The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston is a detailed description of a modern exploration of a Central American jungle, including advanced technology, archaeologists, ethnobiologists, writers, photographers, Honduran soldiers, and other adventurers. Douglas Preston wrote shorter journal articles about the same subject for the New Yorker Magazine and National Geographic in 2013 and 2015.

Since I found the book a little dry—engaging at times but full of names and details that got lost if I was reading before going to sleep—I was concerned about the reception by our book club members.  I shouldn’t have been worried.  We had a great turnout and most of us seemed fascinated by this tale of adventure and discovery in the twenty-first century. We couldn’t imagine being willing to take the risks involved in exploring the jungle. We had not considered the delivery of blankets, laden with viruses, as biological warfare, killing off an entire civilization.

I brought a National Geographic video documentary and wasted quite a bit of discussion time trying to locate the pictures of the dense jungle and Lidar equipment I wanted to share. The book talks about the filming of a documentary for the German financial backer Bill Benenson, but this documentary is a short, repetitive one by Steven Elkins. It lacked the excitement of Preston’s descriptions of sand flies and spiders and monkeys and Fer-de-lance snakes.

One member captured it best when she said she started reading, expecting an adventure tale, only to have it turn into a horror story about a predicted pandemic. We talked about the Zika virus, Lyme disease, third-world versus first-world diseases, pharmaceuticals, doctors, and more. We started to get into heated political debate about definitions and responsibilities until one of us got us back on track, talking about archaeology.

Our next book, The Martian by Andy Weir, will be an interesting comparison.  I hope you can join us.

• Other works discussed:
• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West (1970) by Dee Brown
• Dog Stars (2012) by Peter Heller
• The Relic (1995) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
• Station Eleven (2014) by Emily St. John Mandel

When we meet to discuss our monthly reading, we gather around four tables pushed together as one, in a small, plain room with vinyl flooring. Plastic blinds cloak a window that looks out into a covered and enclosed dirt and rock garden.  We start with twelve chairs but as more people arrive, we crowd together at corners and in-between spaces. We have had as many as 24, and as few as five, but generally we fill the table and then some, especially for classic reads like The Secret Garden. We nibble on trail mix, or cookies, or fruit, and if we are lucky, the book inspires me to find something for us to try, bringing our connection to the stories, and each other, to another level.

On Tuesday, ten of us ventured out on a drizzly day that saw the first rain in nearly four months fill gutters and flood streets—a slow, drenching rain that brought a chill to the Las Vegas Valley that is sorely needed. Perhaps serendipitous. Like the moors in Yorkshire, our desert is often considered harsh and bleak, but it is teaming with beauty and life if we take the time to look for it and care for it. In the story, nourishing rains heralded the start of Spring. January is, of course, early, even for the desert, but the natural ‘magic’ in the story is contagious!

According to publisher W.W.Norton & Company, “Frances Hodgson Burnett was the highest paid and most widely read woman writer of her time, publishing more than fifty novels and thirteen plays.”1 Yet, one-hundred years later, she is best known for a children’s novel that was first serialized in a “magazine for adults.”2 One of us commented that children’s books are read differently by people of different ages. Adults choose and publish the books that become children’s classics.  We discussed what makes a novel for children versus teens versus adults.

Our collective joy in reading this novel was in both the message and the vehicle. We enjoyed the descriptions of an earlier age and greener landscape, noting that the need to allow children to be children is even more pertinent today. We discussed how important it is for parents to, well, parent! The novel was easy to read. One of us heard of the meeting the day before and read it in one night. We are so bombarded by ugliness in our news, gruesome murder in our adult mystery novels, and sex in our romance, that it was just pleasant. Although we can enjoy complex language and the challenge of learning sophisticated words, we appreciated the simplicity of the vocabulary in the novel.

