Each month\, the Elliott Bay Book Club reads and discusses the best in contemporary fiction with the occasional classic thrown in for good measure. Our selection for this month is The Pets by Bragi Olafsson. Back in Reykjavik after a vacation in London\, Emil Halldorsson is waiting for a call from a beautiful girl\, Greta\, that he met on the plane ride home\, and he's just put on a pot of coffee when an unexpected visitor knocks on the door. Peeking through a window\, Emil spies an erstwhile friend—Havard Knutsson\, his one-time roommate and current resident of a Swedish mental institution—on his door step\, and he panics\, taking refuge under his bed and hoping the frightful nuisance will simply go away. An alternately dark and hilarious story of cowardice\, comeuppance\, and assumed identity\, the breezy and straightforward style of The Pets belies its narrative depth\, and disguises a complexity that grows with every page. Berlingske Tidende called it\, "\;Brilliantly written and funny\, no\, very funny....The Pets is one of the best pieces of Nordic literature I've read in a long time."\;
--DUE TO ELECTION DAY\, THIS BOOK GROUP IS MEETING ONE DAY EARLY!--
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120521T131014Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091103T020000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091103T020000Z UID:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/mchugh URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/mchugh SUMMARY:HEATHER McHUGH DESCRIPTION:n/a END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120521T131014Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091104T020000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091104T020000Z UID:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/fagan URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/fagan SUMMARY:BRIAN FAGAN\, Ph.D. at Town Hall Seattle DESCRIPTION:n/a END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120521T131014Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091104T020000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091104T020000Z UID:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/husseini URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/husseini SUMMARY:RANA HUSSEINI DESCRIPTION:n/a END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120521T131014Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091104T023000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091104T023000Z UID:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/benjamin URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/benjamin SUMMARY:RICH BENJAMIN at Town Hall Seattle DESCRIPTION:n/a END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120521T131014Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091105T020000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091105T020000Z UID:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/greco URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/greco SUMMARY:THOMAS H GRECO\, JR. DESCRIPTION:n/a END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120521T131014Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091105T023000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091105T023000Z UID:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/davis URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/davis SUMMARY:LYDIA DAVIS at Benaroya Hall DESCRIPTION:n/a END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120521T131014Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091106T030000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091106T030000Z UID:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/garfinkel URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/garfinkel SUMMARY:NANCY GARFINKEL & ANDREA ISRAEL DESCRIPTION:The enduring friendship of two women whose relationship began in childhood and deepened over time through a series of shared letters and recipes is challenged when a long-held secret is revealed in Nancy Garfinkel and Andrea Israel's The Recipe Club\: A Tale of Food and Friendship (Polhemus Press). "\;Food and love without the schmaltz and warm fuzzies is what kept me turning the pages of this book. Yes\, there are recipes\, nostalgic and good ones\, but the fascination is in how they mark the years of a childhood friendship struggling to become a lifelong one. If you're lucky enough to have that one true best friend\, you'll find all the love\, prickliness\, laughter\, blood-curdling honesty\, and joy here."\; - Lynn Rossetto Kasper.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120521T131014Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091107T020000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091107T020000Z UID:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/arnold URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/arnold SUMMARY:DANIEL ARNOLD DESCRIPTION:n/a END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120521T131014Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091107T180000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091107T180000Z UID:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/esarey URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/esarey SUMMARY:JANNA CAWRSE ESAREY DESCRIPTION:n/a END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120521T131014Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091108T014500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091108T014500Z UID:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/exposed URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/exposed SUMMARY:SHERMAN ALEXIE\, DAVID JAMES DUNCAN\, TERRY McGONICAL & MARY RUCKLESHAUS at Town Hall Seattle DESCRIPTION:n/a END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120521T131014Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091108T020000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20091108T020000Z UID:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/schalit URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.elliottbaybook.com/node/events/nov09/schalit SUMMARY:JOEL SCHALIT DESCRIPTION:n/a END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR