Helpful stuff for tomorrow…
Hey, sorry this is late. Mike & Melissa, feel free to look up some stuff on Vonnegut (his works and accomplishments after this collection was published) as it’s riddled with irony.
Pay special attention to these essays/speeches/stories:
Excelsior!
Fortitude
Biafra
No Nirvanas
In a Manner…
Address to Wheaton
Also, there are a lot of quotables throughout the book, so be ready to share favorite passages.
Also, it’s too damn hot to cook in this apt (i.e. I can’t cook) and I haven’t thought about any themey foods… Vonnegut doesn’t seem to be a big eater. If anyone is against the idea of Chinese take out or sandwiches/hors d’ouevres let me know. I’m open to suggestions.
Evite
What: Next On The Books Meeting
When: Tuesday, June 3, 2008, at 8:00 pm
Where: Mike and Bailee’s House
RSVP not required.
Wampeters, Foma, and Granfaloons
That’s the title of the book. Go read it!
Meeting Update
Ok, we’ve discussed it, and the meeting will be Tuesday the 6th. Weenies will be served.
April Meeting
Hi all, due to the extinuating circumstances of this month. Melissa and Eli being out of town and many more pressing things on their mind, as well as the fact that our usual Tuesday is Bailee’s and my wedding anniversary, I am pushing our meeting back a week.
This month’s meeting will be April 29th at the usual 8pm.
Please let me know if this works for everyone.
Thanks,
Mike
Just a Formality
Since everyone already knows this, and I think everyone has the book already (except Melissa who will get it as soon as the library tells me my hold is available), I almost didn’t bother posting this. But, in trying to keep up with protocol and decorum, I have selected A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole for our next book. I’m sure this news startles and amazes you, but I tend to procrastinate, so deal with it.
If I was in charge of the news media, you’d just now be learning about the Lincoln assassination.
Questions for Tonight
Here are the things I’d like to talk about at tonight’s meeting:
Ø Did you like the book?
Ø At the time In Cold Blood was released, there hadn’t been anything like it – a non-fiction novel. What parts of the book do you feel are the “novel” parts?
Ø Capote read an article in the New York Times that inspired the book, and he compiled nearly 8,000 pages of research. Except for a couple of times near the end, why do you think he doesn’t reference himself at all in the book? Ø Tom Wolfe wrote in his essay Pornoviolence, “The book is neither a who-done-it nor a will-they-be-caught, since the answers to both questions are known from the outset … Instead, the book’s suspense is based largely on a totally new idea in detective stories: the promise of gory details, and the withholding of them until the end.”o Do you agree with Wolfe’s quote?o What do you think of the violence? Ø The story involves quite a bit of psychological backstory on Hickock and Smith. Did you like getting to know their backgrounds? Did you have empathy for them? Ø Do you feel that Capote gave both Hickock and Smith equal time? If not, why do you think that one got more attention over the other? See you guys tonight!
March Meeting, Ammended
So, due to the Cartoon Dump show, the March meeting has been pushed back to Wednesday, March 26 at 8pm. I had a thought. I know this would put folks to being out ’til around 11 or so on a school night, but would you guys be interested in following the discussion, which I assume will go about an hour, with a a viewing if the movie? I know Bailee and I have never seen it, so it might be interesting to watch it immediately following the discussion of the book.
I will probably watch it anyway that night, and you guys are more than welcomed to stay.
Mike
March Meeting
Let’s schedule the March meeting for Tuesday, March 25, at 8pm. That okay with everyone?
March’s Book Selection
I have selected In Cold Blood as our next book in On the Books.
Ever since I saw the film “Capote,” I have wanted to read In Cold Blood. I am fascinated by Capote coining the term “non-fiction novel,” and I am drawn to true life/reality-based tales in movies.
Happy reading,
Melissa
On The Books 
