Reading the 20th Century discussion

What better way to fill the "dead zone" between Xmas and new year than a thread to nominate and discuss books for our March 2019 group read?

Our March 2019 theme will be the 1990s - so that's a book set in, or about, the 1990s that you would like to read and discuss.

It can be either fiction or non-fiction

Please supply the title, author, a brief synopsis, and anything else you'd like to mention about the book, and why you think it might make a good book to discuss.

If your nomination wins then please be willing to fully participate in the subsequent discussion

Happy nominating

I've already given this matter a bit of thought and, after hours of painstaking research, have come up with....


Model Behaviour by Jay McInerney

Although we tend to think of McInerney as a novelist of the '80s, this 1998 novella moves McInerny's familiar world a few years ahead—into the scene-y downtown Manhattan culture of the 1990s.

Amazon spoiler free customer review

Model Behaviour is a comic novel to show the rest how it's done - as cleverly witty as you always hoped Stephen Fry's fiction was going to be, but anchored to a firm intelligence and interest in people. As a comedy set in the world of American modelling and media, it bears comparison obviously to Bret Easton Ellis's Glamorama, but it's far more finely tuned than that book, a laser beam to Ellis's controlled explosion. It's more comprehensible as well, and fits its entire length into as many words as Ellis used in the first section of Glamorama alone... Otherwise it's interesting to note the two writers' different approaches to the fictional world of celebrity. Ellis is a writer fascinated by its glamour and disguises this by having a dumb-ass male model who is supposed to be a satirical figure but actually illuminates Ellis' unironic love of it all. McInerney conversely shows his genuine disdain with a narrator who believes himself "above it all" but really secretly doesn't want out.

Anyway Model Behaviour is narrated by Connor McKnight, a jobbing hack for CiaoBella! magazine. He is going out with a model, Philomena, who suddenly doesn't come home one day. Despite his easy way with all the modern world's instant communication tools, he cannot get in touch with her. Meanwhile he is receiving increasingly scary emails from an obsessive fan of his journalism. He is trying to keep his job by getting an interview with the latest Hollywood heartthrob; he is worried about his brainiac anorexic sister; and his best friend has a book coming out and is worried about the reviews. If it all sounds painfully incestuous and inward-looking, don't be put off. McInerney has a few surprises in store, a genuinely engaging protagonist, and one of those effortless styles that we're always being told is as hard to write as it is easy to read. I believe them. Model Behaviour is a small masterpiece.

Author's Notes

I can’t exactly remember the genesis of Model Behaviour, although I would say at this distance that it was an attempt to reclaim the material of my youth and write one more book about an irresponsible post-adolescent who has yet to sign the social contract. This may have been inspired by the fact that I had recently become a father and I was nervous about it. I think the book was prescient in at least one regard, which is its anticipation of the epidemic of celebrity journalism, its protagonist being one of those poor hacks who has to write mostly fawning profiles of movie and television stars. I guess some people might think of this as a dream job but Collin McNab is smart enough and ambitious enough to want more. He lives with, and loves, a woman who is poised at the portal of entry into the glittering world of which he writes, a model he met in Japan, with whom he moved to New York. I’d had a wife and a long term girlfriend who were models, so I’d done a lot of observing of that particular world.



Model Behaviour by Jay McInerney

I nominate Stray City by Chelsey Johnson.




The book takes place mostly in late 90's Portland Oregon.

Twenty-four-year-old artist Andrea Morales escaped her Midwestern Catholic childhood—and the closet—to create a home and life for herself within the thriving but insular lesbian underground of Portland, Oregon. But one drunken night, reeling from a bad breakup and a friend’s betrayal, she recklessly crosses enemy lines and hooks up with a man. To her utter shock, Andrea soon discovers she’s pregnant—and despite the concerns of her astonished circle of gay friends, she decides to have the baby.

I would like to nominate High Fidelity by Nick Hornby.

The Goodreads blurb says Do you know your desert-island, all-time, top five most memorable split-ups?

Rob does. He keeps a list, in fact. But Laura isn't on it - even though she's just become his latest ex. He's got his life back, you see. He can just do what he wants when he wants: like listen to whatever music he likes, look up the girls that are on his list, and generally behaves as if Laura never mattered. But Rob finds he can't move on. He's stuck in a really deep groove - and it's called Laura. Soon, he's asking himself some big questions: about love, about life - and about why we choose to share ours with the people we do.

