Dan's Choice #1

I have picked my book.  So that all of you can score it early, I'm announcing it.

It is..."Mother Night" by God rest his soul Kurt Vonnegut.

I decided to add a little humor to our little club, albeit dark humor.

Hopefully not too many of us have read it.

Our next discussion...

Hi all. Some great discussion on the last book. Sorry I didn't participate more, but I kept thinking I didn't have that much to say. Apparently you all proved me wrong.

By all means feel free to keep the discussion of O'Nan going, but I thought I'd let you all know that i plan to put up my post on Revolutionary Road sometime early in the week on April 12th. That should give everyone who is interested about four weeks to get it read if you haven't started already. I've already finished, so if the general sentiment seems to be that we can discuss it sooner, by all means let me know. I found it to be a really easy and engrossing read.

Also, if anyone is interested, many people theorize that the return to literary grace that Yates has had in the last ten years or so (most of his books were out of print after his death in '92) was due mainly to this piece in the Boston Review written by, strangely enough, Stewart O'Nan.

Happy reading!

First post for "Last Night"

Well, so far in this book club, we've encountered a farce, a polemic, and now I submit that we have completed a character sketch. In "Last Night at the Lobster" (LNATL) we have the portrait of a man who is trying desperately to do the right thing and just wants a little recognition for it.

The first thing that struck me about the book was the description. Often I'm a bit of a speed reader, skimming along for the action and dialogue, but I knew right away that I had to slow down and really picture this one. The "salted cars...splitting as they sniff for parking spots," the "snow sifting down on the roof and back window, the heated glass seeming to absorb each crystal." The whole story rests on the vivid images O'Nan creates because, really, what actually happens in the book? Not that much.

So let's talk about Manny. He's overweight, he misses his grandmother, he likes his job, and he apparently has no clue how birth control works. He's gotten two girls pregnant in the past year, and the one he loves broke up with him while the one he thinks is just okay wants to marry him. It seems like we should view Manny as a real loser, but I liked him a lot. For one thing, he's a great manager. I loved the way he cruised through the restaurant: he wipes tables, slices lemons, manages conflict in the kitchen, placates guests, buses tables, salts the sidewalk. He certainly isn't a guy who thinks that staff does the work while the boss watches. I think I'd like to work with him. (He's kind of the anti-Ignatius, isn't he?)

The thing is, though, that Manny is great only when he has a checklist or a handbook to tell him what to do. He definitely should know by now what to buy Deena for Christmas, but he doesn't because there aren't any hard-and-fast guidelines. So he relies on a set of oh-so-cliched "rules" for present buying:

"Clothes? Right now she doesn't have a size and...he doesn't trust his taste.

"Perfume? ...The odds of getting something she doesn't have and likes are slim...

"Music? Too high school, not personal enough, the same with electronics.

"Which leaves the fool's last resort: jewelry."

This passage--really, Manny's whole experience at the mall--illuminated how lost Manny is when he's away from the Lobster. When the Polish girl at the jewelry store offers her help, he selects a pair of earrings that he is fully aware will look totally different on Deena and are well out of his established price range besides. But he buys them anyway because he's relieved to have someone tell him what to do.

I spent a lot of time wondering what Manny is going to do next, after the Lobster closes. I'd like for him to develop a more accurate self-perception, because while he thinks he's a loser who doesn't do enough, his crew sees him as a pretty decent guy. Deena certainly seems to like him. I'd like to think that by leaving the marlin behind in all its shellacked, dusty glory, he's indicating the ability to find fulfillment and a sense of excitement in his next job and in his future with (or without) Deena and Jacquie. However, I'm not quite sure he can.