Check Out This Boffo Book Club

            At a New Year’s Eve party, one guest, a lawyer, asked how I knew the host and hostess.

            “We’re in the same book club.”

            “Guys in a book club?”

            “Sure.”

            “The guys read the books?”

            “Certainly.”

            “Ha!” he said, and it sounded like, “Who do you think you’re kidding?”

I hadn’t heard that “guys” in a book club is unusual or that guys wouldn’t read the books.  If the skeptical lawyer is right, though, our club is more unusual than I thought.

Great Friends; Great Times

            What 's more exceptional, though, is that since the club ‘s founding eight years ago, the members—who range in age from the early sixties to the threshold of eighty—have  become close friends. They occasionally travel together, vacation together, and bicycle together. (Yes, all bicycle).
           All belong to the Columbia Film Society. They dine together after Society movies and party together during the holidays and on special occasions like Ravens playoff games and the Super Bowl.
          The club exerts an almost family-tug on members’ emotions. As one of “the guys” puts it, “the club ranks among the top ten influences on my life.” I know at least one other member feels the same way.
           Importantly, the club shows the power of books to unite people. And uniting in a book club has proved –for us and reportedly for others –a  remarkable device for making new friends.

Sharing Breaks Barriers

          True, activities such as sharing hobbies, participating in walking or hiking groups, volunteering, and joining church groups offer people of all ages ways to form friendships. But as a byproduct of reading and together reacting to varied books, people tend to reveal things about themselves that they might not otherwise mention.

          Our club has met almost monthly through the years and has read classics and best sellers. In all  members have devoured some 80 books—novels, histories, narrative non-fiction books, and one ethics text. The resulting conversations led members to learn about and appreciate their fellow readers.
         In an article for Ireland's Sunday Independent, journalist and novelist Eilis O’Hanlan  refers to a history of women’s book clubs written by Rice University sociologist Elizabeth Long. Long pointed out that the clubs helped women achieve emancipation. They offered participants the chance to meet privately and discuss their concerns. O’Hanlan adds:

Women's Clubs Dominate

        “That the vast majority of book clubs are still dominated by women (up to 80 percent, according to some estimates) is no coincidence. They remain important forums for female friendship and interaction.”

       So the skeptical lawyer’s skepticism has some basis.

       According to Ms. O’Hanlan, there has been little academic research done on what’s termed the book-club phenomenon.  But a simple Google search indicates such clubs have become s at least widespread and perhaps ubiquitous.

Clubs Galore

     Most publishers sponsor book clubs. So do schools and professional groups. Then there is the venerable Book of the Month Club--and book sellers must be rejoicing in the recent announcement that Oprah is reviving her book club after a two-year hiatus.

The accounts of friends and relatives indicate many clubs sprout like dandelions, blossom briefly, turn into fluffy gossip groups, and blow away. Yet the book club idea hasn’t vanished probably because discussing books can break down barriers.

Surely that’s one reason our mixed-couple, group has thrived. Beyond that, four members share the same profession: psychology. Most importantly, the perceptive lady who formed the group chose compatible couples she thought would read the selected titles. Members take turns choosing each month’s title. By rule, the selector must have read a book before choosing it for the group.

Would the formula work for others? Probably, given careful planning and member choice.

A Special Quality

         Still, we believe our club is special. Consider an incident that occurred in the course of a club trip to Italy.

       After a long day walking in Florence, the group arrived at its final stop, the famous Uffizi Art Gallery. The line for tickets stretched for blocks. The estimated waiting time  was three hours.

      “Let’s skip it,” someone suggested. No one protested. The little troop moved on, pausing later to study some frescoes at a cathedral.

        At that point one person said. “You know, I’d really like to see the Uffizi. I may not get another chance.”

Without a word, without a frown, without reluctance, her seven friends walked back with her to the Uffizi and got in line.

That’s the special spirit of our book club. That's why, in our view, it's sensationally succesful--or in a word: boffo. 
(Oh ,  and the wait  at the Uffizi turned out to be lesss than three hours.)

                                                                                  Gus Gribbin