, he is hoping to put an end to his "effective" dreams, but the doctor tries to wield Orr's powers and use them for his own good by giving Orr things to dream about.

While reading the book, I kept thinking to myself "I've heard this story before" in some form or another (e.g., Inception anyone?) but when I reminded myself that this story came first -- in 1971-- I was blown away with the genius of it all.

This is the type of book that all of the Eat, Drink, and Literarians wanted to read again after discussing it so we could re-discover the symbolism, foreshadowing, and brilliance of Le Guin.

19th Meeting: The Illustrated Man

I like to think that organizing a book club and writing a blog about the books I read means that I am a well-read person. But it's mostly a lie. I read every night, yes, but I don't read the books that I "should" read. You know, the books that everyone else has read? I guess you could also call them "classics". Ha! Anyway, I am mostly in denial about this because of all of the other signs that point to me being a prolific consumer of literature, but every so often, I can't escape the fact that I'm a fraud. For example, when one of the book club members selects a collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury.

everyone else in the world: "Oh, this book will be great! Fahrenheit 451 was so amazing, I bet this will  be wonderful too."
me: ... *crickets chirping*... "yeah, totally."

I mean, obviously, I've heard of Fahrenheit 451, I just haven't, you know... read it. But that doesn't mean I couldn't enjoy this month's book selection The Illustrated Man. Collections of short stories are almost always a hit at book club, because there's always enough variety that people find at least one story they connect with. This book was no exception- in fact, we unanimously liked the book!

The short stories in this book are all futuristic (though many take place in the 1980's or now-- they were all written in the 1950's) takes on technology and human nature. The stories either were about the end of the world through atomic warfare (something constantly present in the collective thoughts of the 1950's), or they were about a different life for people once space travel and "rocket men" were everywhere. While these specific events are not true of the future (at least yet) something Bradbury got right was the state of human nature. Bradbury captured the complexity of human character so perfectly-- while the potential for things like love and happiness exist in all of us, so do things like hate, fear, anger, and entitlement. Bradbury showed how consumerism and technology would be enough to corrupt us; while he was talking about rockets and not ipods, I'm not sure we are too far off his predictions of the world!

The short stories in this book were all tied together by the story of the illustrated man. This man was covered in magical tattoos that all moved and told stories, supposedly of the future. Each of the stories in the book was then supposedly one of the tattoos. I really liked this as a tool to tie the stories together. And in fact, the prologue and epilogue were some of my favorite parts of the whole collection! All in all, I thought this was a great book. After a fantastic discussion of this and Bradbury's other works, I may actually try to read Fahrenheit 451 one of these days!

*A final note. There are many editions of this book, and between the six people at our meeting, we had four different versions that didn't always include the same stories. Only one or two stories were different between the versions, but until we discovered that, our discussions were pretty bizarre (e.g., "You don't remember that story? But it was one of the best!)

18th meeting: Stone Butch Blues

On Sunday, the 18th meeting of Eat, Drink, and Be Literary was hosted by Tana-- it also marked her last meeting since she is graduating (color me jealous) and will be moving to Boston to start a post-doc.  For her last book, Tana chose Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg.

Our meeting was small this time-- only five people-- but we had a great discussion of the novel. It is the story (seeming based loosely on Feinberg's life) of a young butch lesbian, Jess growing up in the 1950's-60's in Buffalo as she struggles with her her gender identity and finds a place in the world. It was brutally hard to read at times (emotionally, I mean), but I am so glad I got through it. This book helped me to really take the perspective of a group of people that I haven't ever before.

The struggles that Jess faced as a child and young adult were horrific, and while this story was fictionalized, I assume that it s representative of so many people's stories. The entire group mentioned how glad we were to be living in a time where women can't be arrested and beaten and raped simply for dancing with one another. While the fight for equality in this country is far from being won, I am thankful that we are closer now than we were 50 years ago.

As happy as I am that I read this, I didn't love all of it. I thought that the first hundred pages were incredibly powerful and eye-opening, but the middle of the book just dragged for me.  A huge part of the novel dealt with the formation of unions and other social movements of the 60's, and while I find this whole era incredibly important and fascinating, I almost thought that there was too much going on in certain points of the book. Too many characters, each with so many struggles I almost became desensitized to them. I guess I just think that the plot could have been streamlined somehow.

17th Meeting: Rabbit, Run

The 17th meeting of Eat, Drink, and Be Literary was hosted by one of our newest members, Kelsey. She made her official mark on our book club with a bang, by selecting John Updike's classic Rabbit, Run. Our whole club remarked that while knowing John Updike's name, that we had never actually read anything by him. We were very glad to have righted this obvious wrong!

This novel, the first of the Rabbit series, follows a young man nicknamed Rabbit suffering what we would now refer to as a quarter life crisis. He is 26, married to an alcoholic, has a toddler and a baby on the way, and impulsively decides to leave his home and his life. He runs away from all responsibilities, searches for an identity, and leaves a nothing but uncertainty and destruction behind. 

While I am sure this novel was groundbreaking and scandalous (hence being a banned book) when it came out in the 1960's, for most of us in the book club, it felt like a tired story. We have actually read quite a few novels lately about men suffering crises of virtue and identity, and it is really only palatable in small doses. 

