Although I search for new and interesting reading suggestions 24/7, I am always open to your recommendations. Please get in touch whenever you find a book that would be good for discussion. Don't be shy. I need your input.
I want to alert you to a Reader's Riff in the New York Times Magazine of May 11, 2014 on the subject of a book we read a couple of years ago, "Stoner" by John Williams. Some of us reacted to this book with great indifference, if not annoyance, that we should be asked to spend time with such a "loser". Others, myself included, saw this work as a small masterpiece (and I use this adjective only in the sense of the short, quiet experience of reading it). If you can find Steve Almond's wonderful tribute to the book in the Times' archives or want me to direct you to it, send me a note so we can continue the discussion. We ought to prize excellence wherever we can find it. That's what makes our book groups so special. On the most recent reading lists there were at least 2 titles that generated the same kind of reader response: why should we read about unglamorous or repellent characters. Both SOMEONE and MEMORIES OF A MARRIAGE stand out as books of singular competence that did not have particularly admirable protagonists but were worth our close attention. As our kids say, get over it.
