There’s no need to go to the trouble of getting a large group together for a book group each month (unless you want to). I have a book group for two, sometimes more, and it’s going just fine. We get together once every two months to discuss our read.
My book group’s previous selection was French Exit: A Tragedy of Manners by Patrick deWitt:
“Frances Price – tart widow, possessive mother, and Upper East Side force of nature – is in dire straits, beset by scandal and impending bankruptcy. Her adult son Malcolm is no help, mired in a permanent state of arrested development. And then there’s the Price’s aging cat, Small Frank, who Frances believes houses the spirit of her late husband, an infamously immoral litigator and world-class cad whose gruesome tabloid death rendered Frances and Malcolm social outcasts. Putting penury and pariahdom behind them, the family decides to cut their losses and head for the exit. One ocean voyage later, the curious trio land in their beloved Paris, the City of Light serving as a backdrop not for love or romance, but self destruction and economical ruin – to riotous effect.” (publisher description)
My thoughts? The characters were quirky and great. I’m also a huge Patrick deWitt fan and love the stories he weaves. It had tragedy as farce, with the addition of a brokenness in people and their ability to figure it all out. These characters were also on the cusp of dis-likability – their flaws almost made me not like them, but in the end they won me over. A quick read that was very enjoyable and I highly recommend it (especially for summer vacation plans!).
What did book club think? This book unfortunately did not make it through book club. Most of us had a lot of life stuff going on. I powered through a month late, but I was the only one who finished it.
What’s next? Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube by Blair Braverman!
~posted by Kara P.
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