A group of great male thinkers based in Fullerton, California dedicated to reading books of great importance and having monthly discussions of tremendous consequence.
A Visit with Keith Corbin at Alta
Brice got it rolling this way by email:
We have been reading California Soul by Keith Corbin. Set in South Central, the novel speaks to the authors life and transformation as well as the success of his current restaurant, Alta West Adams.
Paul and I thought it might be nice to have our Book Club meeting this month at the restaurant. Because only the 2 of us were able to meet this Sunday we have bilaterally decided to change the meeting to the following Sunday, October 29 at 6:00 pm.
And so we did: Brice, Paul, Rob and John enjoyed the gourmet soul food Corbin creates at Alta, his West Adams restaurant in Los Angeles. Carefully prepared, several dishes were perfected versions of soul food staples; others were more adventurous, and all were delicious.
We were greeted enthusiastically and made comfortable with the staff, and the greeter was more than excited that our group had read Corbin’s book and followed it up with an evening at his restaurant.
Corbin was at the restaurant, the greeter explained, and then after scurrying away for a moment returned to say that if we’d like, Corbin would come out to talk with us after dinner.
Of course, WE LIKED. Corbin sat on a stool, comfortable and engaged, asking us what brought us to Alta and answering our questions. One of us had even visited Lokal his earlier restaurant near the Watts Towers, where he first realized his culinary ambitions, in the midst of his childhood and young-adult community.
Corbin said that even one more bad decision or case of bad luck in his gang past might well have led to a much different outcome in his life.
Noraebang
At our discussion of Matthew Salesses’ novel, The Sense of Wonder, FFR member Brice Hunt sang (to his own guitar accompaniment) the following verses about the fictional Asian basketball pro Won Lee, Lee’s rival/friend Power Ball (PB), spoiler/journalist Sung, and PB’s wife Brit.
Brice wrote his lyrics to the tune of Scots poet Robert Burns’s poem “A Man’s a Man for All That,” which had been Brice’s introduction to Burns via Paolo Nutini’s rendition of the song.
He titled the song “noraebang,” which, as we all learned from the novel, is Korean for “karaoke.”
He’s Won, an Asian-American; he shoots, he scores, the Man
The skills he use defy the eye! Oh Carrie loves the Man
For he’s the Man, oh he’s the Man, no matter what Sung writes
Linsanity’s wave raids his soul, he knows his place cuz he’s Asian-Man
For PB!s been the Man so long, he knows no other way
But Sung has won Brit’s heart away, he is her Man always
But K’s the toughest of them all, the baddest of all Men
And don’t we know it each of us, the Women are the real Men.
To get all the references and literary cross-talk, you’ll have to read the novel and listen to Burns’s song. You won’t be sorry.
Thanks, Brice.
Dieselpunker Richard Levesque Crosses Over
At our July meeting, Richard Levesque joined us for dinner and discussion of his Dieselpunk novel, The Blacktop Blues. He explained his writing process, from idea to publishing, and clued us in to the business side of self-publishing with Amazon. A paperback copy of the book ordered in May says: Made in the USA, Las Vegas, 13 May 2001. Printed to order and delivered in a couple of days.
Blacktop Blues, the first novel in Levesque’s “Crossover Case Files” tetralogy, features Jed Strait, a WWII veteran who becomes a hard-boiled detective in 1940s Los Angeles. The series incorporates parallel realities and inventive twists into its plot. Levesque has just added another two or three novels to the series.
Relaxing with the author after an outdoor dinner and wide-ranging discussion.
“Just what is Dieselpunk?” we asked Levesque. Turns out that “diesel” is the key word, describing the level of technology in the era in which the story is set. So “Steampunk” features steam-powered transportation. We didn’t ask what the “punk” part of the title means. Next time?
An Orange County Evening
A normally wonderful book club meeting was made perfect by a visit from Lisa Alvarez and Andrew Tonkovich, the editors of Orange County: A Literary Field Guide.
This is a great anthology whether you live in Orange County or somewhere else in the world. But if you do happen to live here, or have lived here, or plan to live here, it is essential reading. Lisa Alvarez and Andrew Tonkovich have done a wonderful job collecting stories, poems, and essays that make the region and it’s history come alive.
To be a thinking person living in Orange County is to both hate it and love it and that comes through in the book. Orange County can seem soulless and empty, filled with traffic and endless tract homes but somehow we come to love it, feel safe here, and know it is home. Reading stories about home written by people who lived here was a thrill.
10 Years, 100 Books, 500 Bottles of Wine
We forgot to dress in drag and leathers so we stripped down for the t-shirt contest last night. Here’s a rare photo from the normally camera-shy book club in honor of our 10th Aniversary. A few more photos here.
https://scd8418.smugmug.com/Events/Friends/Book-Club-2016/
Book Club in the News
Samantha Dunn visited again in April and then wrote an article about us that appeared on the front page of the Orange County Register. It was our 15 minutes of fame. We had a bit of a snafu with the Register’s photographer who appeared at Scott’ beach place (the originally planned venue) so we took our own photos got a photographic credit in the story. Thanks to Samantha for paying attention to a bunch of old book nuts. You can read the entire article here.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/book-609799-club-says.html
Samantha Dunn Visits
Samantha Dunn, author of “Faith in Carlos Gomez” and “Failing Paris” made the trek to Fullerton (Don’s place) to hang out with the book club yesterday. In addition to her books, Samantha is a writer for the OC Register. We learned a bit about her life and craft between mojitos, wine and good food.
We met Samantha through an introduction from our friend Hector Tobar. She’s threatened to write a story about us for the Register so we were on our best behavior and wore clean shirts.
Samantha told us a bit about come of her works in progress so we’re hoping she finds the time to finish them so we can invite her back.
Thanks as always to Vicki for preparing an awesome meal and making us laugh.
Hector Tobar Visits
John invited Hector Tobar, author of the Barbarian Nurseries, to come out to my place to discuss his book with us . We had a great time chatting about the book we read and the book he has coming out next year (about the Chilean miners).
Hector posted the following on FB the next day “I’ve done a few book clubs since ‘The Barbarian Nurseries’ came out. Always interesting: especially when the moms start debating whether they like my character Maureen. But last night I went to a home in Fullerton and met up with a book club made up entirely of dads. They made some great food, served up some excellent sangria and sopes (just like in the party in my novel!). And, as my character Araceli would have liked, I made a point of showing up fashionably late. Cool discussion followed, especially since one of the dads was named Scott (like the dad in my novel) and has 3 kids and works in a software company (like my fictional Scott!). Nice when reality is like the stuff you make up.”
Now we can attest that Hector is a great story-teller both in print and in person. It was an honor that he’d make the long pilgrimage to the hinterlands of Fullerton to join us wine, laughs, and good conversation.
“Barbarian Nurseries” is Winner of the California Book Award for Fiction and A Los Angeles Times Bestseller.
