Major Pettigrew's Last Stand: A Novel by Helen Simonson


Wow. What a fun evening we had! Thank you Betty Scanlon for your superb book suggestions and wonderful ideas for future discussions. We will file your suggested list of books in a safe place and post it on this blog spot. Thanks also to Judy for presenting Malcolm Gladwell's biography and for the group's candor and discussion. Special welcome to our new members/guests: Chris and Joan!

Our next book for discussion is Major Pettigrew's Last Stand: A Novel by  Helen Simonson. We will meet on Wednesday, February 9, 2011, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at MarthaMerrell's/Cuddles. Would anyone like to present the author's biography or lead the discussion?

Reading group guides for this book are available at:
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780812981223&view=rg 
and
http://www.litlovers.com/guide_major_pettigrews_last.html

May you enjoy this delightful 2:21 minute video book review by Carole Beu.

There is also a video with the author. (spoiler alert)

Book Review For Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
Amazon Best Books of the Month, March 2010: In her witty and wise debut novel, newcomer Helen Simonson introduces the unforgettable character of the widower Major Ernest Pettigrew.  The Major epitomizes the Englishman with the "stiff upper lip," who clings to traditional values and has tried (in vain) to pass these along to his yuppie son, Roger. The story centers around Pettigrew's fight to keep his greedy relatives (including his son) from selling a valuable family heirloom--a pair of hunting rifles that symbolizes much of what he stands for, or at least what he thinks he does. The embattled hero discovers an unexpected ally and source of consolation in his neighbor, the Pakistani shopkeeper Jasmina Ali. On the surface, Pettigrew and Ali's backgrounds and life experiences couldn't be more different, but they discover that they have the most important things in common. This wry, yet optimistic comedy of manners with a romantic twist will appeal to grown-up readers of both sexes. Kudos to Helen Simonson, who distinguishes herself with Major Pettigrew's Last Stand as a writer with the narrative range, stylistic chops, and poise of a veteran. --Lauren Nemroff

About the Author

Helen Simonson was born in England and spent her teenage years in a small village in East Sussex. A graduate of the London School of Economics and former travel advertising executive, she has lived in America for the last two decades. A longtime resident of Brooklyn, she now lives with her husband and two sons in the Washington, D.C., area. This is her first novel.

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

        

Our next book for discussion is Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. We will meet on Wednesday, January 12, 2011 from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles.

We will meet with Betty Scanlon from 6:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. to select books for February - June. Please bring your book suggestions with a book description printout from Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble. Thanks Betty for offering to give us the scoop on the hottest book group books! In the next post, you will see a list of books that we generated in our previous discussions.

From 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. we will discuss Outliers. Judy will present the author biography and we will use discussion questions from this reading group guide: http://www.litlovers.com/guide_outliers.html

Here is a description of Outliers:
Product Description
In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.
Brilliant and entertaining, OUTLIERS is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.

About the Author
Malcolm Gladwell is a staff writer for The New Yorker. He was formerly a business and science reporter at the Washington Post.

There are several interesting web sites and videos featuring Malcolm Gladwell:

- A 5-minute interview of Malcolm Gladwell with Anderson Cooper:



- A 27:37 interview of Gladwell with Katie Couric:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6058601n

- Malcolm Gladwell's web site: http://www.gladwell.com/
  
- A 2-minute and 1:38 Amazon.com video where Gladwell introduces his book: http://www.amazon.com/Outliers-Story-Success-Malcolm-Gladwell/dp/0316017922

- A 50:46 question & answer session with Malcolm Gladwell - "Why do some succeed where others fail? What makes high-achievers different?"



- A 1-hour 41-minute Gladwell interview with a question and answer session at the 92nd Street Online:

Introducing the Oasis Readers to Blogger!

Our next book is MADE IN THE U.S.A. by Bille Letts. We will meet on Wednesday, November 10, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles. Charlene will present the author biography and Tammy will lead the discussion. Thanks for doing this, Charlene and Tammy!

There is a reading group guide for Made in the USA at:
 http://www.litlovers.com/guide_made_in_usa.html

Here is one description of MADE IN THE U.S.A.:

The bestselling author of WHERE THE HEART IS returns with a heartrending tale of two children in search of a place to call home.
Lutie McFee's history has taught her to avoid attachments...to people, to places, and to almost everything. With her mother long dead and her father long gone to find his fortune in Las Vegas, 15-year-old Lutie lives in the god-forsaken town of Spearfish, South Dakota with her twelve-year-old brother, Fate, and Floy Satterfield, the 300-pound ex-girlfriend of her father. While Lutie shoplifts for kicks, Fate spends most of his time reading, watching weird TV shows and worrying about global warming and the endangerment of pandas. As if their life is not dismal enough, one day, while shopping in their local Wal-Mart, Floy keels over and the two motherless kids are suddenly faced with the choice of becoming wards of the state or hightailing it out of town in Floy's old Pontiac. Choosing the latter, they head off to Las Vegas in search of a father who has no known address, no phone number and, clearly, no interest in the kids he left behind.
MADE IN THE U.S.A. is the alternately heartbreaking and life-affirming story of two gutsy children who must discover how cruel, unfair and frightening the world is before they come to a place they can finally call home.