Hypocrite in a Poofy White Dress: Next meeting

Happy new year folks. After a phenomenal amount of hemming and hawing, we've ditched Don Quixote and have reeled in the far-less-high-brow Hypocrite in a Poofy White Dress: Tales of growing up groovy and clueless, by Susan Gilmore.

I'll be very interested to see what people think about it, and whether it will offer anyone insight into the goings on in my brain. I hope you all like it more than I liked the fiercely Anglo Brick Lane, which I found as utterly impenetrable as those irritating 3am conversations when people around me start discussing the children's TV of their youth with wistful abandon. But you all seemed to love it. Maybe because you all remember the same tv.

Regardless, it looks like the location is in Chiswick, at Annie's Restaurant after a trip to the Theatre (for some of us high-culture slaves).

Time forthcoming. My 2p: I would prefer not to have two engagements on the same weekend in London as that would mean staying over, so if we can keep it to the Saturday that would be grand. Early, of course, after the matinee and before everyone else's saturday nights.

As we're considering where to go and what to do...

This looks highly amusing:

Duckie
The Class Club
16 December 2006 - 7 January 2007 / 19:30, 15:00
The Pit

Description:
Devised by Ursula Martinez, Vito Rocco, Jane Devoy and Mark Whitelaw with head chef Tom Norrington-Davies
Commissioned by barbicanbite06

For the Duckie Christmas show 2006, get socially mobile for one night only and choose your class - lower class, middle class or upper class - dress up, and come and have Christmas dinner with us.

In this quintessentially English game of manners, Duckie present a piece of 'Dinner-tainment', an audience interactive theatre event. With special entertainment appropriate to your chosen class.

For the lower classes: Fun 'n' Festive Xmas cavery with all the trimmings.

For the middle classes: Contemporary, ethically-sourced, pan-fusion, seasonal cuisine.

For the upper classes: A traditional Christmas dinner - bubbly & Mrs Beaton, game & figgy pudding.

Performance time: 19:30 (30 Dec, 6 & 7 Jan 15:00)
Running time: 120 mins / no interval

Age guidance: 16+
Dress code: Audience members are requested to dress appropriately for their chosen class>

Any thoughts? It could be an extra field trip, like London Eye (which was a huge success - thanks to everyone who came and we missed those who weren't there! Photos up soon on flickr....)

new eco resto opening in London

Acorn House, in WC1, could be a nice option for a book club dining outing. yum food from former head chef at fifteen and river cafe.

And it's eco:

* 100% of kitchen waste will be recycled and composted
* water will be purified and bottled on site to save on bottles and transport
* natural lighting and green electricity will be used
* take-away packaging will be biodegradable and come from recycled sources
* a loop system will be in operation for supply and removal of produce to minimise journeys
* all vegetables will be sourced from sustainable farmers
* air-freighted produce will never be used
* customers will choose dishes in different portions sizes to minimize wastage
* customers will be invited to donate 50p to plant a tree to offset their carbon emissions travelling to the restaurant
* staff will be encouraged to cycle to work

Dates for next Book club and other animals

Well I think the consensus is London Eye either Sunday 5th Novemeber about 8ish or Saturday 11th about 5ish. I would prefer the 11th but am also free on the 5th Denise is away in Derby and Caroline is also away, so the rest of you, get voting.

Have almost finished the book, so will bring it down to Brighton this weeknd and the first person who yells "aye!" can borrow it, assuming you don't all have it already. There certainly is quite a lot to talk about with this one, so good choice Denise.

Have also recently read The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Not one of his usual biology/evolution books, but instead his ideas about why people believe in god(s) and why this causes problems for the world. I thought it was excellent. Have unfortunately loaned it to fundamentalist non-dinosaur believing Christian at work so will need to wait till I get it back if anyone wants to borrow. Going to read The Woman in White next.

Next book club dates and books I read on my hols

Hi folks, I'm back from my travels and read a few reads on the way. Can heartily recommend Louis Theroux's Call of the Weird (a follow up from his documentary series). Great writer, great research, some good introspection. Pastoralia (as mentioned in the previous post) not as good, but some great exposition. Here's something I wrote about it on the road:

It would have been a much better book if each of the short stories featured a character who had the same affectation. Relentless self-doubt and stream of consciousness, self-contradiction and worry.

