"I hate to sound ponderous, but I have a certain moral obligation."

Today's my book club day, and thus I give thanks that my experience so far has been nothing like those described in "Fought Over Any Good Books Lately?" Of course, the squabbles described in the New York Times article seem to be more about personality instead of the actual contents of the books. Before I joined my club there was some kind of epic throwdown about THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH, but it mostly seemed to be the members who got discouraged by the book and never finished demanding an explanation from the ones who finished the book (and were telling them it gets better).

I think buried in there somewhere is a salient point, though, about how sometimes it's harder to hold book clubs together where the people in them are leading vastly different lives. (This isn't the only reason "The Jane Austen Book Club" is a movie of lies, but it's a start!) I'd like to think we all get along because we are respectful of each other and able to listen, but we have the advantage of being at the same stage in our lives.

Of course, now I have said all this I will probably get thrown out of book club for violating the first (and second?) rules of book club.

Thanks to Elizabeth for sending this to me on Monday.