Our first responder commented on how much he enjoyed the Yorkshire language, which was a truly remarkable part of the story. Regional dialects are often considered uneducated, acknowledged in the story when Mrs. Medlock says of Dickon’s mother, “Sometimes I’ve said to her, ‘Eh! Susan, if you was a different woman an’ didn’t talk such broad Yorkshire I’ve seen the times when I should have said you were clever.’”3 Yet the author has Mary Lennox choose to learn Yorkshire in the same way she might learn French. “It’s like a native dialect in India. Very clever people try to learn them.”4 And Colin, as Lord of the manner, must learn to speak his native language. And those of us who listened to the audiobook recommended it.

I also recommended reading the short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, which was published in 1892.5  Ultimately, Frances Hodgson Burnett was an astounding feminist, supporting herself and her family, divorcing two husbands, surviving bouts of depression and fatigue, as well as the loss of both of her sons. Although we only briefly discussed the Christian Science elements of Burnett’s novel, The Yellow Wallpaper addresses the more adult side and dangers of “the rest cure.”6

We discussed books and movies that reminded us of this one, the importance of positive thinking, the ‘magic’ of science; we discussed our frustrations with social media, common core math, and personal experiences. We thought Mary’s finding of the key was contrived and more for children. We dismissed the magic. We are ultimately quite jaded! I challenge us to revert more often to our inner child.  Before the crushing heat is upon us, get outdoors and see the beauty in our secret garden, filled with creosote, sage, mesquite, willows, hummingbirds, wildflowers, rabbits, and more.

• Other works discussed:
• Being There (1979 Film) with Peter Sellers (Jerzy Kosinski novel author)
• Heidi (1880) by Johanna Spyri
• LaRose (2016) Louise Erdrich
• Never-ending Stories (Fractured Fairy Tale Series)
• Pippi Longstocking (1945) by Astrid Lindgren
• Pollyanna (1913) Eleanor H. Porter
• Pygmalion (1913) by George Bernard Shaw
• Rosemary & Thyme (2003-2008) British Television Series (AKA: Murder Most Floral)
• The Secret (2006) by Rhonda Byrne
• The Story of Doctor Doolittle (1920) by Hugh Lofting
• Time Travel Adventures with exceptional Americans (2013 -2017) by Rush Limbaugh
• The Yellow Wallpaper (1899) short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Endnotes:

1 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.  (http://books.wwnorton.com/books/webad.aspx?id=11896)

2 According to The Public Domain Review: “’With regard to The Secret Garden,’ Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote to her English publisher in October 1910, ‘do you realize that it is not a novel, but a childs [sic] story though it is gravely beginning life as an important illustrated serial in a magazine for adults. . . . It is an innocent thriller of a story to which grown ups listen spell bound to my keen delight.’” (https://publicdomainreview.org/2011/03/08/100-years-of-the-secret-garden/)

3 p. 179 The Secret Garden, Longmeadow Press edition, New York, 1987

4 p. 177 The Secret Garden, Longmeadow Press edition, New York, 1987

5 https://www.nlm.nih.gov/theliteratureofprescription/exhibitionAssets/digitalDocs/The-Yellow-Wall-Paper.pdf

6 “Looking back: Rewriting the rest cure in The Secret Garden” by Anne Stiles in The Psychologist, a journal of the British Psychological Society (https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-26/edition-3/looking-back-rewriting-rest-cure-secret-garden)

LaRose is the second book by Louise Erdrich that we have read in the Whitney Book Bistro. The novel is particularly relevant to Native American History month because it presents a snapshot of blended families facing some of the same difficulties of peoples everywhere, including grief, loss, changing technology, stereotypes, politics and war. Erdrich offers a traditional Shakespearean Iago, but allows us to see how he was created. She shows us the power of tradition in the offering of LaRose, the power of magical realism to reveal truths felt if not seen, the power of pain and suffering, the power of connections. The blending and change of cultures is as inescapable as the changes wrought by technology, wrought by war, and even wrought by accident.

Our first responder was a member who couldn’t attend the meeting but stopped by to pick up our next book. The novel had not hooked him, had too much detail – which he described using his hands as if he were painting a picture or weaving a tapestry, showing his appreciation if not his satisfaction.  I shared that it seemed disconnected, even rambling, and he agreed. The novel was difficult to get into, slow at first, then filled with characters and detail that would take more readings to fully appreciate.

Our discussion group turned out to be small, three of whom hadn’t finished the book. I didn’t get the feeling anyone was thrilled by it, although we agreed that the writing was beautiful, even if the story was bleak. One of us found none of the characters likeable. Another found Romeo’s resurrection after throwing himself down the church steps to be unbelievable. I found the affair between Emmaline and Father Travis to be too much, but another member had re-read the beginning of the book and realized the author had begun laying the groundwork for the affair early on, possibly even as another form of revenge. We laughed at the parents’ altercation during Maggie’s volleyball game.

One of us had made a connection to grief and the loss of a child in the 2017 film, Wind River, reading a transcript from the film:

“Bad news: You are never going to be whole – not ever again. You lost your daughter and nothing is going to replace that. Good News: As soon as you accept that and you let yourself suffer, you allow yourself to visit her in your mind and you’ll remember all the love she gave, all the joy she knew. You can’t steer from the pain.  If you do, you’ll rob yourself of every memory of her—every last one—from her first step to her last smile. Just take the pain. You take it. It’s the only way you’ll keep her with you.”  (Jeremy Renner as Cory Lambert)

Another member shared passages that stood out:

“Before they took LaRose to the Ravich house last fall, Landreaux and Emmaline had spoken his name. It was the name given to each LaRose. Mirage. Ombanitemagad. The original name of Mink’s daughter. That name would protect him from the unknown, from what had been let loose with the accident. Sometimes energy of this nature, chaos, ill luck, goes out in the world and begets and begets. All Indians know that. To stop it quickly takes great effort, which is why LaRose was sent.” (105)

This passage drew a connection to the other chaos let loose in the world after the murder, albeit in defense, of Mackinnon by LaRose’s ancestors:

“Mackinnon’s head, rolling laboriously over the snow, its hair on fire, brightly twitching, flames cheerfully flickering. Sometimes it banged into a tree and whimpered. Sometimes it propelled itself along with its tongue, its slight stump of a neck, or its comically paddling ears. Sometimes it whizzed along for a few feet, then quit, sobbing in frustration at its awkward, interminable progress.” (132)

We ended with a discussion of revenge and we were hard-pressed to find any value in it.  One member reminded us that a grudge damages most the person who holds it. Then we discussed LaRose’s eight-year-old fury against the fearsome four. It was endearing, and one of us made an important connection to closure. Our discourse was as disjointed and hard to follow as the book was for many of us.  As usual, we discussed more than I have captured here and we moved on, as we always must. Until we meet again, next month! Happy Thanksgiving.

• Other works discussed:
• Ceremony (1977) by Leslie Silko (discussed outside of the meeting)
• Eagle Catcher (1995) Margaret Coel
• Round House (2012) by Louise Erdrich
• Sacred Clowns (1991) Tony Hillerman
• Wind River (2017) Film starring Jeremy Renner
• You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me (2017) memoir by Sherman Alexie (audiobook)

When we met to discuss David McCullough’s The Wright Brothers, our primary reaction was amazement that we knew so little about people whose names we know so well. We were in such agreement that our discussion seemed quiet, even awestruck. If we had any criticism about the book, it was that we wanted more — not about flight and airplanes but about the Wrights themselves, about men whose efforts and invention drew crowds of observers and dominated newspaper headlines of their day but who remained enigmatic even then.

Our discussion started out with a lot of statements, followed by questions.  How brave they were—facing not only the dangers of flight but the ridicule of their vision. How focused they both were. Did we ever imagine them actually sewing the wings? How well researched the story is. The brothers’ letters were amazing.  One of us had imagined Kitty Hawk as a lovely field, not isolated and harsh. Look at the picture of their camp kitchen, rows of neat and orderly supplies, evidence of Orville’s likely obsessive compulsive disorder. Yet still we wanted more pictures and had to remember the era. We were amazed that they even had a camera and took their own pictures.  We debated whether or not they were risk-takers; and we decided they were, though not careless. We thought them self-motivated, stubborn and brave.

