What we’re about
This group is comprised of fun and spirited bookworm-explorers dedicated to expanding our horizons within a 5-10 mile radius. Each month we will gather together to discuss a pre-selected book and meet at various locations in and around Oakland. Whether you are new to the area or looking to make new friends, this is a great group for any ladies who enjoy lighthearted discourse and merriment.
Upcoming events (2)
See all- May Book Club: The Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-AknerTown Tavern, Alameda, CA
As this book is set on an East Coast island, I thought we would venture out to our own local island for what will be the group's first meeting in Alameda.
While Fleishman is in Trouble was neither my favorite book nor series, this book was suggested by one of our group and I am willing to give it a go. Plus the NYT promises that it is better than the author's previous work. So here we all go together....for, with any luck, some intergenerational trauma :)
NY Times Review Excerpt
What does it mean to come by one’s life honestly? This is the question at the heart of Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s generation-spanning sophomore novel, “Long Island Compromise,” which tells the story of a wealthy, dysfunctional suburban Jewish family.
Given the unavoidable success of her debut, “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” I will spare curious readers the suspense and answer a more cynical question: Is this book as good? It’s better. Sprawling yet nimble, this is her Big American Reform Jewish Novel. In an assimilatory turn, it’s less reminiscent of Roth (Philip or Henry) than of Franzen (Jonathan), whom Brodesser-Akner profiled in her role as staff writer for The New York Times Magazine.
A fictionalized account of a true story, “Long Island Compromise” begins in 1980, when the prominent businessman Carl Fletcher is ambushed in his driveway, taken to unknown parts and tortured by unknown parties. Bubble burst, the house is suddenly teeming with F.B.I. agents as Carl’s frantic wife, Ruth, finds herself taking her younger son, Bernard, on an elaborate ransom drop, a day that will scar both him and his older brother, Nathan, for life.
