"Paul Di Filippo - Book Clubbed" - читать интересную книгу автора (Di Filippo Paul)

тАЬI didnтАЩt think so,тАЭ continued Tina. тАЬThatтАЩs why I went looking for a
reference work to help us get started. HereтАЩs what I found.тАЭ

She dug a book out of her knitting bag and passed it around.

Diana LoevyтАЩs The Book Club Companion.

The Bible of our doom.

We all clustered around the book, studying its light-hearted,
good-natured, informative pages that taught us such clever tricks as how to
entertain (and drink!) thematically. Excitement surged, and pretty soon we
had concluded our first meeting by vowing to pattern ourselves completely
along the lines of LoevyтАЩs guide.

тАЬThis will be so much fun!тАЭ exclaimed Donna Starzl. тАЬNo dry literary
discussions! More like a costume party or an amateur theatrical event or a
support group every week!тАЭ

тАЬBut centered around a book,тАЭ Beth Ostrander politely reminded us.

тАЬOf course,тАЭ said Tina. тАЬWe just have to choose our first title.тАЭ

Well, none of us wanted to venture right off the bat into the confusing
domain of brand-new books, so in the end we opted for a classic: James
M. CainтАЩs The Postman Always Rings Twice.

тАЬAnd we can watch the movie afterwards too!тАЭ shouted out Lena
Bolland. Lena had had three Bloody Marys to everyone elseтАЩs two. тАЬThat
John Garfield was so hot!тАЭ

тАЬJohn Garfield?тАЭ I said. тАЬI thought that was Jack Nicholson....тАЭ

тАЬYouтАЩre both right,тАЭ said Beth. тАЬThere were two versions. But no
movie-watching till youтАЩve read the actual book.тАЭ

тАЬAnd donтАЩt forget,тАЭ Tina chirped in, тАЬweтАЩre doing the whole discussion
Loevy-style!тАЭ

The next week we reconvened, and everyone had gone
enthusiastically full out, totally getting into the spirit of the Loevy-style book
club.

All the girls were dressed up in period clothing, Depression-era duds
they had dug out of attics. Some came in тАЬdrag,тАЭ as men with false
mustaches. A few had borrowed vintage cars like the ones we saw in the
annual Elks parade.

Inside, we each got handed a drink of тАЬbathtub gin.тАЭ Snacks were Ritz
crackers and Spam and Velveeta.