One of us thought it was nice to read about a functional family for once. We still wondered why the boys never married. Why are there no references to romance? We discussed the Edwardian values and the reality of sex and pregnancy in an era that did not yet have easy birth control. Another member reminded us that their sister Katharine was a school teacher and school teachers were often not allowed to marry. After the meeting, another member discussed the real threat of sexually transmitted diseases. We were happy that Katharine was given so much credit and treated as an equal by her family, though we were mystified by Orville’s rejection of her when she decided to marry.

When we discussed the similarities and differences between Orville and Wilbur, one of us believed that Orville was deferential to his older brother.  Another believed that Wilbur was so meticulous that had he been flying with Lieutenant Selfridge, the fatal accident would not have occurred. Orville was distrustful of Selfridge and probably allowed that to distract him. One of the discussion questions prompted us to consider whether or not the Wright brothers were heroic, so we discussed the meaning of the word. For most of us, heroic means not just courage and bravery but saving lives. At least one of us still felt that the brothers’ perseverance for an ideal that impacted so many lives was heroic.

In his youth, one of us had visited the Wright Brothers house and their bicycle shop, moved by Henry Ford from Dayton, Ohio, to Ford’s Dearborn, Michigan museum complex in 1936.[i] Although he remembered the experience fondly, he had not realized their significance until he had read the memoir. After the meeting, another member commented about how little we often know about famous people, citing early aviator Charles Lindbergh, who invented a medical device “to save his dying sister-in-law.”[ii]

Although I enjoy all of our discussions and the varying perspectives, discussing The Wright Brothers was particularly calming and uplifting. We agreed that the book was educational and easy to read. We discussed much more than I can capture here — and still less than we could have. If you haven’t already, I recommend you read the book and join the discussion!

• Other Works Discussed:
• The Wind Rises (2014) Film directed by legendary Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki: a beautifully animated  look at the life of Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed Japanese fighter planes during World War II.
• The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics  (2013) by Daniel James Brown (we compared and contrasted this with The Wright Brothers).
• Circling the Sun (2015) by Paula McLain:  a fictionalized account of the life of early female aviator Beryl Markham.
• You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me (2017) by Sherman Alexie (audiobook recommended by Kristine).
• Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore (2009) by Robin Sloan (recommended by Cheryl).

[i] Web accessed 9-13-2017:  https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/373441/

[ii] Web accessed 9-14-2017:  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/save-his-dying-sister-law-charles-lindbergh-Invented-medical-device-180956526/

Digging to America is the second book by Anne Tyler that our Whitney Book Bistro has discussed. Anne Tyler has published 22 novels, been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize three times and won for Breathing Lessons (1989). She is also the author of the book The Accidental Tourist, which was made into a popular movie in 1988, starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, and Geena Davis. I had not been overly impressed by her novel, Beginner’s Goodbye, discussed in March of 2013, but the members at that meeting had shown such reverence and sincerity that I have wanted to read another book by her. Favorite authors, directors, and actors often bring authority that allows us to view their work more favorably. Or perhaps we identify with themes and viewpoints that keep us coming back for more.

We didn’t discuss any of this at our meeting, but we had stories to share that kept our discussion flowing, even if we didn’t all find the book entirely engaging. Our first responder likes a wide variety of books and often appreciates our book selections. She really liked Digging to America – finding it easy to read, straightforward, pleasant. Another member had liked the book the first time she read it in 2006 and liked it still. Two others found it to be just okay, with too many stereotypes; and it didn’t go anywhere.