Updike's prose were incredible, though, and it was apparent to all of us why he is a household name. While I didn't love the book, and I especially didn't love Rabbit, I think I might be interested in reading the later books in the series in hopes that I see some actual growth in the character. 

Because of the symbolism of Rabbit's nickname (as a creature without much foresight, and with too much fight or flight instinct), Kelsey suggested that we bring "animal" themed food. I brought radishes from my garden (that's rabbit food, right?), and we had other goodies such as puppy chow, ants on a log, and monkey bread. It was probably the cutest theme yet!

16th Meeting: Love Creeps

Never have I laughed as hard at a book as I did for the April book club book, Love Creeps by Amanda Filapacchi. (Yes, I said April, and yes, it is late June. I'm a little behind. Sue me!) I had high expectations for the book, since my friend Beth picked it, and her last book club pick was our only unanimously liked book-- Willful Creatures.  Luckily this book did not disappoint (well, me anyway-- the rest of the group was mixed, as usual). It was one of the most odd books I've ever read, and riotously funny. 

The book follows a successful New York art gallery owner, Lynn, who is suffering from a "lack of desire". Lynn tries to take a note from her stalker, a schlubby guy named Alan, and stalk someone. Lynn's thought process was that if she pretended to desire someone, the desire would eventually turn real. So, she selects the first man she sees, a tall, dark, and handsome man named Roland, and starts following him. She tries to copy everything her own stalker does, and ends up just forwarding all of Alan's notes (and even some nude photos) without even changing the signatures. While this sounds twisted and dark, it was written in such a matter-of-fact way that the silliness of the situation was the only thing that came through. 

The rest of the novel followed this bizarre love triangle-- the stalked, the stalked-stalker, and the stalker-- through a number of adventures, including an eventual reversal of the stalker chain. Some of the high points of the book for me were the passages told from the point of view of Ray, a homeless former psychologist. Apparently, Ray suffered from "excessive curiosity disorder" and while a therapist, he became so enthralled with his clients' problems that he would call them repeatedly to ask how their relationships were going. This ridiculous condition eventually lost him his job, and landed him in jail on harassment charges. So, once he was out of jail, he lived on the street, and watched the stalk-train walk past. As each of them would stop to give him change, he would whisper advice to them-- "you are being followed" or "get a hobby". It. Was. Hilarious. I clearly cannot do Filpacchi any justice by trying to describe this book, so instead I will just say read this book as soon as possible. Buy it, borrow it, or read it over someone's shoulder on the bus. Just be ready to laugh! As mentioned, the rest of the book club was a bit mixed in their reviews. While everyone agreed that it was funny, a few people didn't think that was enough, and were searching for some sort of meaning behind the silliness. There may have been a point to it, and there may not, but for me, it didn't really matter. I was entertained, and that was enough!

15th Meeting: Wise Blood

The 15th meeting of Eat, Drink, and Be Literary took place on a sunny and mild Sunday afternoon in February. One our newest members, Rachel, hosted the discussion of Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor. I was extremely excited to read this book for many reasons- mostly, I have embarrassingly never read anything by Flannery O'Connor, and I feel as though I should considering she is a literary icon. Also, she is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and happened to write at least a portion of the novel while here! It is incredible to be living in the same city and walking the same streets as so many literary geniuses, and reading the works they wrote while living and studying here is just too cool.

Unfortunately, I didn't love the book-- and barring one exception, neither did most Literary Eaters & Drinkers. We had an amazing discussion though. The novel is about a maladjusted WWII veteran, Hazel Motes, who returns to the south from the war having a crisis of faith. He starts preaching and starts the "church of Christ without Christ". The cast of characters are all misguided mis-fits and the symbolism, religious themes, and dark comedy of the book are inescapable. 

I appreciate the book much more after our discussion, but while reading it, I kept feeling like I just wasn't smart enough. I didn't see the masterpiece, I didn't get the comedy, I wasn't shocked (in a good way or bad) by the religious themes. Overall? I just didn't get it. The chapters didn't seem to flow, and I was just not that engaged. At first I chalked it up to the fact that I was incredibly preoccupied with prospectus writing and applying for fellowships, but after finishing the novel, I looked it up on Wikipedia (the source of all knowledge, right?) and found out that the book was basically a compilation of multiple originally separate short stories (one of which was O'Connor's thesis at Iowa!) After I realized that the chapters were originally distinct stories, I felt much better about the whole book. And in fact, I could see merit in individual chapters and I think I would have enjoyed them much more if they were just a short story. 

Kelsey, the loan true fan of the book, is also a huge fan of O'Connor in general. She said that once you "get" the dark comedy of her work, that the rest falls into place.  So, with that endorsement, I have decided not to give up on O'Connor's work! And maybe in time, I will come back to Wise Blood and see if I can get a clue! 