I've never read any Nick Hornby but he was very popular in the late 90s/early 2000s, and several of his books (including this one) were made into films. I'm also quite intrigued by the polarised reviews - hopefully those saying it's hilarious are right!

I nominate The Secret History

Published in 1992 and Donna Tartt's debut novel.

Truly deserving of the accolade 'modern classic', Donna Tartt's novel is a remarkable achievement - compelling and elegant, dramatic and playful.

Under the influence of their charismatic Classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality, their lives are changed profoundly and for ever.

Thanks for these wonderful 1990s nominations


It's already looking like a tough choice however the upside is that we're guaranteed a great book to read and discuss

Anyone else thinking of nominating a book for this group read?


NOMINATIONS SO FAR....

NIGEYB: Model Behaviour by Jay McInerney
JAMIE: Stray City by Chelsey Johnson
PAMELA: High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
SUSAN: The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Last call for nominations...


Anyone else thinking of nominating a book for this group read?

Not me this time - some great nominations though.

Can't think of any

I thought of a few. I considered suggesting Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China which I have never read, but I do recall loads of people reading it on the train at the time. However, I thought it was too long...

I also thought of Possession: A Romance another novel I love, but decided against it, although I would like to re-read it.

I also considered Kate Atkinson's debut, .

These are not nominations, but I found lots of books in the 1990's I could have chosen and just name a few I pondered.

I considered nominating David Mitchell's Ghostwritten: A Novel in Nine Parts but suspect I might be quite busy in March so didn't want to let the group down if it was chosen. It does sound interesting though:

A gallery attendant at the Hermitage. A young jazz buff in Tokyo. A crooked British lawyer in Hong Kong. A disc jockey in Manhattan. A physicist in Ireland. An elderly woman running a tea shack in rural China. A cult-controlled terrorist in Okinawa. A musician in London. A transmigrating spirit in Mongolia. What is the common thread of coincidence or destiny that connects the lives of these nine souls in nine far-flung countries, stretching across the globe from east to west? What pattern do their linked fates form through time and space?

A writer of pyrotechnic virtuosity and profound compassion, a mind to which nothing human is alien, David Mitchell spins genres, cultures, and ideas like gossamer threads around and through these nine linked stories. Many forces bind these lives, but at root all involve the same universal longing for connection and transcendence, an axis of commonality that leads in two directions—to creation and to destruction.

At least one of the moderator's will read every book chosen - unless a member suggests, and runs, a Buddy Read - which everyone is welcome to do. However, I agree that it is preferable that members read books they nominate.

I just re-read Possession a few months back otherwise would have suggested that. I thought about Harry Potter and Bridget Jones (er, not together!) but will nominateWritten On The Body by Jeanette Winterson. It raises interesting questions about gender and whether it even matters, as well as being profoundly moving on the topics of love, illness and death. Lots to discuss, for sure.

So, I think we've got all the nominations we're going to get. However, before I publish the poll, this is a final call for nominations


NOMINATIONS...

NIGEYB: Model Behaviour by Jay McInerney
JAMIE: Stray City by Chelsey Johnson
PAMELA: High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
SUSAN: The Secret History by Donna Tartt
ROMAN CLODIA: Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson

Storyheart wrote: "I considered nominating David Mitchell's Ghostwritten: A Novel in Nine Parts

I really enjoyed it Storyheart

Nigeyb wrote: "I really enjoyed it Storyheart"

So glad to hear it! I've put it on hold at the library.

The poll is up. Time to vote....


https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Currently looking good for Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson.


Still time to vote before the poll closes....

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Still looking very good for Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson.


There's 11 hours left for you to vote/change your vote before the poll closes....

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

#exciting

It's a resounding win for Written on the Body...


Written on the Body 6 votes, 37.5%
High Fidelity 3 votes, 18.8%
Model Behaviour 3 votes, 18.8%
The Secret History 3 votes, 18.8%
Stray City 1 vote, 6.3%

Thanks to everyone who nominated, voted, discussed and generally got involved.

See you in March 2019 for Written on the Body our book set in, or about, the 1990s


Nominations
NIGEYB: Model Behaviour by Jay McInerney
JAMIE: Stray City by Chelsey Johnson
PAMELA: High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
SUSAN: The Secret History by Donna Tartt
ROMAN CLODIA: Written on the Body (1992) by Jeanette Winterson