I am an obsessive bibliotaph.  My secret vice is that over the years I have accumulated six thousand private eye novels which I store in a damp basement on the south side of Milwaukee.  Temperature controls, humidity sensors, pffit!  Over the years, I have been asked to share (or sell) a volume in my collection—something which inevitably would send me into a panic.  Now, I have decided to rid myself of this reader’s burden and sell the collection.  However, that decision has been pending for over two years while I fight the lingering haze of megalomania and the collector’s compulsion to always move forward and never back.

So I have a soul mate in Bob Langmuir, one of the three main characters of the non-fiction work Hubert’s Freaks.  Bob is a compulsive collector who violates the cardinal rule of book selling:  don’t be the last one to own the book.  This lie is told early about Bob in the book:  “The pleasure of collecting, he discovered, paled beside the thrill of dealing.”  This just does not prove true when Bob begins to lose his mental abilities and gain the lost photos of Diane Arbus.

Arbus struggled with her role in the world of photography.  Married early to Army photographer Allan Arbus (who ended up abandoning his photography studio, divorcing Diane and starting an acting career that eventually found him playing psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman on the television series M*A*S*H.), it was Diane who went on to study with some of the great innovators of photography in New York.  Her interest in picking subjects from the edges of society (or placing average subjects in odd settings) made her work edgy and controversial, a perfect combination to drive up the cost especially when she committed suicide at age forty eight and her estate clamped down on the use and distribution of her photos. 

So when Bob abandons the book selling business to concentrate on all the ephemera surrounding the struggles of African-Americans in America, imagine his excitement when amongst some great finds about the Times Square freak show called Hubert’s Dime Museum and Freak Show, he finds some images he believes are original Arbus photographs that once hung in the lobby.  To back up his claim that he has found undiscovered Arbus images are the journals she kept to document her work.  When he decides to take the items to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the issue is whether the subjects are worthy of being called great art or whether the photos are just snapshots.  The toll that this has on Bob’s life is amazing as he was already a vulnerable and weakened individual.  His ability to persevere is part of what makes this story so compelling. 

The photos introduce the reader to a set of characters who persevere:  Charlie and Virginia Lucas and the freaks from the sideshow.  This loving couple started out in the freak show and ended up managing it through to its last days.  While Virginia became the exotic Princess Shaloo who did the Dance of Love, sometimes with snakes, Charlie became the inside talker or the one who kept the customers moving and paying.  The roles these two African-Americans had to take becomes emblematic of the role of their race in a changing American culture.

The book tells us what made Bob buy and then try to sell the photographs, why Arbus was fascinated with the freaks of Hubert’s as a subject, and the role of people like the Lucas’ who will do anything to make a buck and survive in a challenging America for people of their class and race. 

The book should make a great book to discuss in a non-fiction book club.  The only weakness that I could detect was the story fizzles out without a dramatic conclusion.  Upon reflection, that very dissatisfaction may be one more great issue to deal with when developing the questions needed to drive the discussion. 

The Adult Reading Round Table (ARRT), the Chicago-area readers advisory continuing education group I’ve mentioned before on this blog, has for a number of years periodically hosted a special event called “The Book Discussion Round-up.”  This program is divided into two parts, the first being a book discussion that lasts for about an hour, the second a review of the attendees’ recent experiences with leading their own book discussions.

The book discussion focuses on a title that the ARRT Steering Committee has selected and publicized when the program is first announced.  Participants are expected to locate their own copy and read it in advance.  When they come to the program, they will have an opportunity to participate in a discussion without having the responsibility to prepare for it as the leader.  Members of the Steering Committee take on the leadership role and bring a packet of discussion materials to the session to share with the participants.  Each participant leaves with this packet, which they can use in conducting one of their own future discussions.  Another big benefit of the activity is that attendees experience the discussions as participants rather than in their usual role as leaders:  they can enjoy the discussion from a different perspective, and often this switch gives them valuable new insights into ways of working with their own groups.

The “round-up” of ideas that takes place during the second segment of the program (often lasting around two hours) offers attendees a chance to compile a list of titles that have worked well for other leaders, as well as some that have bombed (interestingly enough, sometimes the same title shows up on both lists!).  During this “give-and-take” period, everyone shares problems they’ve had with their groups as well as success stories, and the participants come away with plenty of books they want to explore, as well as tips on how to provide more effective discussions.