14th Meeting (and a blizzard): Caramelo

We have had the most mild winter that I can remember this year. (I realize I probably just jinxed us to have the coldest snowiest March ever, but oh well). In fact, we've only had a few days with our typical sub-zero temperatures, and only one significant snow storm. Because I am so fantastic at planning things, that one measly blizzard we had fell on the day of our January book club meeting. Because of the craptastic weather, we had a pretty small group, but a great meeting. I was the host for the meeting (which meant I didn't have to drive in the snow! yay!), and I picked the book Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros.

I picked Caramelo for several reasons. First off, despite reading a wide variety of literature over the last year and a half, our book club hasn't read very many books by female authors; and we have read exactly zero books by women that are told from a woman's point of view. Considering the fact that the club is predominantly female, this is somewhat surprising! Caramelo fit both of these criteria-- Sandra Cisneros is obviously a woman, and the book is semi-autobiographical and told from the point of view of a young Mexican American girl named Celaya. The second reason I selected this book, is that Sandra Cisneros went to Loyola University Chicago for her undergraduate education (just like me!) and to the University of Iowa for her graduate education (just like me!). The third reason is that her graduate degree was from the Writer's Workshop at Iowa and I want to support anything coming out of Iowa! And the fourth and final reason I chose this book was that I already owned it. In college, I took several hispanic or latina women's writers courses with the most amazing professor, Dr. Cavallo. My friends and I adored Dr. Cavallo, her amazing pencil skirts, and her ability to make us passionate about any piece of literature. It was in her classes that I really learned how to be a critical reader and I will never forget her impact on me! Anyway, Caramelo was on the syllabus for one of her classes-- however, we got behind thanks to a discussion about some other great book, and never got around to finishing it. I have held on to the book since (for 7 years) and figured it was time I actually read it!

After that huge amount of back story, it might be fairly obvious that I was expecting great things out of the book. Seven years of build-up do that to a girl! I don't know if it was just because of my exceedingly high expectations that this book couldn't stand a chance, but I didn't really like it all that much.

Oddly enough, everyone at book club agreed with me. I say this is odd because we have all been in agreement about our feelings towards a book exactly ONE time in the 14 meetings we've had (it was at our second meeting, back when we uniformly all loved Willful Creatures by Aimee Bender picked by Beth). I am bummed that this time our unanimous opinion wasn't so great, but we still had a great discussion.

The book reads like a memoir, but is technically a novel. It is the story of a a young Mexican-American girl named Celaya and her huge, vibrant, and dysfunctional family. What was interesting about the book club's unanimous "meh" feelings towards this book, is that we all agreed that it was pleasant to read. There were passages that we thought would have made wonderful short stories, or even novellas. Throughout the entire novel, Cisneros used creative and memorable turns of phrase, and described things so colorfully that on occasion I dog-eared pages so I could jot things down later. The novel was fairly engaging, but, none of that seemed to matter-- nobody felt especially connected to any of the characters, so as pleasant as the book was, we wouldn't have thought twice about setting the book down and never picking it back up. I guess that is actually one of the good things about book club: it forces me to finish books that would otherwise turn into "never-enders" for me.

The real hit of the meeting, for those who were brave enough to rough the blizzard conditions, was the food. Since the book was largely about life in Mexico, we decided to have a Mexican inspired feast. I made tacos-- I had a chipotle pulled pork filling and my very favorite sweet potato black bean filling for the vegetarians. We had plantain chips c/o Jillian, guacamole thanks to Rachel, and the most amazing little short bread cookies with spicy chocolate dipping sauce made by Mandy. Josh and Beth brought margarita fixings (which made me wonder why we don't celebrate the "drink" portion of this blog more often) and they also managed to find the same brand of soda that Cisneros talks about in the book at Hy Vee. We had lime, mandarin, and pineapple Jaritos. (The pineapple was my favorite.) All in all, it was one of our best meals ever, especially since it fit so perfectly with the book.

Thirteenth Meeting: Cloud Atlas

In December, Aaron hosted the thirteenth meeting of Eat, Drink, and Be Literary. For me, it seemed like "unlucky 13" because I did not particularly enjoy his pick Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell. The book consisted of six short stories that wove through time and space. The book itself was like a palindrome-- the first story ended abruptly (I'm talking mid-sentence) about half way through and didn't continue until the very end of the book. In other words, it was both the first and last story, and the second was also the second-to-last.

Each story was told from the point of view of a wildly different character. First up was Adam Ewing, a sailor exploring New Zealand in the 19th century, next was Robert Frobisher, a pompous young composer in the early 20th century living in Belgium; third was Louisa Rey, a young woman living in the 1970's in California, fourth was Timothy Cavendish, a book publisher in what seemed to be present day England, fifth was Son-Mi, a clone turned revolutionary in a futuristic Korea, and finally was Zachry living in post-apocalyptic Hawaii. Each character seemed to be reincarnations of the previous character, and also read or watched the same short stories as we read.

If nothing else, I was incredibly impressed by Mitchell's abilities to write from the point of view of these wildly different people. However, it was mostly lost on me. I especially couldn't read the sections told in dialects (Zachry's in particular). I found myself turning pages without knowing at all what I was reading. The book club meeting definitely helped me appreciate the book more, and I left feeling like I should re-read the book. (I'm not going to, mind you, but I think I should).