That’s all it took and we were off—thoughtfully—more like the tortoise than the hare. Some of us liked Bitsy but found her parenting atrocious and her meddling obnoxious. We discussed how easy it is as parents to become immersed in our children. Some of us found the binky-balloon scene hilarious, others were appalled and bored, but many of us agreed that pacifiers were a big deal for us when we raised our own children. We liked the fight scene between Brad and Sami, as well as Sami’s performance piece making fun of Americans. One of us thought Maryam needed therapy. Perhaps her aloofness was part of her wealthy upbringing. Perhaps it was simply introversion. Maybe both.

We discussed traditions and their meanings. One of us felt that America has no traditions, only celebrations. We are too divided and separated from our religion. A new member felt that we don’t share our stories enough to appreciate our heritage as Americans. One of us had been raised to say that she was second-generation American of Polish descent. Another remembered how his father wanted his son to be American and wouldn’t speak his native Italian. We talked about created traditions and one of us shared how she had once given her candy-deprived children a box of candy wrapped as a gift, including a warning that she didn’t want them to get anorexia. Next thing she knew, the “anorexia” gift became a tradition!

We discussed names and the difficulty of assimilation. Was Bitsy right in trying to help her daughter hold on to her Korean heritage—especially since her daughter seemed to reject it? Isn’t this what children do? Dave makes a great point when talking to Maryam about Susan’s disappointment at Christmas – part of being American is to be disappointed at Christmas! One of us mentioned the film Losing Isaiah and how the birth mother challenged the adoptive parents’ omission of black heritage. Is this less important for international adoptions? We talked about how immigrant communities stay together for security and one of us had for a while attended meetings of The Daughters of the British Empire, calling it a “scary group!”

As always, the discussion was more full and detailed than I can possibly capture. In this world of technical wonders, sometimes it’s all too easy to stay hidden, like Maryam in her house at the end of Digging to America. It reminds me of a story from All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten. Children in a neighborhood are playing hide-n-seek. One of them hides so well that everyone is about to move on without him. Finally, all author Robert Fulghum can do is yell: “GET FOUND KID!” Thank you to all of you who found us and made our discussion so much more than a virtual reality.

• Other works discussed:
• All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten (1988) by Robert Fulghum
• The Big Sick (2017) Film
• Fiddler on the Roof (1964) musical
• Ladder of Years (1995) by Anne Tyler
• Losing Isaiah (1995) Film
• My Ántonia (1918) by Willa Cather
• The Namesake (2003) by Jhumpa Lahiri
• West Side Story (1957) musical

At the end of our meeting to discuss The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach, I asked if I was correct in concluding that the majority of the group enjoyed the book. I had been told by a few individuals how much they liked it and our discussion had been lively, so I was surprised when I was met with less enthusiasm than I expected. In an unusual turn, one member shared that she had liked the book more before our discussion! Our first responder had also had an unusual reaction to the book, at first fully engaged and interested in the main character Henry, and then angry and uninterested in the new characters that were introduced.

She stayed with the book, though, and brought up some interesting starter questions. It reminded her of our previous selection, Boys in the Boat, and she wondered if anyone else thought that Henry had gone into a slump because he didn’t want to break his idol’s record. Others thought he didn’t want to leave school.

One of us asked why Pela was even in the story, finding her irritating. A couple of us had thought of her as the designated college slut, which made us wonder about the author’s view of women (probably not positive!). No one considered Henry’s relationship with Pela as love. Why was Owen’s mother in the story? Since the author wrote the book over ten years, perhaps he added characters over time (and unnecessarily)? Did Pela’s experience with depression help her help Henry? Why didn’t she get him to the hospital? Harpooners, heart and harlot? Did anyone else find the name of the team, Harpooners, funny? Was the sexual innuendo intentional?

What did we think of Guert? One of us thought that he was looking out for everyone –the college, his daughter, Owen, Henry, Schwarz. But was he a good father? Not to Pela.  He seemed to belong to everyone. To my surprise, we didn’t discuss Guert’s sexuality much. I had a problem with the 40-year age difference; the most outspoken of us seemed to think the problem was only in the student-administrator relationship.

