Desert, by J. M. G. Le Clezio

Revisitation

A poem mentioned at book club, about the old Shiloh school:

The Bottoms, by Joe R. Lansdale

"The main concern of the fiction writer is with mystery as it is incarnated in real life."~Flannery O'Connor

"I had an interest in death from an early age. It fascinated me. When I heard 'Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,' I thought, 'Did he fall or was he pushed?'~P.D. James

"I abhor a mystery. I would fain, were it possible, have my tale run through from its little prologue to the customary marriage in its last chapter, with all the smoothness incidental to ordinary life. I have no ambition to surprise my reader."~Anthony Trollope

"I've always enjoyed crime fiction. I think that much of the best writing being done today is in crime novels. The plot and discipline essential to a crime novel save it from the terrible traps of being sensitive and stream-of-consciousness and all of that stuff."~John Mortimer

As we prepare to close out the reading year, Gem Meacham has done her part to make our penultimate formal book discussion one to be remembered for some time to come. That's because for first time in club history (hopefully not the last), we will have a seasoned author present to help us understand his book, and perhaps a bit of the process by which he arrives at his creations. That's right, gracing our lively conversation this month, will be local East Texas author, Joe R. Lansdale.

The meeting has a couple of new wrinkles. We thought dinner with the author would be nice, so the plan is to meet at 6:00 p.m. at Don Giovanni's, an Italian restaurant on White Oak Road, just around the corner from our house. Those wishing to join us can, but it's not required. We also thought it might be nice to cover the author's meal as well as pitch in to help defray the costs of gasoline, and his time for graciously agreeing to spend an evening with us. Purely on a voluntary basis, of course.

As mentioned, the year is hurtling to an end, which means now is the time for considering the entertaining, challenging, and thought provoking books that you might like to share next year. Indeed, if we all begin the arduous, exquisitely agonizing process of choosing our titles now, we stand a better chance of completing the list and the schedule by the November meeting or soon thereafter. So, get to it!

Gem, with the help of Joe Lansdale, presides on Tuesday the 15th. She also provided the questions in the attachment below. I believe this opens an exciting new chapter for our club, and have high hopes of having a poet in our midst in April. Congrats and thanks again to Gem, and we look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday.

The Bottoms, won the Edgar Allen Poe award for best mystery novel in 2001--alternately called mystery fiction, suspense fiction and speculative fiction. 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

The Lottery and Other Stories, by Shirley Jackson

"I have the conviction that excessive literary production is a social offence."~George Eliot

"Once again I can climb about and remind you that a woman in this epoch does the important literary thinking."~Gertrude Stein

"I never appreciated 'positive' heroes in literature. They are almost always cliches, copies of copies, until the model is exhausted. I prefer perplexity, doubt, uncertainty, not just because it provides a more 'productive' literary raw material, but because that is the way we humans really are."~Jose Saramago

Tuesday night brings us back to fiction with one of the most interesting of American female writers, Shirley Jackson. Brad Echols presides as we examine our annual collection of short fiction, as well as a banned book. Known worldwide on the strength of the endlessly anthologized "THE LOTTERY," Jackson was capable of an even wider range of subjects tones, and literary devices.

Brad provided the questions, so it is our job to provide acumen and wit to complement them! Let's get together for another of our signature literary discussions on Tuesday. Also, we can take the opportunity to discuss next month's visit with author Joe R. Lansdale. We want the meeting to be one worthy of Mr. Lansdales time and travel. All ideas will be appreciated. See you then.

Discussion Questions

Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath

"First I dream my painting, then I paint my dream."~Vincent Van Gogh

"Truth often suffers more by the heat of its defenders than from the arguments of its opposers."~William Penn

"We have to believe in free will. We've got no other choice."~Isaac Bashevis Singer

Our (postponed) August meeting focuses on the interesting question of "what makes ideas stick?" Vickie Echols acts as tour guide to some of the research, theories, and practices of those who are pioneers in the psychology that surrounds that question.

In "Made To Stick," authors Heath and Heath have amassed an impressive array of stories, examples and exercises for enhancing the ability to create and/or discover ideas that at their core are hard to forget. Ideas that, because of the way in which they are presented are, for lack of a better word, "Sticky."

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell

"If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite."~William Blake

"The intellectual life of the whole of western society is increasingly being split into two polar groups...Literary intellectuals at one pole--at the other, scientists, and as the most representative, the physical scientists. Between the two a gulf of incomprehension."~C.P. Snow

"Men grind and grind in the mill of a truism, and nothing comes out but what was put in. But the moment they desert the tradition for a spontaneous thought, then poetry, wit, hope, virtue, learning, anecdote, all flock to their aid."~Ralph Waldo Emerson

This month's meeting centers on things that lie outside the norms that constitute mundane existence, hence the title of our book chosen by Dick Smith: Outliers. Authored by popular cultural commentator Malcolm Gladwell, the book seeks to explain hidden forces and conditions that foretell success for some, as well as failure for others. Through his gift for putting individual lives into a context which may not be readily visible to us, Gladwell makes success in everything from computer science to professional hockey seem not only logical, but inevitable.

It all proves to be a fascinating look into the very components of our lives that determine success, or the lack of it. It is also a meditation on the elements of opportunity, place, and time that aren't always considered when we seek to explain the Warren Buffetts, Bill Gates, and Robert Oppenheimers of the world. This will no doubt turn out to be one of the liveliest discussions of the year. The questions below were provided by Dick, who presides Tuesday night. See you then.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

How To Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, by Charles Yu

“I hate these time travel incidents. The past is the present. The present is the past. It all gives me a headache”~Captain Kathryn Janeway, Star Trek “Voyager” Television Series

"Science Fiction is a kind of archaeology of the future."~Clifton Fadiman

"I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labelled 'Science Fiction'....and I would like out, particularly since so many critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal."~Kurt Vonnegutt

James Harold presides Tuesday night with a book that is clearly up to some inspired mischief. How To Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, by Charles Yu, from its title and first page announces itself as perhaps one of the most bizarre literary journeys this or any book club will be making for the foreseeable future (so to speak).

Through mind bending flights of fancy that manage to sound convincingly like some pretty serious science, the author gives a bravura performance certain to delight as well as confound. In the telling a story of familial disintegration and oddly enough redemption, emerges. A literary feat if ever there was one.

James provided the questions below. I think we can look forward to a rousing conversation about time, loyalty, relationships, physics and love on Tuesday. We look forward to the discussion and to your good company.

Discussion Questions