Confederacy of Dunces

Hi All, and welcome to La Mademoiselle, our newest BC member. El Jefe knows you've all been waiting with bated breath for the recap, which is a few days late this time as I was up in beautiful Carmel-by-the-Sea this weekend sans computer. Thanks to The Tiger for hosting in her fab new home. El Jefe is psyched you had the patio table in place--a big fan of the outdoor BC! We feasted on cheese and salami for apps, then had a delish taco dinner with The Tiger's killer guacamole, and finished off with a dessert from our favorite BC baker, Logan's Run. El Jefe is kind of regretting not taking a doggie bag home. If only Logan's Run had convinced me!! Tiger, can you send the name of the secret ingredient for your chicken, thanks!

Now we must recount a truly historic moment: the first 10 rating in BC history! Yes, you heard me correctly. Confederacy of Dunces scored a 10.

Overall, it had fairly high ratings from everyone else as well, the lowest being a 6 or 6-1/2. The overwhelming comment was that the book was damn funny, although only about half of us admitted to actually laughing out loud (El Jefe was certainly in that group!). Also, the book got praise across the board for it's fantastic character development. There were a few votes for Jones as favorite character, although the Highlander (inexplicably ;) ) liked Gus Levy. What little substantive book discussion (see post script below) we had centered around the question of whether Ignatius J. Reilly was a veritable looney, or whether he was just a misunderstood intellectual and nonconformist. He definitely got strong reactions from everyone, who seemed to love him or be repulsed by him. El Jefe had to leave a bit early to do some work and tend to electrical outages back at the money pit (I mean, Chez Jefe), but folks, did we ever reach a consensus on whether Reilly was a B.K. Troop rip-off or not?

Speaking of B.K. Troop, our next book is Miss Lonleyhearts/Day of the Locusts, two novels by Nathanael West, which was recommended by our author friend Allison Burnett. The meeting will be at Logans Run's house, directions to follow.

Christopher

Thanks everyone for a great BC last night, and especially to Logan's Run for arranging for Allison to come and speak with us! Quick menu review: dalish and chunky homemade guac to start, Lasagna and oh-so-garlicky Caesar salad, and rhubarb pie and ice cream for dessert. Yum, we do it right in this book club!


So, definitely an interesting vibe having the author there. Needless to say, we did not start out by scoring the book. Luckily, most of us really enjoyed the book and so our discussion largely focused on finding out more about his influences, motivations, and why he wrote this thing or that thing into the book. Allison seemed more than willing to answer our questions, including the question of why a straight (allegedly!) man would write a book about a gay character. Although thinking back on it, did we ever really get the answer to this? Can't remember. El Jefe also doesn't know that we ever got to the bottom of why a young, straight guy like Christopher would bother hanging around a scroungy old queen like B.K. One interesting tidbit is that Allison is half-way through the 3rd BK Troop novel. Future list o' death candidates? Now, back to the voting. We did rate the book at the end after the author left, and the average score was a straight 6. Really not that bad! Red's 3 dragged it down a bit, but I don't think she let on to Allison that she would have given low marks...In fact, just got a report from Logan's Run that he called to say thanks and that he had a good time. Logan's Run, again, way to go on organizing!

Our next meeting is at The Tiger's new house, on Aug. 13th. Note this is the 2nd Wed. of the month. We're reading A Confederacy of Dunce, by John Kennedy Toole. This selection was inspired by the Doctor and me who both thought BK was a dead ringer (read: rip-off) of Ignatius J. Riley, the main character for our new book. We've also already selected the following book, Day of the Locusts by Nathaniel West. That second book is short, and should allow us to get back on track to our normal first Wed. schedule in only three weeks. Ladies, El Jefe is sad: 5 full weeks to the next BC!

