Point of View

The Great Escape Book Club

I seem to have landed on the set of “The Jane Austen Book Club” when I joined a local book reading club which met this week to discuss, “Sunday’s At Tiffany’s,” by Scott Paterson.

I arrived at Abbie’s beautiful Phoenix home and was introduced to the girls that were already there. I couldn’t help thinking that I was intruding on their “girls’ night” away from their daily responsibilities, but was made to feel welcome and part of the group. I was quickly dubbed the “token” guy, a title I am familiar with having grown up in an all female house.

Abbie had prepared some snacks and we each found a seat around an over stuffed ottoman which doubled as a coffee table. We all sat around talking and getting to know each other before jumping into the topic of our book for this month. “Sunday’s at Tiffany’s” told the story of a young lady whose life revolved around work, an estranged relationship with her mother and her fond memories of an imaginary childhood friend, Michael. The story takes a twist when Michael is reintroduced into her life and she soon discovers that it is Michael that she loves-but is she still imagining him? The story has a “City of Angles” feel but the reader never truly connects with the main character, Jane.

I have always been amazed at a women’s ability to carry on multiple conversations with multiple people without skipping a beat and I soon found myself surrounded by the Goodnight Ladies from the musical, “The Music Man.” The girls all “talked-a-little-picked-a-little and I chimed in about favorite books, foods, and even relationships before we broke up for the evening. I think I did pretty well and we even managed to choose the books for the remainder of the year; my choice being one of them. I felt as if I had been allowed into a secret club but to be quite honest, I can’t wait for the next gathering.