People of the Book...
Clubs
"With all the important things that happen good or bad the group is there as support."
Maxwell Bardenstein
sarily a classic. Rather, it's
one that sparks debate or
raises questions.
Members admit that oc-
casionally they hate the
book-of-the-month. But they
concede that some selections
have exposed them to liter-
ary experiences they would
have missed if they had in-
dependently chosen what to
read.
Books eliciting groans
from readers often are those
best remembered. Members
of the book club Sharon
Knoppow and Annie Ginis
attend still bemoan Five
Smooth Stones. Nonethe-
less, the book still comes up
in conversation — as an in-
side joke.
Popular books include
Animal Dreams by Barbara
Kingsolver, A Thousand
Acres by Jane Smiley, and
Love in the Time of Cholera
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Clubs mix genres. They
read little poetry and prac-
tically no grocery store lit-
erature, like books by
Sidney Sheldon. But they
scour fiction, non-fiction, bi-
ographies, autobiographies
and fantasy. Some have
read plays, like the Mer-
chant of Venice. As a field
trip, they subsequently trav-
eled to Stratford, Ontario, to
see the production.
CHAPTER
THREE
Sex and The Sexes
40
adonna's
book, Sex,
was hot off
the press
last fall.
Dorie
Shwedel didn't waste a
minute. She taped "XXX" on
her front door and called an
emergency book club meet-
ing.
For the first time in a
while, the whole gang
showed up — one dressed in
gauzy, seductive garb. Her
hair was teased a la the Ma-
terial Girl.
"It was an experience we'll
never forget," Mrs. Shwedel
says. "It's unadulterated
mirth. Do you know how
rare that is?"
Letting loose is important
to members of many all-
female clubs. Discussions
that strike men as silly or
"girl-talk" aren't insignifi-
cant to the opposite sex.
"Women want to have to-
tal freedom in what we say
without feeling any hesita-
tion," Mrs. Shwedel ex-
plains.
"When you have both
males and females, (discus-
sions) tend not to be as per-
sonally revealing," said Lita
Zemmol from Birmingham.
All-female clubs outnum-
ber all-male clubs, but when
men and women got togeth-
er Feb. 13 at Morris and
Beverly Baker's home to dis-
cuss A River Runs Through
It, the men dominated.
Women contributed, but not
as vociferously.
This contrast might have
had something to do with
the "maleness" of the book's
prevailing metaphor: fly
fishing.
"When we do things that
are more of the heart,
women say more," Mrs. Bak-
er says.
The degree to which peo-
ple appreciate their book
club experiences should not
be measured by the amount
they talk, according to Ms.
Robins.
"Not everybody comes to
participate," she says. "They
come to learn and listen."
Dorie Shwedel, Shelley Farkas and Katie Newman choose the next book-of-the-month.
CHAPTER
FOUR
The Jewish
Connection
11\ll any book
clubs have
a steep per-
centage of
Jewish
members.
Though their reading
repertoire is multi-cultural,
many book clubs include lit-
erature by authors Philip
Roth, Bernard Malamud,
Isaac Bashevis Singer, Saul
Bellow and Zeev Chafets —
even Judy Blume, a chil-
dren's writer.
References to Jewish val-
ues punctuate discussions.
"Our questions always
come down to, is it good for
the Jews?" says Maxwell
Bardenstein, only partly in
jest.
Dr. Bardenstein, from
Bloomfield Hills, belongs to
the spunky 35-year-old book
club that met at the Bakers'
two weeks ago. Sporadic
mention was made of shtetl
and Israel.
This club, in addition to
reading books, focuses on
political and ethical issues.
They have discussed Histo-
ry of the Jews by Paul John-
son and have invited Rabbi
Sherwin Wine to speak on
Humanistic Judaism. Jo-
seph Savin, president by
consensus, often brings in
supplementary readings:
book reviews and magazine
articles.
The reason these clubs ap-
peal to Jews is obvious to
many.
"We're the People Of the
Book,' " Dorie Shwedel says.
"In Jewish culture, there's
a tremendous quest for ed-
ucation," Ms. Robins says. "I
think Jewish people like
emoting and expressing
their feelings — talking, dis-
cussing, arguing."
It's a penchant several
Jewish book clubs' members
have passed down to their
children.
Some of the children of
book club members now
have book clubs of their
own.
CHAPTER
FIVE
Beyond The
Written Word
F
amilial values
also permeate
tight-knit book
clubs. Members
have witnessed
each other's life
cycles: becoming a parent,
then an in-law. Divorces, re-
marriage. The loss of a par-
ent, then a spouse.
Growing older.