 Among the books used in past “Round-up” discussions: The Shipping News, by Annie Proulx; Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson; Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, by John Berendt; Rocket Boys, by Homer Hickam; House of Sand and Fog, by Andre Dubus III; Plainsong, by Kent Haruf; and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See.

This is a successful continuing education activity that would be easy enough to replicate with book discussion leaders from several nearby libraries or with staff members who lead book discussions in a larger library with branch facilities.  It has also been used as a model for a series of book discussion leadership training workshops coordinated by ARRT members at annual conferences of the Illinois Library Association.

The Adult Reading Round Table (ARRT) is a group of librarians and library workers in the Chicagoland area who meet regularly to develop their readers advisory skills.  One of the group’s ongoing activities is genre study, and for the past two and a half years, members have been focusing on nonfiction leisure reading interests.  Every other month, an ARRT sub-group has been meeting for two-hour discussions centering on such topics as True Crime, Memoirs, and Natural History.

Joyce Saricks and Roberta Johnson are co-leaders of the genre study, and they have designed a format that requires every participant to read a specific book the leaders have selected, which typifies the nonfiction category under examination.  (For instance, for the True Crime discussion, everyone was asked to read Truman Capote’s classic, In Cold Blood.)  Also, each participant is urged to choose another book that fits the category, read it, and share it with the group.

At the meetings, the featured book is discussed first, then participants chime in with their own choices.  The group members are told to be prepared to discuss the appeal of the books, rather than to give plot summaries.  In considering the appeal of the works, participants look at the frame, tone, characterization, storyline, and pacing, as well as responding to such questions as “What does the author do best?” and “What makes the book popular?”  The participants talk about whether they fell into the book immediately or discovered what was going on at a more leisurely pace.  They sum up their sharing of authors and titles by suggesting other books that are brought to mind, as well as what type of reader might especially enjoy reading these books.

In past years, ARRT genre study activities focused squarely on fiction, looking at popular genres such as romance, suspense, and fantasy.  The move to nonfiction was prompted by an interest in drawing reference librarians into the group – staffers who worked regularly with nonfiction, who perhaps didn’t read much fiction, and who weren’t particularly aware of readers advisory principles, but who were in a position to recommend nonfiction titles to library users.  What began as a two-year study is now extending into its third year and probably could keep going for several more.

Saricks and Johnson stress increased knowledge of nonfiction as one of the primary benefits of the study.  Participants also gain a sense of the range of each topic, along with key authors and titles, as well as an understanding of what readers enjoy about these books,  Finally, they are provided with  links to other fiction and nonfiction titles fans may also enjoy.

The meetings are held at two suburban libraries, one northwest of Chicago, the other southwest of the city;  this is done to equalize the commuting distance for members who must travel from the far north or the far south regions.  A secretary takes notes of the discussions and provides copies via e-mail to all members, along with lists of the many books that are discussed.

Perhaps this project — which participants describe as stimulating, fun, and useful –could work as a model for Book Group Buzz readers to try in their own communities!

Book group leaders who usually focus their discussions on novels may be hesitant about trying a nonfiction title.  At first glance, it may seem as if the preparation process will need to be very different and therefore more difficult.  However, even though you won’t be dealing with a typical plot and cast of characters as imagined by the author, you may find yourself encountering some similarities with those books you’re more accustomed to discussing.

For instance, instead of plot, think “story.”  Often in nonfiction, the author is reporting a story, only in this case the details are real, not made-up.  This aspect can lead to a discussion of the facts presented — are there enough to make the situation seem real and understandable, and if not, what seems to be missing?  The issue of accuracy is extremely important in nonfiction, so attention must be paid to the author’s credentials and sources.

Then, moving into the story, we may meet a variety of people, who serve a similar purpose to characters in a novel.  We can talk about them in the same way we approach fictional characters — are they interesting in a particular way, are they sympathetic, what role do they play in the development of the “story”?

When we look at the subject matter of the book, we may want to ask, what is to be learned from this account?  Was there anything in it that surprised you?  Did you agree with the author’s perspective and conclusions?