As usual, the book had a mixed review among the group. Of eight or so people that came, I think half liked it, and half didn't... though most of us were probably hovering towards the neutral feeling. I will not be recommending this book to anyone anytime soon, unless they are a philosopher or really into thinking hard and not understanding anything... but again, I have to hand it to David Mitchell for writing such an incredible book. I feel bad that most of it was lost on me.

* This novel is being adapted into a film sometime soon, and has an incredible cast. I'm definitely going to check it out, and maybe (hopefully!) I will get more out of it.

Twelfth Meeting: Norwegian Wood

Back in October (pretend this post happened approximately two months ago), Anne hosted our tiniest, coziest book club yet. Only four people were at the meeting, but in some ways it allowed for more discussion than usual.... and definitely more food. My pants are getting tighter just thinking about Sarah's raspberry bars and Kelsey's mint hot chocolate. But I digress--

For our twelfth meeting, we read Norwegian Wood by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The book was our group's first piece of translated literature, and I think it was a hit. The novel (the title of which you may recognize as a Beatle's song)  is a nostalgic teenage-angst ridden love story on the surface, and a deep philosophical "what is the meaning of life" story once the layers are peeled back. The novel's protagonist is Toru Watanabe, a young man living in Tokyo in the 1960's, and we follow his life as he deals with loss and love and relationships with two women, fragile Naoko and spunky Midori. I didn't really emotionally connect with any of the characters and I couldn't tell if it was a product of the translated literature, or if it was that Toru was sort of vapid and unfeeling. Despite this lack of a connection, I still found the novel engaging (and very racy at times-- wowza!).

I think by the end of the meeting we all left with more questions than we started with mostly because none of us knew anything about life in 1960's in Japan, and what things were symbolic and what things should be taken at face value. That being said, I think the discussion helped me appreciate the work a lot more.



(Note-- my Amazon Associates button has disappeared, so I can no longer link to the book.. Bummer.)

Eleventh Meeting: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

So, as it turns out, working on my prospectus, grading papers, and having ever Saturday designated for tailgating and football not only makes me neglect blogging, but reading in general. For the past three months, I have only had time to read book club books (usually I read at least one book on the side each month too). And, I am two meetings behind in my blogging! Well, that all changes now.

September's meeting was hosted by my besty Lisa. She picked Rebecca's Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.  The story of Henrietta Lacks is an unusual one-- as a woman, hardly anything is known about her, but her contribution to science is infamous! Henrietta was a poor black woman living outside of Baltimore in the 1950's. When she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, her doctors took some of her cancer cells without the knowledge or consent of her family. These cells, known as HeLa cells, were the first human cells ever able to be cultured, and they revolutionized the way we research and understand cancer and living cells in general. The book is part biography of Henrietta, part biography of HeLa, part scientific journalism, part memoir of the author uncovering this story, and reads like a novel. I found it to be incredible.

The book raises a lot of issues from racism to medical ethics to justice. Why were the HeLa cells taken without consent? Why was her family never told about the cells? How could Henrietta's cells be so influential in the face of health care today while her children can't even afford a doctor's visit? While it would be easy to point fingers and paint certain parties as villains in this book, I think that Skloot did a great job of reporting objectively, with no judgment, the role of each family member or physician.

As usual, the review of Eat, Drink, and Be Literary were mixed. While most of the book club members are psychologists, we have our fair share of experience with ethics and ethical violations, so some parties thought the book was just exploiting another example of why there are so many ethical codes now. It was really interesting to hear Lisa's point of view as a health care professional, and also to hear our friend Mandy's point of view as a biologist. Mandy works with HeLa cells and could give us the inside scoop on how prevalent they are in labs worldwide, and how much they now cost to purchase. I loved the book, and hearing everyone's points of view I loved it even more!

Tenth Meeting: Stiches A Memoir

When Eat, Drink, and Be Literary regular Sarah told me her pick for book club I was excited and very nervous. Sarah picked Stitches: A Memoir by David Small which happens to be a graphic novel. I had never read (er.... looked at) a graphic novel before so I was nervous that I wasn't going to do it properly. I realize how crazy that sounds, but I stand by it. I was afraid that I wouldn't "get" the book fully or notice what I was supposed to. Luckily, it seemed to go pretty well. Small's story was actually best told through images.

Since I have recently been on a memoir-about-a-messed-up-childhood kick, this fit right in. Small grew up in a love-less and silent home. His mother, who he later found out was a closeted lesbian, was harsh and cold and silent. His father was fairly absent. His brother barely in his life. If that wasn't enough to be considered a "messed up" childhood, Small had a growth on his neck removed, and the doctor took half of his vocal chords leaving him voice-less. Several months later he found out that this growth was actually cancer that had gone untreated for years. Small spent the rest of his youth, and much of his adulthood dealing with the fact that he couldn't speak above a raspy whisper, and that he had been lied to about his life.

The minimal words and dark artwork in this memoir were incredible vehicles for the theme of silence in Small's life. The silence of anger, of confusion, of unhappiness, and of actually being voice-less were all uniquely powerful depicted in one scene after another.

