Since Fearless Sweetie did not attend and Fearless Leader had a late night rendezvous, I have been drafted to write this month's recap.
Thanks to Matt and Tom for hosting this week. Matt did an excellent job of cooking dinner and Tom did a good job of opening his home to us -- including the door to his terrace so that we could freeze to death.
A ground breaking book in American literature and considered by many to be a classic, "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dresier describes the pull of society on a man who tries to rise above his position in life. Or, it's the life story of a psychopath.
FL tried to start book club off by calling roll but a motion to read someone's recap into the minutes quickly disrupted this. Chris broke into a sweat because he thought this might be a love note from Sasha, but alas it was from Jeanne, who is married. Reliable sources inform me that Sasha didn't show because FL didn't read the book. According to Jeanne, Dreiser was a drunk who kept repeating himself and lacked a good editor, yet somehow the book warranted a 6 on her scale.
Kathryn had a 7:30 interview the next morning, so she decided to get in as much as she possibly could during the first half of the discussion, which was appropriate since she only read half the book. According to Kathryn's calculus, if you loved the book but only read half of it, then the book rates a 20 on a 10 scale but if you didn't like it, it still rates about a 7 because you didn't read it and therefore you couldn't possibly be in a position to completely judge it. She informed us, however, that most of the reviewers of this book on Amazon were high school students. She also has two dates for the prom.
Tom loved this book. Since Tom loves everything we read, this wasn't a great shock. That Tom would read an 856-page book really seemed to surprise everyone. Tom wondered out loud what a modern version might be like. Personally, I see Ben Affleck as Clyde, J. Lo as Sondra, ... Hmm, maybe there were too many characters.
One of the best passages in the book is Clyde's state of mind at the moment he murdered Roberta. Ann tried to get the group to focus on this, but Tom would have none of it. He read the book, damnit, and he was going to get in his two cents. According to Tom, even though we're too wealthy to appreciate this book, greed (er, selfishness) makes the world go round. Murdering your pregnant girlfriend is OK if there's a better deal across the street. Back then the pull of society was just too great. FS wonders why the group condemned Holly Golightly for her actions but Clyde gets a free pass. Society, FS, society. (God forbid that the American dream requires one to earn it.)
Matt walked us through Dreiser's life and how he shocked the bourgeoisie his entire career, thus paving the way for future great American writers such as Hemingway. Love it or hate it, everyone agrees that "An American Tragedy" was a turning point in American literature. Although written 75 years ago, it remains poignant today with such topics as the death penalty, abortion, class warfare and premarital sex.
It would have been helpful to get more of Scott's opinion, but he was too busy trying to referee the discussion. All of the attorneys agreed that Clyde deserved a good defense and that the real life case should not have been overturned on appeal (NY v Gillette - ask Matt for the cite for those of you with Lexis access).
Marlene was also silent throughout the discussion (although she rated it an 8) because her other book group discussed "An American Tragedy" last week. That's right, people; apparently there are a few in the group who belong to multiple book groups. These people include Ann, Marlene and Matt. Drew and Laura might also belong to other book groups since they seem to ignore us as well. For those of you who are two-timing us: are we Roberta or Sondra?
Next month's book club meeting is 2-18-03 (right after the holiday) and will be hosted by Kathryn. There was a little debate about whether the meeting would be held at FL's or Kathryn's apartment, so stay tuned. Book suggestions should be sent to Kathryn today. Tomorrow morning she will send out three candidates for the people to vote on; votes are due back to her by 5 PM EDT Thursday afternoon.