When Larry Kennedy’s children cleaned out his apartment, they found, among his memorabilia, his long-hand record of the books that his beloved book review club had read, dating back to March 10, 2000, when we kicked off with William Least Heat Moon’s “Blue Highways”. Impressed by the pleasure his wife Marie enjoyed from her book club, he decided to take a crack at one with a group of his literate friends. We began at his house; five Irishmen, one free spirit (Wilson Todd), and me. Remarkably, despite massive attrition from the Grim Reaper, the club has managed to survive and prosper. It currently consists of two physicians, Norm and David; two attorneys, Gary (retired) and Howard; a retired chemistry teacher/professor, Hugh; a retired banking executive, Art; and me.
We meet about nine times a year, taking turns hosting at each of our homes. An annual tradition, dating back to 2002, is to hold the December meeting at Max’s Allegheny Tavern, and to choose a book for that meeting that isn’t quite as heavy as the others. Last December our book was Joseph Ellis’ collection of essays, “Founding Brothers”, an interesting look at the inter-personal relationships between the Founding Fathers. According to Larry’s records, which I am continuing, it is the 258th book the club has read. Our first visit to Max’s since Larry died was understandably bittersweet.
The other eight books we read in 2025 covered a broad spectrum. Two of them were recent best-sellers. Although the club initially focused on classics and near-classics, its current makeup includes several progressive, open-minded members who are eager to explore currently popular books (probably because they have heard their wives raving about them!). “The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store”, by James McBride, could have been written by August Wilson had he chosen to be a novelist. It is a well-written tale of a ghetto-type neighborhood in Pottstown, Pa., peopled by African-Americans and Jews, struggling with the difficulties of assimilation.
Another recent popular book is Daniel Mason’s “North Woods”. It allegedly is the history of the past four centuries of a property in north-western Massachusetts, I got off on the wrong foot with this book and never recovered. Turns out it is an example of the magical realism genre, a blending of fantasy and realism. It took me two and a half centuries to realize that the author was serious about the existence of ghosts inhabiting the property. I really need to re-read the book from that perspective.
I suppose Richard Powers’ “Playground” is half a step between realism and fantasy. This is an interesting novel about an island in the South Pacific faced with a tantalizing choice – let developers take over and bring the island into the twenty-first century making its inhabitants wealthy or leave it idyllic and them poor. Powers is a genius at making plants and animals seem almost human, while subtly preaching his philosophy of massive environmental protection. A powerful book, nonetheless.
Another novel we read was “This is Happiness” by Niall Williams. Although the Irish component of the club has shrunk to two individuals, they both are influential and we consistently accept their suggestions about Irish literature. This book is a “coming-of-age” story about a young man in a rural village on the west coast of Ireland whose residents are fighting against modernization, and their gradual but shaky transformation.
“Silence” by Shusako Endo was a departure from our normal choices. A recognized international classic, John Updike called it “a remarkable work, a somber, delicate, and startlingly empathetic study of a young Portuguese missionary during the relentless persecution of the Japanese Christians in the early seventeenth century.” The moral dilemma faced by the missionary presents many questions to the serious reader today.
David Halberstam’s “Summer of ‘49” is a lightweight memoir of the author’s infatuation with Joe DiMaggio and the New York Yankees when he was fifteen years old. The contrast between Halberstam’s serious work (the Korean War and Vietnam) and his sports writing is remarkable. This book was nostalgic but not nearly as interesting to me as one on, say, the 1960 Pirates.
Dan Egan’s “The Death and Life of the Great Lakes” is a powerful discussion of the environmental problems modern society has introduced to our most valuable resource, the fresh water in the Great Lakes. Egan is a competent investigative reporter who stitched together a group of articles dealing with this subject. It was entertaining reading, and the author made his point; I wish someone with a stronger scientific background would address this same topic.
“Arab and Jew” by David Shipler was highly relevant, dealing with the long-standing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians who believe they have been evicted from their homes by Zionism. Ironically, I was in the middle of reading this book the week that the Chautauqua speakers were focused on conflict in the Middle East. Shipler did an excellent job of objectively documenting the issues on both sides, with the conclusion that our desire for compromise will probably never come to fruition.
This indeed was a year filled with interesting books. For me the Book Club provides two wonderful advantages. It gives me the opportunity for continued social contact with a remarkable group of men of different ages, different ethnicity, and different vocational areas, but with generally similar interests. They are all highly intelligent, well educated, and possessed with curiosity and a desire to continue to learn. In addition, because of these differences, I am introduced to many books that I would not have read otherwise.
It was indeed a happy day when Larry Kennedy invited me to join the Book Review Club. His legacy includes 259 evenings when I have been privileged to meet with some of my very best friends and discuss books.