Sarah did a great job hosting a discussion about this book. Our discussion drifted back and forth from the content and the format of this book almost seamlessly.

If you have never read a graphic novel before, this is a good gate-way novel as it is not comic book-y or super hero-ish, but is definitely a piece of literature. I'm very glad it was picked for book club and that I was able to expand my horizons.

Ninth Meeting: The Charioteer

June's meeting of Eat, Drink, and Be Literary was hosted by my friend and former roommate Matt. He picked a book called The Charioteer, by Mary Renault. The story was about Laurie, a young british soldier in WWII who also happened to be gay. He struggled with these feelings and with who he wanted to be, and found himself quickly caught in a love triangle- one side he is being pulled by Andrew, a very innocent concientious objector o the war with whom he has an innocent love that neither of them act on, and on the other side, he is being pulled by Ralph, a young man that Laurie had gone to school with when he was young. Ralph is not innocent like Andrew, at all, and in many ways acts as a mentor to Laurie as he discovered himself and what his sexual-identity was.

The book was really difficult to read-- perhaps our most difficult yet! For one thing, the book was written in the 1950's, and for another thing, the book was written by a British woman. So, the vernacular and style were basically foreign. However, there were times when the language used was absolutely poetic. The writing is much more flowery than is found in today's novels, and in between the vague and hard-to-understand sections were beautiful descriptions.


For me, something that made the book even more difficult was that I didn't really like any of the characters. In fact, my alliance laid more with the peripheral characters in the story than Laurie or his two loves. Also, I embarrassingly interpreted all 1950's British slang as innuendo.... and I found out at the meeting that I wasn't the only one who experienced this!

The discussion of the book was one of our best yet. It was a small group this time (only six), probably because of the difficulty of the book, but six of us showed up with treats and ideas in hand. As usual, we were divided on our opinions of the book, but we all agreed that we didn't quite know what happened. Thank goodness Beth (who majored in English literature in college) was there to explain everything to us! Matt asked some great questions that really made me appreciate the story more. After having the plot re-explained to us, we discussed the symbolism in the book, and then whether we thought the book was still relevant today. We also talked about the author who wrote the book partially based on personal experience. Ms. Renault was working as a nurse during the war, and was a lesbian. She wrote the story based on gay soldiers she had befriended, and presumably also relied on her own experience while in search for her gay identity in a time where there was no such thing.


Though I didn't particularly like reading the book, my opinion towards it after our discussion is a lot higher.

Eighth meeting: Zeitoun

Oh my! I am a bad blogger. I am two months, and several books behind. I blame it on the distractions of sunny patios and cold beers... 

Last month (May 2011), Cheyenne hosted our eighth book club meeting to discuss Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. As my previous post indicated, I read the book in two nights and really loved it. But, I love almost everything Dave Eggers does, so that is no surprise. To remind you, this book is written like a novel but is actually the true story of the Zeitoun family from New Orleans before, during, and after Katrina. It is gripping, intense, and magnificently (I think anyway) shows the many different sides of people's responses to disaster. No spoiler alerts here-- though people may feel like they know about what happened in the aftermath of Katrina, what happens to the Zeitoun family is shocking, and best left as a surprise!

The meeting was in College Green Park, and we had a picnic! Pressed sandwiches, strawberry lemonade, spinach salad, and gooey brownies (Matt's first ever attempt at baking-- they were great!) All eight of us at the meeting were cozy and cute under the little gazebo when suddenly the wind picked up, a dark cloud loomed ahead, and all of the families and kids in the part started fleeing. We all started to laugh because it seemed so eerily similar to the book. Like Zeitoun, the main character, we decided to stay in our gazebo to ride out the storm. This change in the weather was the perfect segue to a great discussion of the book.

As usual, the group was split in their opinion of the book. For example, while I thought the book was the least political Katrina story I've read, others thought it was too political. The varying opinions of the Eat, Drink, and Be Literarians never cease to surprise me, but also impress me. It is great to examine a piece of literature from so many different points of view. One thing we could all agree on is that the Zeitoun family has a story that should be told.

If you have read the book already, or perhaps don't mind a spoiler, see a video interview with Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun here.

Seventh Meeting: The Book Thief

The impossible happened. Not every single person at book club absolutely loved The Book Thief. The audacity! I know, I know-- this is what makes a book club great. There are a variety of points of view and opinions and you get challenged to read books that you would not normally choose or appreciate. And all of that crap. But I was so unbelievable moved and touched by this wonderful book (see my gushing review, 2 posts ago) that I was literally shocked that all members of Eat, Drink, and Be Literary did not agree.

This is not to say that people hated the book or anything. Of the seven participants present, one loved it (yours truly), three liked it, one only finished half, and two disliked it. This breakdown is fairly typical  of the meetings, but I am still surprised.

The meeting was good, though I will admit I was defensive about the novel. I feel like it is such a gem that I could barely tolerate negativity. We spent a long time talking about the role of death as the narrator, and how the book would be different from a different point of view. We also compared this novel to others revolved around the Holocaust or WWII, and who the intended audience of the book really was. It is being marketed as a book for young adults, but the club generally agreed that it was more for "real" adults... whatever that means.

