The book for May is Heft by Liz Moore. Trying to break a pattern of recent sad and dispiriting books, we're hopeful that this one has a positive vibe.
"Former academic Arthur Opp weighs 550 pounds and hasn't left his
rambling Brooklyn home in a decade. Twenty miles away, in Yonkers,
seventeen-year-old Kel Keller navigates life as the poor kid in a rich
school and pins his hopes on what seems like a promising sporting career
- if he can untangle himself from his family drama. The link between
this unlikely pair is Kel's mother, Charlene, a former student of
Arthur's. After nearly two decades of silence, it is Charlene's
unexpected phone call to Arthur - a plea for help - that jostles them
into action."
In April we discussed Falling Man by Don Delillo.
"Falling Man begins on September 11, in the smoke and ash of the burning
towers. In the days and the years following, we trace the aftermath of
this global tremor in the private lives of a few reticulated
individuals. Theirs are lives choreographed by loss, by grief and by the
enormous force of history."
10 April 2014
21 February 2014
February and March
I'm a little behind with updating for the latest book.
In February we read Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. As he comes to the end of his life, Reverend John Ames begins a rambling letter to his young son, describing his both his life and his hopes for his family after he has gone.
In March, we are going to discuss Boxer Beetle by Ned Beauman.
The rather enigmatic blurb states:
"This is a novel for people with breeding.
Only people with the right genes and the wrong impulses will find its marriage of bold ideas and deplorable characters irresistible. It is a novel that engages the mind while satisfying those that crave the thrill of a chase.
There are riots and sex. There is love and murder. There is Darwinism and Fascism, nightclubs, invented languages and the dangerous bravado of youth. And there are lots of beetles.
It is clever. It is distinctive. It is entertaining.We hope you are too."
In February we read Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. As he comes to the end of his life, Reverend John Ames begins a rambling letter to his young son, describing his both his life and his hopes for his family after he has gone.
In March, we are going to discuss Boxer Beetle by Ned Beauman.
The rather enigmatic blurb states:
"This is a novel for people with breeding.
Only people with the right genes and the wrong impulses will find its marriage of bold ideas and deplorable characters irresistible. It is a novel that engages the mind while satisfying those that crave the thrill of a chase.
There are riots and sex. There is love and murder. There is Darwinism and Fascism, nightclubs, invented languages and the dangerous bravado of youth. And there are lots of beetles.
It is clever. It is distinctive. It is entertaining.We hope you are too."
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