HAPTER ONE

heck It Out

dele Robins
has facilitat-
ed book clubs
in greater De-
troit for a
quarter of a
century. A decade ago, she
noted a proliferation of in-
terest in the activity.
"Book clubs have sprung
up like mushrooms in the
last 10 years," she says.
Ms. Robins leads literary
discussions for 33 local
groups. She knows at least
three other facilitators who
do the same.
Tallying book club mem-
bership in the metropolitan
area proves almost impossi-
ble, however. Most are low
profile, informal monthly
gatherings of neighbors and
friends.
Other types exist: femi-
nist book clubs, couples book
clubs, women's clubs, Jew-
ish, black and B'nai B'rith
clubs.

Members have at least
one thing in common: a love
for the written word.
"Reading, for me, is a way
oflife," says Dorie Shwedel,
a member of the Franklin
Woods neighborhood book
club. "It's the quest, the
thirst for knowledge."
Mrs. Shwedel says read-
ing books also is an escape
from daily pressures and
routines. Mysteries are
"brain candy," which she
feasts on when she's not pe-
rusing more serious tomes.
People join book clubs for
different reasons. Women
with children who do not
work outside the home es-
pecially enjoy the respite
from childcare. They revel
in an evening with each oth-
er, away from their domes-
tic tasks.
Members also enjoy the
intellectual stimulation book
clubs provide. The clubs
compensate somewhat for
the English classes of their
college days. But unlike
academia, book clubs have
no due dates, no exams. If

Beverly Baker, Arnold Winshall, Hildy "Bunny" Cooper and Faye Kalman discuss A River Runs Through It

members don't finish their
assigned book-of-the-month,
discussion lags. Some delin-
quent readers pretend to
have read the book. They
scam their way through dis-
cussion.
But there's no detention
because the rules have
changed since school days.
Particularly in the Discus-
sion Group, which has been
meeting for 35 years. Mem-
bers of this group, who meet
in each other's homes, don't
raise their hands to speak.
They blurt out interpreta-
tions.
At Morris Baker's home in
Bloomfield Hills, 17 people

candidly discuss implica-
tions of fly fishing in A River
Runs Through It, the book-
turned-box office movie.
Sue Winshall and Beverly
Baker say that descriptions
of fly fishing wax boring.
The men disagree.
Allen Zemmol explains
that fly fishing symbolizes
love. Someone else labels
such a metaphor mind-bog-
gling.
"You. weren't reading care-
fully enough. You only read
with one eye," retorts an-
other.
In this club and others,
spontaneity rules. But can-
dor is tempered by friend-

ship fostered through year
of sharing ideas.

CHAPTER TWO

Syllabi, Structure
and Substance

IIID eople in book
clubs usually de-
cide what to read
based on consen-
sus. Some clubs
that hire facilita-
tor Adele Robins appoint a
few members to decide what
they will read for the entire
year.
A good book is not neces-