Despite not hearing rave reviews when we went around the circle, I am still confident and comfortable in saying that this book will forever touch my heart, and is very safely one of my favorite novels ever.

One thing we all agreed on was the food. We decided to have a Jewish themed meal. Challah, noodle kugel, this delicious carrot onion dish (not sure the name) and apple latkes (my contribution) were all a big hit.

Sixth Meeting: The Imperfectionists

Yesterday was the sixth meeting of Eat, Drink, and Be Literary-- and we really lived up to the name of our book club, let me tell you! Halley hosted our biggest group yet (14!) for brunch and discussion of Tom Rachman's Imperfectionists.

The book is actually quite similar in format to our fifth book club book (Let the Great World Spin);  it is a series of short stories that all intertwine to become a novel. This novel is set in Rome (a bonus for me) and each chapter is told from the point of view of a member of the staff at an American newspaper there. The characters are desperate and flawed, and the chapters are told much like a newspaper article would be-- they are abrupt and lack closure. 

The overwhelming opinion of the group was "eh"; however, which side of "eh" people fell on was quite varied. Some thought it was boring, some thought it was sad. I am apparently twisted because I thought the book was hilarious. I guess I thought the desperation and tragic nature of each story was supposed to be part of a dark comedy.

One thing everyone agreed on was that the book was well written, and that each of the characters had a distinct voice. We heard from work-a-holic editors, disgruntled copy writers, dried up correspondents so desperate for a headline that they fabricated an entire story, an uninspired obituary writer, and one of my favorites-- a dedicated reader who was a decade behind in the news, but read every word of every issue. Each character was more pathetic than the next (the newspaper included) and I found it to be funny, charming, and engaging. Finding out I was mostly alone in this opinion is making me re-think whether I would recommend this book to others.

Despite the apathy and negative feelings towards the book, we had an incredibly lively discussion, much of which was due to Halley's fantastic list of discussion questions. I think it was also due to the large numbers present. Several people came for the first time (including Lisa which I was incredibly nervous about since she is my "book club guru" but she had a great time) and nobody was shy about expressing opinions or asking questions. Every meeting I am just overwhelmed with gratitude for being surrounded by such brilliant people!

These brilliant people also happen to be fantastic chefs so I am doubly grateful. Our spread was pretty incredible. I contributed some measy "bake'n" (baked bacon), but others took the brunch challenge more seriously. We had mimosas, crepes, an egg casserole, cappuccino muffins, cranberry muffins, banana bread with chocolate chips, and the most amazing lemon curd filled pastry things I have ever had. I don't even know what they are called, but man they were something.

Overall a GREAT meeting. I'm still on my book club high a day later!

Fifth Meeting: Let the Great World Spin

I am such a bad blogger! We had a book club meeting a month ago and I still haven't said a word about the book or the meeting! Shame on me. Hopefully I can redeem myself.

The January meeting of Eat, Drink, and Literary was hosted by my lovely friend Mandy, and we discussed Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin. The novel is written like a series of short stories, but all (or most, anyway) of the chapters are intertwined to a degree. The novel begins with a description of Philippe Petit who tight-rope walked between the two world trade center towers on August 7th, 1974. The rest of the chapters were told from the point of view of people living in the city during that time. Some of them saw the tight rope walker, some didn't-- but all had a remarkable day on August 7th. The cast of characters ranged from wealthy Park Avenue ladies to Irish immigrants to prostitutes in the Bronx. I enjoyed the book for the most part, and when I read the afterward by the author, I think I figured out why. After 9/11, he saw how one event could connect an entire city of individuals. So, he wrote about another event that could offer a similar kind of connection. I am a sucker for the idea that we are all part of something bigger than ourselves. Even something like a "man on wire" can shed light on the fact that we are all connected.

My favorite two chapters were from the points of view of two very different women. First, was Tillie, the prostitute who reflected on her life in a matter-of-fact, hilarious, and inspiring way while she was serving time for her offenses. Second was Gloria, the college educated Midwestern black woman who lost her sons in the Vietnam War and ended up adopting Tillie's grand children. Though these women were incredible opposites in most parts of their lives, I could feel a similar conviction coming through both of their distinct voices.

The discussion of the book was interesting. Mandy asked some really interesting questions and was able to approach the book both as a novel and as short stories (one chapter or character at a time). Overall, the impression of the book was that it was good.... but not as good as we were all expecting.The two characters that seemed to be most central to the book, and the most connected to all of the chapters, were the two characters that we never actually heard from. In fact, they died almost immediately in the book. The fact that we could never get inside the head of the Irish monk Corrigan, and teenage prostitute from the Bronx, Jazzlyn was a puzzle to everyone. We couldn't decide if this was a good thing or a bad thing-- in some ways, we liked it. The main characters became more subjective and not knowing anything about them just made us want to know more. In other ways, we found it frustrating that we couldn't really see what was so important about these characters or why we were supposed to care about them so much.

Similarly, we had mixed feelings about the intertwining of the characters/stories. The chapters were not overly intertwined, which was nice, but in some cases we were left without closure.