Bel Canto

Thanks to Ms. K for hosting last night! The delish menu started off with crudités and creamy sun-dried tomato dip, followed by a tomato basil soup topped with homemade parmesan crostini (yum!) and Logan's Run's decadent specialty, Heath Bar crunch cookies. People who want the recipe can e-mail Logan's Run!  El Jefe's little kitty Bella would have liked them too.

As for the book, Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, on the whole the group did not seem to like it as much as our last book The Hours. Complaints ranged from "too flowery" to "too dramatic" to "first 150 pages put me to sleep" to "I pictured Roxanne as a big fatty." Yet there really were no standout characters that truly turned people off from the book. Mr. Hosokawa, who drew the most criticism for his self-centeredness, certainly didn't raise the type of heartfelt annoyance that, say, Laura Brown did for some people. Perhaps this book simply didn't have as much to discuss, as Ms. K suggested. But even so, we did raise some interesting points about the Stockholm Syndrome, whether Roxanne and Gen married for love or merely an homage to their shared experience, and the correct pronunciation of Gen's name (4 for "Jen," 3 for "Gen").


A couple of points of business were decided: TCOB will regularly be the first Wednesday of each month; our first BC field trip will be the movie The Hours, starring Nicole Kidman, Merryl Streep, and Julianne Moore, on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 22. El Jefe will reconfirm attendance and buy tickets the day before.

Next meeting is Wednesday, Feb. 5 at C____ Pearson's house, directions to follow. As per the vote, we'll be reading The Life of Pi by Yann Martel.

P.S. Please e-mail El Jefe if you're willing to bring an app or dessert.

The Hours

And so it began, just one block west of the heart of Little Ethiopia, in the lower unit of a classic 1930s Spanish duplex.  That early December evening in 2002, chilly (by L.A. standards), through post-rush hour traffic (also by L.A. standards), we made our way to the first ever gathering of The Club of Books.

"Would anybody be interested in starting a book club with me? I'd like to do a rotating-host first Thurs. of every month, with the first meeting being on Dec. 5. Only requirements are: you read the book (or most of it) each month, and you are willing to host."

Seven of us were:  Ms. K, Logan's Run, the Doctor, Red, Highlander, Blondie, and me, El Jefe.  Crowded around a vintage bauhaus dining set, newly salvaged--practically stolen!--from the Rose Bowl flea market to match El Jefe's new Los Angeles digs, we noshed our way through a lively discussion of Michael Cunningham's "The Hours."

 

Mies Van der Rohe Canilever Cane Chair, 1927

The inaugural menu kicked off with pita and hummus, followed by roasted tomato and basil soup and gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches (si, El Jefe was making those way back when).  And a scrumptious carrot cake for dessert courtesy of Ms. K.  At least, we assumed it was scrumptious given the speed at which Bella, poor kitty, took it to town.  She suffered from acute feline sugar coma for the rest of the evening.

 Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

 

 

In general, the Hours was well liked, but with mixed opinions on the characters. Everyone's favorite character either was Laura Brown or Clarissa, but most people liked only one or the other;  Laura people found Clarissa to be contrived, and Clarissa people disliked Laura's insecurity and failure to be grateful for the good things in her life.  Overall, there was more sympathy for Virginia Woolf herself, perhaps, because her mental illness is a known historical fact, and she is portrayed in literature as a tragic genius that we are taught--starting in high school English class--to appreciate.  The question also was raised whether the author is gay, given that he wrote a book about three women-- one lesbian and two with homosexual overtones-- and a gay man.

El Jefe couldn't resist putting logistical matters on the table pronto. The majority was in favor of keeping the club all women, but inviting the boys to join for a special meeting once a year.  Also, people were happy with the size and didn't want to add-- at least at first-- more than one or two more people.  Holding meetings on Wednesdays rather than Thursdays also was an idea.  (Ah, scintillating!)  Finally, an admonition to send book suggestions when they come to mind so as not to wind up huddled over the computer at the end of each meeting-- paperbacks only.

The next meeting will be on Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 7pm at Ms. K.'s house. We will be reading Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, 336 pages.