First, congratulations to the winner of the giveaway for This One Is Mine, by Maria Semple- Stephanie C.! I will email you for your address.
Second, I am very excited to announce the next EDIWTB book club. In September, we will discuss Cost, by Roxana Robinson. This book has been on my radar since July of last year (see my post), and I am very excited to read it. From The Chicago Tribune:
Loss, grief and regret are the central subjects of Roxana Robinson's harrowing new novel, which applies the writer's trademark gifts as an intelligent, sensitive analyst of family life to the darkest subject matter she has tackled to date. The book's opening words announce the high stakes involved. 'Her memory was gone,' Katharine thinks as she gets ready for lunch at her daughter Julia's summer house in Maine. Admitting to herself for the first time that it's more than the usual forgetfulness of the elderly, Katharine wonders:
'Who were you if you had no past? If you existed nowhere but in this room, right now? If your life were being swept away from you?'
The horrible irony is that Katharine's grandson, Julia's younger son, Jack, voluntarily exists in that state. He's a heroin addict, happy to lose the past and the memories his grandmother struggles to retain. The author employs her formidable skill with nuance and characterization to show Jack's addiction devastating his family like a murderous virus, attacking the cells that are already damaged… Bleak though it undeniably is, "Cost" is also a warmly human and deeply satisfying book, marking a new level of ambition and achievement for this talented author.
Many thanks to Picador USA for facilitating this book club.
If you are interested in reading Cost and participating in the online book club, please send an email to me at [email protected] by next Friday, August 21 with the following information (typed exactly like this, without the numbers):
- Name
- Address
- Email address
Picador will mail out copies of the book, and once I know that the books have gone out, I'll set a date for the discussion and email everyone who signed up. On the day of the book club, I will post a review and the discussion will follow in the comments.
I look forward to another excellent discussion!