He wrote it brilliantly, but I’d like to see other characterisations. He seems to have perfected one particular description, and won’t let it go.

Same problem with Roald Dahl short stories. Perhaps it’s a problem with short stories? Too formulaic?

Any thoughts?

I also consumed a book called The Devil's Picnic: A tour of everything the governments of the world don't want you to try, which is in the same docu-book vein as Call of the Weird, but isn't as objective and/or well-written. Still, an interesting conceit. Here's the blurb from Amazon:

This detailed chef's tour of prohibited pleasures for the palate, from Norwegian moonshine and Bolivian coca leaves to Spanish bull testicles, is laced with magnificent descriptions—some mouthwatering, others quite repulsive. Grescoe (Sacre Blues: An Unsentimental Journey Through Quebec) uses food as a pretext to lead readers on a heady quest to corroborate the libertarian principle of free will. Through his well-researched history lessons, readers learn of the birth and evolution of nine different foodstuffs, and the politics behind their prohibition. Grescoe paints colorful portraits of contemporary cultures by walking the land, sampling the fare and providing firsthand interviews with various food experts: aficionados, suppliers and officials charged with enforcing interdiction. His narrative makes a convincing case that most restrictions are based on unwarranted or outdated health concerns, or political agendas that profit the government (up to 86% of the price of liquor in Norway can go to taxes!). And while he successfully illustrates the arguments used by supporters of legalization, he surprises himself by conceding that certain governmental intervention can indeed be a necessary evil (e.g., protection of endangered animals). With amusing anecdotes and exotic imagery, this walk through the garden of "forbidden fruit" is a savory and powerful scrutiny into the psychology, markets and politics of prohibition.

I also ate through A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian, which I found to be an easy read, albeit rather racist. Has anyone else been through this fiction? Interesting take on the relationships between last generation eastern european immigrants and new eastern european immigrants. Felt like it was written by a Daily Telegraph reader tho. Too much "they only want to take advantage of our system" malarky.

Finally, to confirm my "geekiest of the book group" status I also read a non-fiction called The Planets, by Dava Sobel, "A breathtaking, intimate view of the heavenly bodies in our solar system". INteresting read; written kind of awkwardly, but filled with a bounty of information about the historical, astrological, harmonic and cultural origins of planet names, lore and observation.

But the point of this post is to confirm that we've got another get together in two weeks. I'm afraid I'm busy on Sunday 22nd. Has anyone suggested any other dates? Thereafter I can't do anything until - at earliest - Sunday 5th November.

Good holiday reads?

Hey folks, was very sorry to miss Sunday's event. I was stuck on the couch with ice on my forsaken ankle. Boo hiss.

As you all are prfoundly aware, I'm going to Australia for work/holiday and have some serious travel time to fill with things other than the work that i need to do.

Any good book recommendations?????

Note - Kingdom Come is hardback, which means it ain't holiday friendly, especially as holiday = backpacking through Oz for three weeks.

I randomly picked up a book called Pastoralia ('cause I liked the cover and 'cause it was recommended by my local waterstones seller). It's by George Saunders and sounds rather kitsch.

In Pastoralia elements of contemporary life are twisted, merged and amplified into a slightly skewed version of modern America. A couple live and work in a caveman theme-park, where speaking is an instantly punishable offence. A born loser attends a self-help seminar where he is iencouraged to rid himself of all the people 'crapping in your oatmeal'. And a male expotic dancer and his family are terrorised by heir decomposing aunt who visits them with a solemn message from beyond the grave

What can I say - it had me at hello. It's short stories.

And did you know that Margaret Atwood's got aanother book out? How uber-prolific is that lady? It's called Moral Disorder (I like the title) and it's a book of short stories. We've not done short stories yet.

Anyhoo, I'll see you all when I get back! In the meantime - any good holiday reads?????

And we're off

Well, we have chosen JG Ballard’s Kingdom Come for the next book club, to take place sometime in the second half of October, when folk have returned from their travels. Other suggestions which didn't make it were The Kite Runner, The Victorian Internet and Brave New World. the consesus was to get some "meaty" books including forays into the world of the Classics. Think Madame Bovary was mentioned. The Troubadour was fantastic, particulalry the Eton Mess, so another good place to go if you are ever in the Earls Court area.