The thing we all agreed on is that the last chapter was unnecessary. It was the only chapter told in a different time period (present day), and it just took a different tone entirely. The book would have been far better if it left us in the gloomier era of 1970's Manhattan.

Despite the sub-par ending and the minor grudges here and there, as a group we mostly liked the book. However, the book was NOTHING compared to the incredible spread. Mandy decided to host an afternoon tea so we had a selection of 50 plus teas, honey, sugar, and milk plus every goodie you can imagine with it. Two types of scones (I have yet to decide which was better-- the currant or the pumpkin. I am still dreaming about both), Devonshire cream, lemon curd, cheese straws, fresh fruit, a delicious tart, tea party cupcakes, and my contribution of cucumber sandwiches. Whether or not this was the best book we've read it was by far the best meal.

Fourth meeting: Confederacy of Dunces

Picking up a 400 page Pulitzer prize winner to read for a book club is a bit daunting. First off, the mere heft of the book can scare a person off, and secondly the pressure to not only understand but like a book that has been touted world wide as a masterpiece is immense. I picked up Confederacy of Dunces with these fears in mind. What if I don't finish? (I did, by the way, an hour before the meeting) What if I don't get it? What if I don't like it and everyone else does? Of course after the book club meeting I realized that picking a book like this and leading an intelligible discussion about it is an even bigger feat. Luckily, my friend and fellow Psychology grad student Josh is braver (or better at faking) than I, and pulled off another fabulous meeting of Eat, Drink, and Be Literary.

Entering the meeting, I mostly had negative feelings about the book, but the lingering idea that I was missing something that made others think this book was worth a Pulitzer made me suspend final judgment. As it turns out, other members of the book club tended to agree. Though we could recognize literary merit that we haven't seen in our club otherwise, nobody was that excited about the book and overall we just felt ambivalent. The main character Ignatius Reilly was disgusting in every sense of the word and hardly a sympathetic protagonist; described as obese with a "damp" mustache and yellow eyes, Ignatius lacked all social graces and had severe delusions of grandeur. The story dragged on and on seemingly without any character development, and I felt that the point of this novel could have been better expressed in perhaps a twenty page short story. Each chapter seemed to be the same-- a huge ensemble of characters dealing with life in New Orleans in the 1960's. No characters take charge of their own lives but rather just let life happen to them. And, like Ignatius, the entire cast of characters was some what despicable. (Though, even I have to admit that some of these "dunces" managed to make me laugh out loud a time or two).

It wasn't until one of the last discussion topics of the meeting that a positive opinion of the work was restored. Early on in the meeting, someone commented on the fact that the story behind the author and getting the book published was better than the actual book-- John Kennedy Toole made several attempts to get his masterpiece published, but it was not until after he committed suicide that the book (with the help of his mother) that the book was discovered and of course subsequently won the most prestigious literary award around. At first this comment sort of rolled past me. I agreed the forward was easier and more pleasant to read, but I didn't give it much other thought. However, when Josh asked us if we had thought about the point of view of the author when reading the novel, I was stumped. Somehow I hadn't thought about the depressed but brilliant man writing the novel and what his worldview must have been like-- an unsuccessful author, he probably felt helpless and like he had no control. This was obvious in the representation of the characters. At the meeting, several people pondered which characters might have been somewhat autobiographical, and some speculated that perhaps all were in some way. Thinking about the novel from this point of view caused me to suddenly shift my opinion of the entire work. Suddenly the disgusting and tedious "adventures" of the dunces of New Orleans seemed incredibly symbolic of a tragic and wasted life.

Overall, I am very glad that I can add Confederacy of Dunces to the ever-growing list of book club books. I got so much more out of the novel through the meeting than I ever possibly could have reading the book on my own. And in all honesty, this might have turned into a "never-ender" if I didn't have the idea of insightful discussion and a tasty pot luck (New Orleans themed, by the way-- beignets, Cajun potatoes, and red beans with rice) to motivate me.

Third meeting- Little Bee

Last Sunday, Jamie hosted a lovely book club brunch meeting to discuss her book selection, Little Bee by Chris Cleave. 

I had a unique experience with this book. While reading it, I felt like I couldn't put it down. I opted to pick it up each evening instead of diving into the excessively long list of shows saved on my DVR, and that says a lot. However, immediately upon finishing the book I felt an overwhelming feeling of..... well, nothing. And as time went on, that nothingness turned into faint critiques, mild annoyance, and then slowly but surely, a confused feeling of dislike. Needless to say, I was anxious to hear a discussion about the book and come to a more definitive conclusion about its merits (or perhaps lack there of).