 Of course, we can always focus a bit on the author’s style and talk about whether the book was readable.  What made it interesting?  Or where did it misfire?  Was it biased or preachy?  Was it too technical, too detailed?

 Nonfiction titles often contain photographs or illustrations which handily lend themselves to conversations about how they enhance the work – and either support our responses as readers or leave us wanting something more.

What have you learned from your experiences of discussing nonfiction books that might help others as they venture into this new discussion territory?  I know I’ve just skimmed the surface here — obviously, there’s much more that could be suggested, so please share your comments!

The Long Embrace:  Raymond Chandler and the Woman He Loved by Judith Freeman (Pantheon, 978-0-375-42351-2)

For book groups looking to discuss a work of non-fiction, this title might work.  The reason why I say might is that I am not sure what weight Raymond Chandler carries in the world anymore.

When I was a young man attending college, I was primarily a science fiction reader.  I spent most of my undergraduate years taking political science courses and relaxing with survey courses in science fiction, fantasy and utopian fiction.  To be honest, I saw them as fun blow-off courses while the English majors were grieving over each word in each book. 

When I ran out of the fun stuff, I took a survey course with some generic name like Mystery and Detective Fiction.  The first book we read was The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler.  That novel still resonates with me today and I have re-read it many times including leading a book discussion or two.  I tell anyone who will listen that Raymond Chandler is my favorite dead author. 

My favorite living crime writer is Michael Connelly.  Oddly, Connelly is not shy about mentioning his love of Chandler and acknowledging the debt of gratitude he owes to Chandler for his interest in crime fiction and the use of the Los Angeles area as a base for his writing.

Now that I have spent the last thirty plus years obsessed by crime and mystery fiction, it seems logical to me that there would be an interest in a master craftsman like Raymond Chandler.  Obviously, so did Judith Freeman.  Freeman has written four novels prior to taking on Raymond Chandler.  Her interest in this writer was piqued when she began to read his letters, having polished off his novels in short order.  But what really grabbed her interest was the intriguing relationship that Raymond Chandler had with “Cissy.” 

Pearl Eugenia Hurlburt was born in Perry, Ohio, in 1870.  When she moved to New York City as a young woman, she altered her name to Cecilia, which was shortened to Cissy.  After a brief marriage to a salesman named Leon Brown Porcher, she married a classical pianist named Julian Pascal (alias:  Goodridge Bowen). 

Throughout his entire life, Chandler would claim he saved Cissy from an unhappy marriage.  While some biographers including Freeman cast doubt on that statement, no one has yet proven that Chandler, at the time he married Cissy, had absolutely any idea his wife was eighteen years older than he was.  Even at her passing, Chandler fills out her death certificate with the age of sixty-eight, when Cissy was really eighty-four.

Freeman works with that intriguing nugget and expands it into an analysis of their relationship.  There were a number of things that challenged what most observers said was a happy relationship.  They moved every six months and only bought there first permanent home late in their marriage.  Raymond Chandler was an alcoholic who needed a buzz in order to feel special.  Alcohol also made him randy and he turned occasionally in his life to other women to fulfill his self-image as a gentleman, yet ladies’ man. 

Of course, while this rather prim accountant like person with his older wife was living a nomadic and friendless life, he was writing some of the best hard-boiled fiction ever.  However, his success in America did not bring him the attention he wanted while he could not connect to the European audience who adored him.

Freeman also injects herself into the narrative.  Her attempt to view every home that Chandler shares with Cissy takes her on a crisscross journey across greater Los Angeles, into neighborhoods that resonate for her on a personal level, not just because of Chandler.  But the sense of excitement the reader shares with her when Freeman gains entrance into some of the homes is easily understood to any fan.  

If that does not intrigue a book discussion group, or the group is still dealing with Raymond Chandler as an unknown quantity, perhaps this book could be combined with a discussion of The Big Sleep and/or a viewing of the great Howard Hawks film of the same name.

Here are some suggested questions for a discussion of The Long Embrace:

How would you describe the relationship between Cissy and Chandler?

Did, or did not, Raymond Chandler understand the age difference between Cissy and himself?  Why does he put a false date on her death certificate?

