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 March 24, 2001 |
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Island Book Club,
The Roosevelt Island Book Club is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month. While some residents don't know there is such a group, its members eagerly look forward to each monthly meeting. Original members Meredith Gandy, Carole Kleinknecht, Ann O'Grady and Barbie Swanson held the first meeting in March, 1981, at Ann O'Grady's home. The book on that occasion was Daniel Martin by John Fowles. The initial discussion set up a few rules. The frequency (once a month), the day (Thursday), the time (9:30 to 12 noon). The reason for the time was that the women all had young school-age children. They were free for these few hours to do things that were important to them – to read and to socialize. As time went by, new members joined, others moved off the Island, the children went to school full day and some members went into the work world. Over the years, there have been 29 members.
The host for the month makes breakfast for the group because it is held so early in the day. There are no rules about the menu – some serve juice, bagels and cheese, and coffee or tea; some serve quiches; others cook food mentioned in the book being discussed. Regional food has been a popular choice, whether the locale of the book is the South, the West, or around the world. There has never been an effort to out-do one another in preparing breakfast. However, Susanna Lenzi has always cooked, served and decorated fascinating tables when it was her turn to host the meeting. When the book was The Endurance, by Caroline Alexander, about Sir Ernest Shackleton's expedition to Antarctica, she represented the ice pack with clear glassware, clear plates, white plastic cutlery, white linen table cloth and napkins, and several groups of tiny penguins scattered across the center of the table. The books that are selected for discussion are wide-ranging – novels, the classics, plays, poetry, biographies and short stories. The authors are from around the world. The club originally used paperbacks because they were cheaper than hard cover, but now that the Island Library is part of the New York Public Library system, reserving and borrowing books has become much easier and less expensive. Members are grateful for the inter-branch system for reserving books. Most book clubs have leaders who guide the members through the book and ask appropriate questions. The Island club chose not to do that. Its discussions are free-flowing and everyone participates. Sometimes there are heated differences of opinion, or members laugh about humorous descriptions, or are horrified at violent happenings, or sniff at sad endings. They never hesitate to tell the person who recommended the book what they think about it, good or bad. In recent years the new members have included older women whose children were grown and out of the house. The difference in the age spread made for a broader discussion, and everyone learns from one another's age perspective. July and August are treated differently from the rest of the year. They represent a more relaxing time. One month is for vacation and the alternate month for something light or amusing to read; for refreshments, there might be a pot-luck breakfast on the Rivercross lawn.
This month's book is A Clearing in the Distance by Witold Rybczynski, an informative biography of Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect who lived from 1822 to 1903 and designed Central Park (1858-1876). He also designed several college campuses and the U.S. Capitol grounds (1875). Present members of the Book Club are Libby Duffy, Lorraine Lasker, Meredith Gandy, Susanna Lenzi, Linda Grady-Troia, Joan Pape, Mickey Karpeles Bauer, Naomi Pomerantz, and Carole Kleinknecht, its industrious recorder and historian. Membership in the club is not open (there's an open book discussion group at the Library), but click here for a list of titles and authors discussed over the group's 20 years.
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