The other members (we had 7 in attendance) were varied in their opinions. A few felt confused like me or ambivalent, two liked it, and two despised it. This variance actually provided for some very stimulating conversation. But, before I tell you about our conversation, I will tell you about the book. The novel's jacket provides no description of the story other than a suggestion that the story is magical and shouldn't be ruined... well, for anyone who is concerned, I am about to ruin it. SPOILER ALERT: The story is told from alternating points of view: half of the time we are in the head of Little Bee, a Nigerian refugee seeking asylum in England. The other half, we hear from Sarah, a British businesswoman, recent widow, and mother to a four year old who believes himself to be Batman. As the story goes on, we learn that Little Bee and Sara (as well as Sara's late husband, Andrew) met on a beach in Nigeria where the poms were vacationing and Little Bee (along with her sister) were running from Nigerian oil company workers who were set out to kill them for knowing too much. And now to fast forward a bit: Sara cut off her finger to save Little Bee's life. Unfortunately, Little Bee's sister didn't make it. Sara's husband was distraught that he didn't to more, and two years later when Little Bee shows up in England, he kills himself. The rest of the story started there (and seemed unnecessary to most of us).

Even just summarizing the plot again, it is clear to me that this novel should have been powerful--tales of survival, of loss, of love, of terror, of resilience..... But most of us were in agreement that it was lacking in some major ways. First off, the writing was nothing special. As a group of academics who read day in and out we are potentially harsher than your average reader, but nobody was impressed. Secondly, the character development was almost non-existent. We were introduced to characters going through intense emotional situations, yet we didn't really know them and (at least personally) did not feel the emotions that we were "supposed to". There was just  no connection to the main characters... and there were supporting roles that seemed out of place. Finally, the book seemed to come to the climax only a third of the way in. The plot after the much anticipated beach scene was overly cumbersome and in some cases ridiculous.

It maybe obvious given the previous paragraphs that I didn't like Little Bee, but I still felt conflicted going into the meeting. After the discussion with the group I came to a careful decision that I didn't like the book (despite what my devouring behaviors suggested while reading it). In fact, I think all but maybe one hold out agreed by the end of the meeting that the book wasn't so fabulous. Ahh, group polarization, it's a beautiful thing (I love social psychology in action!!)

Perhaps more exciting to me was the selection of delicious treats we had. There was an apple baked french toast, some spinach quiche, roasted potatoes, and the masterpiece-- butterhorns. These little delectable gooey cookies were to die for. Sadly, I was not the person who created the masterpiece. In fact, all I brought was OJ. Despite my lousy contribution, and a less than perfect novel, book club meeting #3 was a great success!! Thanks to Jamie for leading a great discussion!

Second Meeting- Willful Creatures

Last Thursday was the second meeting of Eat, Drink, and Be Literary. This time, my friend Beth was the host. I was really excited for Beth's discussion because she was a literature major in college, and subsequently she knows how to book-club like it's her job! Beth picked Willful Creatures by Aimee Bender to discuss. The book is a collection of short stories that all were emotional and raw, but half were realistic, and half were like fairy tales for adults. The magical realism throughout the book was very powerful and emphasized the raw human experience throughout. I loved the book as a whole, though some stories hit me more than others.

The book club meeting proved that others had similar thoughts as I did. Beth did a fabulous job of asking questions that made us all think, and get us all discussing. I just love the group of people that came. Though most of us are psychologists, and therefore I have witnessed their brilliance at work, I usually don't get to hear how people interpret literature other than peer-reviewed articles so it is a treat.

Beth asked a few questions about the collection as a whole, but also focused in on several of the stories. A few of the stories we spent time discussing were stories that had a great impact on all of us emotionally, but that very few of us actually liked. One particular story was called "End of the Line" which was about a little man that got adopted as a pet by a big man (this would be one of the magical realism/ fantasy stories, obviously). The story got more dark and twisted as the little man was tortured in creative and horrible ways. A line that stuck out in the text was a thought that the big man had, "His little body was so small it was hard to imagine it hurt that much. How much pain could really be felt in a space that tiny?" Some of us viewed this line as a pro-vegetarian stance, others as a pro-life stance-- I took it as a metaphor for how we dehumanize people that are different from us. The story was disturbing, and evoked a response of discomfort and distress among all of us, yet I still think it was one of the best.

One of my favorite stories stories of the book had no mystical or magical elements like a family of pumpkin heads or a boy with keys for fingers (both present in other stories!) but rather just a simple, non-offensive use of profanity. The story, "The Motherf*cker" used the profanity in its most literal way, describing a man who.... well, f*cks mothers. The particular mother in the snippet of his life described by Bender was a famous actress. The use of typically obscene language in a technical and literal way threw me off at first, but then made me realize what meaning and beauty there was in the story.

The discussion of the fifteen stories was accompanied by some delicious treats (in true Eat, Drink, and Be Literary fashion). My favorites were a delicious Japanese Curry made by Beth, some homemade guacamole courtesy of Jamie. This meeting, I opted to bring a beverage. I made a non-alcoholic Pineapple Basiltini. I loosely followed a recipe from www.thatsthespirit.com and it was a hit! I combined pineapple, fresh basil leaves from my garden (bruised and muddled with just a tiny bit of granulated sugar) and club soda to top it off. It was completely refreshing and not a drop was left at the end of the meeting.... so I drove home and made a second batch, and this time included vodka. Yum.


For all Eat, Drink, and Be Literary members present, I think this book and the discussion of it (and the treats accompanying it) was a home run. I am fairly certain we could have spent an entire meeting focused on each of the stories but it is time to move on to the next book. Until then, happy reading!