May Meeting

The book was Tales Out of School by Benjamin Taylor. It's an episodic book focused (I write "focus" with hesitation) on a Jewish family in Galveston during the early 20th century. We were attracted to the book because of the Galveston connection, but most of us were expecting more of a straight ahead novel. Instead it's really a series of vignettes about Galveston characters, although the main character is really the adolescent son of the family. Another major character is an ancient Russian Jew who appears in town and fascinates people with his puppet shows (tiny puppets that change shape) and his ability to morph into a young man.

Maybe it was our expectations, but most of us weren't crazy about the book. I felt frustrated by the lack of focus on any one character or group of characters. Some people didn't like the magical realism elements (what's with the puppets who can change form and shape?) Some found the boy, Felix, unlikable (I liked him). Some felt the writing was to "literary."

Joanne really helped some of us feel more positively about the book--she had suggested it and then disliked it. She appreciated it a lot more on the second reading.

We had a lot of discussion about Schmulowicz, who seems to represent (or be) Elijah. I had never heard of Elijah, who appears in many guises in many religions.

As often happens with books that are not favorites or that we disagree on, there was a lot of spirited discussion.

Oh yes, we met at Marilyn's and some of us had dinner at Goode's Seafood. Next book: My Cousin Rachel by Daphne Du Maurier.