And what about Owen? Why does Harbach never write from Owen’s point of view (publisher discussion question)? One of us thought it made Owen more mysterious, more sage-like, which fits with his nickname, Buddha. He also was more flamboyant, perhaps more caricaturish than necessary. Or perhaps he was more accepting of himself, the only one not questioning his future or his place in the world, just living it.

One member was interested in the idea of “monomania” as typical in sports and portrayed realistically in the book. He shared that it is common for catchers in baseball to be leaders, like Schwartz. Several people agreed – like the coxswain in The Boys in the Boat. “Catchers are the thinking position.”

We mentioned books, movies and songs. Even before the meeting started we had discussed how life is stranger than fiction. Our previous book club selection The Children Act is being played out in recent news reports about baby Charlie. We were spread out over two lengths of tables and sometimes several people were talking and not always being heard or understood.  One member made us all laugh when he said that he hadn’t finished the book, didn’t really like baseball, and the sex wasn’t good enough.

Thanks to all who came out into our extra summer humid heat – and shared the experience with us!

• Other Works Discussed:
• The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (2013) by Daniel James Brown
• Ladder of Years (1995) by Anne Tyler
• Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (2003) by Michael Lewis
• The Natural (1952) Bernard Malamud
• The Phenomenon: Pressure, the Yips, and the Pitch that Changed My Life (2017) by Rick Ankiel
• “Tired of Being Blonde” (1985) song performed by Carly Simon

It has been a week now since we met to discuss Circling the Sun by Paula McLain. The delay in no way reflects the quality of our discussion, which was particularly full and detailed given our one-hour time limit and a group of nineteen! The novel is a fictionalized account of the early life of Beryl Markham, a record-breaking aviator and horse trainer who was a young contemporary of Isak Denisen, the author of Out of Africa.

Our first responders noted the writing even more than the story itself, perhaps particularly in comparison with last month’s 414-page selection, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. Paula McLain’s story is “direct and straightforward,” “lyrical,” “easy to read.”  One of our toughest critics, a fan of author Ken Follett, said that it has been one of the first books we’ve read in a while that he has finished and the description of the horse race nearly brought him to tears. Another member loved the descriptions of the horse training. Yet another had not liked the book to start but had been won over by the end, particularly so when she realized it was based on the life of a real person.

One of us had been so impressed that she had read the author’s previous book, The Paris Wife, a novel about Hemingway’s first wife, as well as Beryl Markham’s own memoir, West with the Night— entirely during this last month.  Inspired by this enthusiasm, I read a selection from Markham’s memoir that described the time she was attacked by a domesticated lion. Markham’s description and perspective is so beautiful that I was even more impressed by McLain’s willingness to describe the same scene.

Even though we still had much to discuss about Beryl Markham’s life and character, and we agreed that she wasn’t always likeable, most of us were impressed. She had been abandoned by her mother and left by her father to be raised by the native tribe. One of us thought about the discussion question asking if Mr. Clutterbuck had been a good father, and we seemed to think he had not. But we discussed the times, the hardships, the roaring twenties, the joke: “Are you married or do you live in Kenya?”(p.129).

We discussed India’s ties to Africa, the title, and what made Denys so attractive, with his bald head and womanizing ways. I was surprised how few of us remembered the film Out of Africa and even more surprised how few of us thought Robert Redford fit the role. We put out a variety of names, and perhaps we just needed more time with that question!

Sometimes, the questions we raise during the meetings do need time to germinate. And sometimes, I know that people in the group may not speak up.   I was surprised recently when our movie club discussed La La Land.  The most outspoken members didn’t like the movie (including me).  I specifically mentioned that many people like this movie, it has won many awards, and I want to hear the other side. I mentioned this several times and little was said.  But afterward, in one-on-one discussions, people spoke up.

I believe many in our book club group have been together long enough to speak up, but if, on reflection, you have more to say, speak up now. Here. In this blog. Or to me at the library. It makes a difference!