Chandler needed alcohol to be created at periods of his life (The Blue Dahlia / Playback), yet he wrote one of his best novels (The Long Goodbye) sober, while Cissy was dying.  What defined his need for alcohol?

Why would Chandler burn all of Cissy’s letters after her death?

Chandler tried to commit suicide twice in his life?  What do these attempts tell you about the man?

Now that you know about the man, what does it explain about the literature?  How could this man have created Philip Marlowe?  What characteristics of Marlowe does Chandler share, and which does he not?

When my old Marlboro College roommate, Caitlin, and her husband Ashley last came to visit, we ended up sitting on the couch for an hour poring over the pages of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, tallying up our personal scores. We didn’t intend to geek out in this way. But when they saw that bright, brick of a book on my shelf, and opened its shiny, lustrous pages, we just couldn’t resist.

For one, the books are arranged in more or less chronological order, starting with Aesop’s Fables and ending with Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. The selection also has a European feel to it, having been chosen largely by British academics. It’s inspiring to flip through the pages and marvel at the timeline of literary landmarks over the ages. I delighted in discovering, for instance, that Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five and The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles (two of my personal favorites) were both published in the same year (1969). Each entry provides background on the book and its author, as well as trivia and historical context, and glossy photographs abound.

But back to the scores. Mine was 176. And I consider myself fairly well-read for my age. Pretty humbling though–only 176 out of 1001! I won’t even try to recall what my friends’ scores were, nor would I want to anger them with a false rememberance (aren’t we all a little bit touchy about just this kind of intellectual achievement?).

I do know that I will probably never read all 1001, nor would all 1001 books be for me. But a group in a rut or one that would like to try a year or two of some great classics or chronological reading could do no better than to spend some time poring over this book for suggestions. Feel free to share your scores amongst yourselves!

Parenting an infant requires a lot of time and attention and in that first year you don’t necessarily get a lot of time with your spouse or partner. The time you do have (when the baby is sleeping or otherwise occupied) is spent “downloading”–sharing your respective days or what your child has been up to.

And in that first year there is so much to learn and discuss. There are so many approaches and philosophies about raising children and precious little time to discuss them. So what my husband and I have found ourselves doing is parenting through book discussion.

We have our own mini book club where we read and then touch base about what we have read. It makes our “download” time much more substantive.

Some of our reading has been in the realm of memoir. Because if there is anything that parents need it’s a good laugh. Two recent favorites of ours have been Elisha Cooper’s daddy-memoir Crawling and Catherine Newman’s hilarious and tender Waiting for Birdy.

In the ‘parenting manual’ department, we have gone through Dr. Sears’ The Baby Book and The No-Cry Sleep Solution. Currently we are working our way through Becoming the Parent You Want to Be by Laura Davis and Janis Keyser and Alfie Kohn’s Unconditional Parenting. We also found the DVD for Alfie Kohn’s book helpful–don’t all book group members occasionally cheat or supplement with the film version?

So far the book group approach to parenting has been working pretty well.  For one, it helps us focus.  I have also come to realize that I am not good enough at summarizing to read alone.  Besides, discussing what you have read provides both perspective on and reinforcement of ideas.

This kind of feels like a weird thing to post on this blog, but I am personally very curious if other parents have done the same.   And if anyone has any parenting books to share, please let me know!

Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose is a book lover’s dream! In every chapter Prose breaks down the art of literature by its dazzling components–the sentence, the paragraph, characterization, gesture, dialogue—and creates an understanding and appreciation for the masters of the craft. The authors, stories, and scenes she uses to illustrate her point are inspired and inspiring—I wanted to run right out and read every author, short story, and novel she cited as examples throughout.

This is also a great book for book group leaders and book groups. For leaders who are burning out and feel they need some new strategies to get their group past the “I hated/loved it” morass, Prose’s approach to picking apart what a writer is doing would provide some excellent exercises for a leader to try. The book itself might be a nice discussion in and of itself. For one, it does introduce some new ways to read, but it also introduces some authors and books a group may not have encountered before. I mean, I fancy myself a fairly well read person (although I work with and know many others who totally blow me out of the water), and I didn’t know or hadn’t read half of the authors Prose mentions!

