Another Bullsh*t Night in Suck City

Who - Everybody and Paula brought a surprise guest
What - Discussion about Another Bullsh*t Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn
Where - Zoe's Diner, Harvard Square
When Friday March 30, 2007

Five people actually showed up 15 minutes early. That gave us plenty of time to read the giant menu and change our minds 10 times.

Feelings were definitely mixed about the book. I loved it and Manda loved it. She finished it in two days. It's my own pick so I may be biased (but I readily admit that Winner of the National Book award was awful, terrible, painful...). I think I had trouble seeing some of the flaws. Rachel couldn't understand how anyone could let their own father sleep out on the streets in the winter, just a few blocks away from your own warm apartment. Others (me, Anne) felt that the father was not much of a father, he took off and didn't care where his sons were or who they were living with so why should his adult son care for him now? People felt more sympathy for the father than the son, some felt the father was a charmer with so much potential but he just got sidetracked by his addiction. I felt little sympathy for the father, I though he was just a loser, a major pain in the butt and I probably would have never even kept in touch with him. I thought it was fascinating the way Nick mirrored his father's own life, but was he able to to pick himself up, go to school and become a writer and have the life his father only dreamed about. Donna didn't see it that way. She thought Nick was a cocky young guy with an unemotional writing style reminiscent of Dave Eggers. (Donna was really happy when she learned that Manda decided not to chose Dave Eggers new book for our next reading selection.) Other commented that it was really a fascinating look inside the workings of the Pine Street Inn. It was also funny to see how much Boston has changed since the 80's and early 90's. Despite having a low income, Nick lived in a huge loft apartment in Chinatown (okay, it was above a strip club) because no else would want to live in such a scary part of town. Now you would have to be a millionaire to live there because the entire area has been transformed.

I actually tried to take a few notes but the only quote I wrote down is from Wendy - she said she didn't finish the book because she'd been out drinking 4 night a week so she hasn't had time to read any other books outside of school. Don't worry Wendy, if you end up on the streets, someone from the book club will take you in. We won't let you sleep on the Commons.

Rachel's serving of Macaroni and Cheese was so large that everyone got a taste and there was still plenty left over. It was really good. I got the Potato Scramble, but it was pretty disappointing. The best thing about it was the buttery wheat toast. My vanilla coke was delicious though. I also tried some of Paula's sweet potato french fries - they were tasty and crisp.

After the meeting, Cynthia literally strong-armed Wendy and gave her a serious talking too about a certain issue that we can't go into here because it's not that kind of blog. Then everyone bought shoes as Burkes. Then at the Redline bar, Anne started asking questions about love and relationships. I referred her to the library and Dr. Phil, but apparently Anne really was looking for bad advice from her friends.

Beth