APRIL BOOK

Our book for April is As I Lay Dying (link) by renowned American author William Faulkner.  We'll be meeting virtually via ZOOM once again:  join via this zoomlink.  (If you have any issues, more detailed ZOOM info can be found in the Comments sections from previous months.)  Join us on the evening of Tuesday, April 6 for another lively literary free-for-all.  As usual, the start time is 7pm and attendance is open to all (but BYOB).  With any luck and better weather, patio season should be in full bloom in May and we'll be able to escape the Matrix and start meeting in person as before.  Keep your guard up and stay safe as we enter the home stretch.

As I Lay Dying is Faulkner's harrowing account of the Bundren family's odyssey across the Mississippi countryside to bury Addie, their wife and mother. Narrated in turn  by each of the family members—including Addie herself—as well as others, the novel ranges in mood from dark comedy to the deepest pathos. Considered one of the most influential novels in American fiction in structure, style and drama, As I Lay Dying is a true 20th-century classic.

MARCH BOOK

Our book for March is Just Mercy (link) by American lawyer and activist Bryan Stevenson.  We'll continue our series of ZOOM meetings this Tuesday evening (March 2) at the usual start time of 7pm.  The invite can be found in the Comments section below.  All are welcome so bring a friend, relative or stranger along.

Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn't commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.

Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer's coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.

FEBRUARY BOOK

Our book for February is The Sympathizer (link)by Viet Thanh Nguyen, a Pulitzer Prize winner from 2016, among several other awards.  We'll continue with our ZOOM meetings, this one starting at 7pm on Tuesday evening, February 2.  Check the Comments below for the invite.  As usual, one and all are welcome to join the fun and frolic.

With the pace and suspense of a thriller and prose that has been compared to Graham Greene and Saul Bellow, The Sympathizer is a sweeping epic of love and betrayal. The narrator, a communist double agent, is a "man of two minds," a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain who arranges to come to America after the fall of Saigon, and while building a new life with other Vietnamese refugees in Los Angeles is secretly reporting back to his communist superiors in Vietnam. The Sympathizer is a blistering exploration of identity and America, a gripping espionage novel, and a powerful story of love and friendship.

JANUARY BOOK

A belated Happy New Year to everyone.  Our book for January is Tess of the D'Urbervilles (LINK) by the prolific Victorian era author Thomas Hardy (wikilink).  Once again, we'll be having a virtual meeting via ZOOM, starting at 7pm on the evening of Tuesday, January 5.  Check the Comments section below for the invite.  Newcomers and oldtimers always welcome.  (Pets and pajamas optional.)  Stay safe everyone; we're not out of the woods yet.

         

When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her 'cousin' Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future. With its sensitive depiction of the wronged Tess and powerful criticism of social convention, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, subtitled "A Pure Woman," is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardy's novels.

DECEMBER BOOK

Our book for December is Cathedral (link), a short story collection by noted American writer Raymond Carver (wiki link).  Robert Altman's film Short Cuts is based on several of Carver's short stories.  We'll be going back to a ZOOM meeting format for Tuesday, December 1 with the usual 7pm starting time.  Please check the comments section for a ZOOM invite.  Newbies, family members and pets are all welcome to join the proceedings.  Note:  the entirety of Cathedral is included in Raymond Carver: The Collected Stories (The Library of America edition).  Stay safe everyone.

         

Raymond Carver's third collection of stories, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, including the canonical titular story about blindness and learning to enter the very different world of another.  These twelve stories mark a turning point in Carver's work and "overflow with the danger, excitement, mystery and possibility of life. . . . Carver is a writer of astonishing compassion and honesty. . . . his eye set only on describing and revealing the world as he sees it. His eye is so clear, it almost breaks your heart" (Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World).

NOVEMBER BOOK

ATTENTION:  We're trying another new spot this month, the Joey Shipyards location ( link) in North Vancouver (125 Victory Shipyard Way, just a short walk east of the Seabus terminal at Lonsdale Quay).  Join the gang on Tuesday, November 3 on the sprawling patio for an evening of fine food and literary fencing.  As usual, the festivities begin at 7pm and all and sundry are welcome.

Our book for November is Post-Truth (link) by American philosopher Lee McIntyre.

 

         

Are we living in a post-truth world, where "alternative facts" replace actual facts and feelings have more weight than evidence? How did we get here? In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, Lee McIntyre traces the development of the post-truth phenomenon from science denial through the rise of "fake news," from our psychological blind spots to the public's retreat into "information silos."

OCTOBER BOOK

We tried something different for October and had a successful ZOOM meeting.  Our book was The Most Beautiful Book in the World (tough title to live up to) by French author Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt (link), another in the fine series of European writers in translation from Europa Editions.

          

A cast of extravagant and affecting characters lovingly portrayed by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt animates these eight contemporary fables about people in search of happiness. One of Europe's most popular and bestselling authors, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt captivates the reader with his spirited style and enchanting stories that move effortlessly from the everyday to the fantastical.
The eight stories in this collection, his first to be published in English, represent his best and most imaginative storylines: from the touching and surprising love story between Balthazar, a wealthy author, and Odette, a shop clerk, to the tale of a barefooted princess; from the moving title story about a group of female prisoners in a Soviet gulag to the entertaining portrait of a perennially disgruntled perfectionist. Behind each story lies a simple, if elusive, truth: though we may be frequently blind to it, happiness is often right in front of our eyes.