The choice for June 2011 is Black Swan Green by David Mitchell. Black Swan tracks a single year in what is, for thirteen-year-old Jason Taylor, the sleepiest village in muddiest Worcestershire in a dying Cold War England, 1982. But the thirteen chapters, each a short story in its own right, create an exquisitely observed world that is anything but sleepy.
Our book choice for May 2011 is Rabbit, Run by John Updike. It’s 1959 and Harry ‘Rabbit’ Angstrom, one time high school sports superstar, is going nowhere. At twenty-six he is trapped in a second-rate existence – stuck with a fragile, alcoholic wife, a house full of overflowing ashtrays and discarded glasses, a young son and a futile job.
Our book choice for April 2011 is Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney. It is written about a character’s time spent caught up in, and notably escaping from, the mid-1980s New York City fast lane. It is one of the few well-known English-language novels written in the second person and its main character is unnamed.
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Chaucer House White Hart Yard SE1 1NX Map Our venue for January 2011 was The Heeltap, a Davy’s joint near London Bridge and Borough.
Our book choice for March 2011 is The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John le Carré. Alex Leamas is tired. It’s the 1960s, he’s been out in the cold for years, spying in Berlin for his British masters, and has seen too many good agents murdered for their troubles.
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Our book choice for February 2011 is The End of the Party by Andrew Rawnsley. Lifting the lid on the second half of New Labour’s spell in office, with riveting inside accounts of all the key events from 9/11 and the Iraq War to the financial crisis and the parliamentary expenses scandal.
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Our book choice for January 2011 is Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer, an autobiographical travel book written by Austrian mountaineer and former Nazi SS Officer Heinrich Harrer based on his real life experiences in Tibet between 1944 and 1951 during the Second World War and the interim period before the Communist Chinese People’s Liberation Army invaded Tibet in
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Our book choice for December 2010 is Strangers on a Train, by Patricia Highsmith. Architect Guy Haines wants to divorce his unfaithful wife, Miriam, in order to marry the woman he loves, Anne Faulkner. While on a train to see his wife, he meets Charles.
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Anchor Bankside 34 Park St London SE1 9EF Map The attraction of this pub is purely selfish for our group. There are several levels, making it a pretty safe bet you can find a quiet corner in the middle of the week. There’s no music, either, which helps with the discussion. The food isn’t brilliant and the service is worse,
Crusting Pipe 27 The MarketCovent GardenWC2E 8RDMap In general, we believe any of the Davy’s chain of wine bars make for a really good venue, they all tend to exclude music and feature a nice mixed menu suitable for both those who want nibbles or a main meal. It is somewhat ironic that this venue, located in the heart of
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