Other works discussed:

• Vanity Fair by W.M. Thackeray
• See member recommendations for titles discussed during the Book Circle portion of the meeting

I have wanted to read a book by Michael Chabon for many years.  His book The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay won the Pulitzer for fiction in 2001 and The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (2007) is an alternative history and noir detective novel that imagines a world in which four million lives were saved by allowing persecuted Jewish immigrants to settle in Alaska, starting in 1940.  The latter book’s alternate-history premise was based on a failed proposal, The Problem of Alaskan Development, that was produced by the United States Department of the Interior under Secretary Harold L. Ickes.[1] Add in some starred reviews, a mystery, and enough library copies of the book, and I was excited for our book club’s discussion of The Yiddish Policemen’s Union.

Even so, I am never certain how a discussion will go.  Sometimes, I know a book will be well-received, but the discussion falls flat. Perhaps there is a lot of enthusiasm – I hated it, I loved it, or it was boring—but not much more, especially if it is foreign to us, diverse, unrelatable.

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union was a great discussion, even though some of us couldn’t finish it. I had one member set a goal of 15 pages a day and found herself researching so much that it was difficult for her to get past ten pages! I struggled up until Chapter 16 and the entrance of Rabbi Heskel Shpilman, “a deformed mountain, a giant ruined dessert, a cartoon house with the windows shut and the sink left running. . .” The mystery finally grabbed me, though I continued to skim through some of the long, beautifully detailed descriptions, if only to be finished in time for our discussion.

Carol B.’s research and enthusiasm was contagious to me and I hope for others also. We loved the Boundary Maven, Willie Dick, Bina, and were fascinated by the complexity and brilliance of the author. One of us had read it before and liked it better on a second reading. Another member, who likes most of our choices, even the most unusual, hadn’t been able to appreciate this one. But our discussion was thoughtful and challenging. I know at least one member, afterwards, was going to try reading it again.

We discussed so much more than I have included here. History. Relationships. Language. Detectives. Believability. Religion. Human rights. Human nature. I almost didn’t write this recap. Sometimes it seems like a disservice to capture only part of a discussion, to leave out names, to show only my perspective. I hope this snapshot triggers at least the memory of pleasant evening, spent on the stage in the Whitney Library Theater, with seventeen lovely people, on Tuesday, May 9^th, 2017.

• Other Works Discussed:
• Genius (2016 DVD) about Thomas Wolfe and his editor
• The Man in the High Castle (1962) Philip K. Dick
• The Plot Against America (2004) Philip Roth
• Author Harry Turtledove (alternate history fiction)
• Author Isaac Bashevis Singer
• The Language of Lost History by Michael Chabon: (From “Guidebook to a Land of Ghosts”) Harper’s Magazine. Oct97, Vol. 295 Issue 1769, p32. 2p. 1 Color Photograph.
• Q&A Michael Chabon (April 2016): http://forward.com/culture/books/339119/qa-michael-chabon-talks-occupation-injustice-and-literature-after-visit-to/

[1] Web accessed 5/01/2017: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slattery_Report.  I have a copy of the report, dated April 1940, that I received through our library’s interlibrary loan program.  The report is 70 pages, including photographs.

Everyone was quiet, eyes roving and heads turning slightly as I asked if anyone wanted to be the first to share their review of Ape House by Sara Gruen. I shared a missing member’s remark that it was a “fun read.” One member then said that she reads the book club books and always learns something new. So, my next question was whether anyone else, like me, had not known about bonobos before this book. And we were off! 

What exactly is the difference between bonobos and chimpanzees? Bonobos have a more slender build, finer hair, redder lips, can walk more upright, and are a matriarchal society that tends to be less violent than chimpanzees’ patriarchal society.  Bonobos in the wild also live only in the Congo basin.  We watched a YouTube video that made these differences clear. We had more questions than any of us could answer and we watched a few more videos.

