Dan IS the Man!

Acknowledgments:
Last night Dan officially violated Rule One in the MBC Protocol Handbook, which reads: “Thou Shalt Not Discourage Thy Successor Host.” With his extensive German menu—replete with spatzle, sauerbraten, bratwurst (which tasted deliciously free of those tasteless meal byproducts acceptable in Europe), and “German” chocolate cake—and his revised home décor (Steinbeck’s Rocinante was a poor relation to Dan’s side-entry ManLand), Dan has set an impossible standard for all who follow. (Tom, start preparing!) Thanks to Dan’s zealousness, Rule Two has now been enacted and reads: “He Who Violates Rule One Shall Immediately Repeat as Host.”

We thank Dan for his hospitality and his generosity. Our visions of Rocinante will forever include two TV screens, a bar, and two sets of rocking loge seats. And we thank Dean for helping with the preparations after Dan speared his left orbital bone on a tomato post.

We also acknowledge the arrival of Armando, who admitted to knowing Tom’s wife more than 30 years ago, which is about when our other newbie, Jeff, was born. Welcome to you both! (And note to you both: at Man Book Club, we don’t mention other men’s wives during our meetings because for 2-3 hours each month, in the fullness of our fellowship, we pretend they don’t exist.)

The Book:
Our run around the table produced a wide variety of commentary on Travels With Charley. There were those who found it refreshing, prophetic, nostalgic, and generally enjoyable; there were also those (slightly in the majority) who felt a little cheated by Steinbeck. With his immense talents, he used this travelogue to share more rants than insights. He was preoccupied with the Bomb, trash, migration, uncommunicative Yankees, and his inability to read a map when entering cities of any size. (And, according to Roy, he was a complete misanthrope all the way to Chicago…at which point Roy put down the book. Way to give a Nobel Prize winner your attention, Roy!) But, as several of us noted, his final 30 pages set aside the ramblings of an older Steinbeck and eloquently attacked the racist tumult he encountered on his trip through the South. We rated this work a 6.1, a figure that would have been slightly lower had Stan not shamefacedly admitted to giving “any” book at least a 5. (And Stan had the nerve to criticize the integrity of our rating system!)


The Book Exchange:
Thanks to all who brought books to exchange and special thanks to Dan for tossing in a couple extras to fill the gaps. There were some wonderful titles on display and if it weren’t so chaotic we might have agreed with Garth’s suggestion that we simply read our newfound treasures and share the results in January. (Actually, on principle, we would never have agreed with Garth, but his suggestion was certainly novel…and, yes, pun intended.)

Next Up:
Tom proposed both of Krakauer’s “Into…” books, which unfortunately had been read by a solid majority of those present. He also proposed Of Mice and Men and The Kite Runner. The former was too much Steinbeck too soon, and the latter had also been read by many. When Tortilla Curtain was unwrapped by Larry, a consensus emerged that it was time for T.C. Boyle, the 1988 PEN/Faulkner winner and a favorite of book groups across the country ever since he stopped using his impossible middle name.