Breakfast of Champions Book Club

Yes! That's right, I joined a book club. I came across this ad on Craigslist a week ago called "Breakfast of Champions Book Club" - started by two girls all about reading literary classics by authors who truly belonged in AA. We're talking Ernest Hemingway, Truman Capote, Hunter Thompson, etc. All authors of really mentally messed up books (all involving characters drinking lots of alcohol) where we'll debate these books at super dive-y bars around New Orleans while drinking cocktails in their honor. Sounds interesting, huh? I invited my friend Amie from work since we both share the love of good books and good wine and hit the Bridge Lounge tonight at 7:30 for the first Book Club meeting. It was great! There were 10 people in all and we're all around the same ages but from all over America and with totally different jobs. We opted to meet twice a month on Tuesday nights at different hole-in-the-wall bars around town and our first book is Hemingway's very first novel, The Sun Also Rises, written in 1926.

What's the book about?

The novel explores the lives and values of the so-called "Lost Generation," chronicling the experiences of Jake Barnes and several acquaintances on their pilgrimage to Pamplona for the annual fiesta and bull fights, known more commonly as the Running of the Bulls. After serving in World War I, Jake is unable to consummate a sexual relationship with Brett Ashley because of either psychological or physical damage that leaves him impotent. However, he is still attracted to and in love with her. The story follows Jake and his various companions across France and Spain. Initially, Jake seeks peace away from Brett by taking a fishing trip to Burguete, deep within the Spanish hills, with companion Bill Gorton, another veteran of the war. The fiesta in Pamplona is the setting for the eventual meeting of all the characters, who play out their various desires and anxieties, alongside a great deal of drinking.