Our opinion of the story, however, was much less enthusiastic. The relationship between John and his wife was just not believable.  It reminded me of another book club selection, Landline, which was one of our least favorite books of 2016! Would the appearance of a Hollywood writer be so important to cause her to have plastic surgery? The author’s book Water for Elephants was made into a movie, so perhaps she had experience with such Hollywood absurdity (my words). And what about the meth house, the crack dog, and John’s DNA dilemma? Green hair, pink hair, and a pet fish? Figuratively, there were a lot of ape houses in this book! At least one of us, and probably more, wanted to see John and Isabel get together. Many of us just wanted to get back to the bonobos.

I had wanted to read this book because I believed we would all like a book about animals that wasn’t depressing. As I watched some videos in preparation for the discussion, I was a little concerned about the emphasis on humans as primates and evolution. This is a library book club and although we don’t want to avoid sensitive topics, we also don’t want to take sides. We provide information, materials, and spaces for discussion. No one seemed offended or concerned, just thoughtful, as always. Bonobos are known as the make love not war apes. Fascinating and endangered. Our discussions are always fascinating and I hope they will never be endangered!

• OTHER WORKS DISCUSSED:
• Bonobos by Buffy Silverman
• Kanzi: the ape at the brink of the human mind by Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, Roger Lewin
• Landline by Rainbow Rowell
• Stone Mattress (short story) by Margaret Attwood
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
• We are all completely beside ourselves by Karen Fowler
• VIDEOS:
• Chimpanzees & Bonobos—the differences
• Kanzi’s 1^st Phone Call
• Kanzi – An Ape of Genius
• Evolution’s gift of play: from bonobo apes to humans

This last Tuesday, we met to discuss The Good Lord Bird by James McBride. Since it also was Valentine’s Day, a member had encouraged us to exchange valentines and donated some paper goods and treats as well. I was a little concerned that this might be off-putting to some, but it added a festivity to the discussion that mirrored the humor in a book that was about incredibly serious subjects – slavery, John Brown, and the raid on Harper’s Ferry.

After I asked if anyone wanted to be the first responder, many chuckled and said they hadn’t liked the book. One of us had struggled to read it, but she was determined to finish it for the group! Another liked the author but didn’t like the subject.  She was particularly disturbed by the depiction of Frederick Douglass as a molester—someone she admired but could now never see the same again. Why would the author do that? Still another had disliked the book up until she finished it; then she looked back and thought, I really liked that book.  I, too, had struggled with the irreverence, but in the end I felt that the author had done a good job. I had learned, and thought. A lot.

We discussed the meaning of the title.  One member had found a reference to a Lord God Bird as an ivory-billed woodpecker.  One member thought it was titled as an homage to John Brown, himself a rare bird.  Once you let a bird out of a cage . . . Others also supported the idea of Onion as a good luck charm, like the bird’s feathers.

At least a third of us liked the book, although a few were disappointed in the quick ending.  They believed it was out of character for Onion to forget to give John Brown the password.  We wondered how accurate some of the details were. How did John Brown’s letters read? Did he really sound so uneducated? A white author would not have been able to denigrate Frederick Douglass so.

Why hadn’t the author described more of the horrors of slavery? We expect discussions of slavery to be devastating – perhaps the satirical treatment had more effect, causing us to pay better attention. Why was so much of John Brown’s fighting in Missouri and Kansas rather than “down the river?” Because the Deep South was not ready for persuasion – that’s why the Civil War was inevitable.  Was John Brown crazy? Ahead of his time? Someone noted that in hindsight the battle over slavery seems unimaginable and ugly, but while living it, people still loved and laughed, just as Onion told it.

This is my recollection of a pleasant evening with a great group of readers—an experience worth repeating.

• Other works discussed:
• The Color of Water: a black man’s tribute to his white mother (1996) by James McBride
• Miracle at St. Anna (2002) by James McBride
• Night (1960) by Elie Wiesel
• Warmth of Other Suns: the epic story of America’s great migration (2011) by Isabel Wilkerson
• Django Unchained (DVD)  (2012) Director/Writer Quentin Tarantino
• Key & Peele (DVD)