One of the final chapters is dedicated to the reading of Chekhov’s short stories and how he broke every rule and convention Prose felt she kept trying to impart on her writing students. I can’t wait to dedicate a little time to Chekhov myself. And thanks to Prose, I know that I will slow down and savor my reading a little more.

I’m at ALA and we’re talking about memorable book group books. My favorite book group story is an old one, about ten years old now. The first nonfiction book I used in a book group was Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

For three weeks I heard from over 15 readers opinions ranging from, “I HATE this book! It’s not going anywhere!” to “I LOVE this book. I don’t want it to end!”

No one was in the middle regarding MITGOG&E. I anticipated a discussion complete with sabres and cannons and readers dressed in either Yankee blue or Rebel grey. I knew the exchanges would be heated that evening. However, no matter what anyone said about the book, I encouraged each reader to attend.

On the night the book group was to meet, I brought the usual accoutrements with me: discussion topics, coffee, banana bread, and masking tape. I took the masking tape and laid down a line that divided the room equally into two parts.  As each participant entered the room I pointed to the two areas and explained. “This is the Mason-Dixon line. If you didn’t like Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, go sit on that side. That’s the North. If you liked Midnight in the Garden, then sit on this side, it’s the South.”

This may seem rather silly, but it helped dispel some of the strong feelings running wild in the room that night. Everyone also received a rather comical picture of how disparate their opinions could be, but assurance that it’s perfectly acceptable to love/hate a book and discuss it with someone holding a completely opposite opinion.

In a previous life, I taught the Great Literatures to ungrateful, deadline-ignoring, homesick freshmen and sophomores. I loved encouraging them wrap their brains around the many meanings of the rose in “A Rose for Emily.” All that short story/play/poetry explication and analysis in my academic past paid off big time in my librarian future.

Until I learned otherwise, I ran my reading groups the way I ran my Lit 101 classes, constantly asking the readers what they thought objects, places, or names meant. Most readers liked the thoughtful examination of a story’s elements, still others told me to “lighten up.”

What I did instead was look for less scholarly ways to discuss the more meaningful parts of a selection. Which leads me to my absolute favorite reading group reference, How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster.

Foster employs an ebullient and educated tone to his literary criticism and will actually bring forth laughter in the chapter on vampires.

Readers who groan whenever a facilitator wants to discuss the hidden meanings in a literary work, whether it’s Plath, Morrison, Hemingway or Picoult, will find looking for the “clues” to the story much more enjoyable with a little guidance from Foster and improve their own powers of reading observation as well.

Okay, I must have memoirs on the brain. But the film version of Marjane Satrapi’s powerful graphic novel memoir (or “graphic memoir”—a more apt term must exist or be created) is coming out shortly and is already generating critical acclaim.

In 2006, The Seattle Public Library chose Persepolis (1 & 2) as our “Seattle Reads” book. The entire city was invited to meet the author and engage in community discussions about the book and its themes. I facilitated several community discussions and was thrilled to see how readers took to Satrapi’s work. For many, it was their first exposure to the graphic novel format. It is such a dynamic book that I left most discussions buzzing with all of the things we didn’t get a chance to talk about. Sometimes an hour is just not enough!

If your group has never tried a graphic novel, put Persepolis on your list for 2008. Better yet, take your group to see the film afterwards! And check out the fantastic Reading Group Toolbox created by the Washington Center for the Book for discussion questions, author information and more. For extra fun, your group can also check out our Podcast!

On Thursday, I promised the title of the book all the NEFLINers said was a successful book group read.

Flyboys: A True Story of Courage by James Bradley spurred plenty of heated debate for a few of northeast Florida’s library-sponsored reading circles.  Bradley is also the author of another book group favorite, Flags of Our Fathers. This gruesome WWII story of nine Navy and Marine pilots who were captured by the Japanese during the waning days of the war generated plenty of chat about cultural differences; honor during wartime; and class differences among enlisted men for the Florida readers.

Katrina also noted that this book brought in some new readers to a book group, particularly men, and suggested that the next time any of the Library’s book groups chose a book focusing on the United States at war, a publicity blitz be aimed at the VFW halls in town.

Smart thinking, Kat. Thanks for the idea.