2011.01.24 Meeting Notes

Readers,
This is your slacker update. I can't believe it's taken me this long to report on last week's meeting. I managed to put it off long enough so that I completely forgot. No reflection, of course, on how much I love our group. More of a reflection on my scatterbrainedness. Yes, that's a new word. In my defense, I am moving in 9 days and am still packing my house!
We had a good meeting last Monday to discuss Stephen Cannell's The Pallbearers. Judy did an excellent job of leading us in the discussion and giving us some background on SC's many accomplishments during his lifetime. He was very involved in writing for tv and someone commented that his book read like a tv script, which makes a lot of sense.
I think the general consensus was that it was an entertaining read and enjoyable, but nothing that gripped us enough to make us write home to Mom. We agreed that we liked his characters and especially liked that Shane Scully had some degree of vulnerability and wasn't invincible like some other characters we know. I won't name names, Jack Reacher, but sometimes characters do some pretty unrealistic things and we have to suspend our disbelief for awhile. Stephen didn't make us do too much of that, although we didn't think that Jack and Diamond turning themselves in at the end was particularly realistic. Hey Kryss, did that above comment make you throw your mouse across the room? It was your punishment for being sick and not being able to make it to the meeting.
We also noted that Stephen Daisy'd us a little bit when he made a gun toting, ass kicking female an accountant. It didn't ring true for some of us and seemed more like he needed an accountant to make the story flow and didn't care that her personality didn't fit.
We welcomed my neighbor, Brenda, to the group for the first time. And don't worry, I checked and she's into self-punishment just enough to show up again in February.
Also, if you see this man lurking around our book club,
never fear, it's just Jeff in disguise as a newsman.
That's about all I have to report, other than a few lessons to live by, Stephen Cannell style:
1. If you have a troubled childhood and grow up in homes and foster care, never fear, you could still end up marrying a hot wife who carries a gun.
2. If the big, pro fighter seems like he's the bad guy - go with your gut, he probably is.
The next meeting will be February 28th and we will be discussing Harlan Coben's Caught, much to David's disapproval. Kim will be providing snacks if she is able to make the meeting, otherwise we'll have the old standby cookies.
Yours in slackitude,
Kerry
Category: This review is from: The Pallbearers (Shane Scully Novels) (Hardcover)