April 2018 Recap

Dear Bookclub,
As you can see from our photo above, we had a festive evening discussing our latest read,  A.J. Finn's "The Woman in the Window". Starting in the kitchen, Kim, Karen, Kate and Lori debated the long reveal for the journey of Finn's main character, Anna Fox. Photo courtesy of Barb.


As I prepared the evening's repast, pills and Merlot, discussion tiptoed around those that had not yet finished (or read), fully knowing that the 'treats' I bestowed would send us into the realm of crazy-talk.

This bestseller is going right to the big screen.... my brief research landed me this awesome trailer (I did watch other very much-less-awesome trailers):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yq4e-LJgR0

And if you are still curious about A.J. Finn, here is an entertaining interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGtkGUmVWaY

Martha suggested three great titles for an upcoming read:

 “The Heirs” Susan Rieger *chosen

“The High Mountains of Portugal” Yann Martel

“The Little Paris Bookshop” Nina George

Next up, an evening with the author, Sue Meissner, discussing:

Happy reading,
LK

April 2018 Bookclub News

A.J. Finn aka Daniel Mallory

Dear Bookclub,

Agoraphobia is no mystery. Affecting 1.8% of the population (Wikipedia) and in turn their families, friends, loved ones, etc.,  it is not a stretch to imagine author A. J. Finn having had some personal experience with the condition of his main character, Anna Fox, in "The Woman in the Window". A.J. Finn, the pseudonym, patterned by Anna Fox, is really Daniel Mallory, a William Morrow executive editor who has struggled with depression for years. For a more in depth interview, revealing more parallels between the author and his book, check out this NPR interview:

https://www.npr.org/2018/01/20/579094310/how-the-man-in-the-apartment-hit-big-with-the-woman-in-the-window

To keep from revealing anything much about our read, saving true book discussion for our upcoming meeting, here is an interesting and distracting list of agoraphobics.

From Wikipedia:
Notable cases

• Will Friedle (b. 1976) American actor, known for role of Eric in Boy Meets World
• Woody Allen (b. 1935), American actor, director, musician^[39]
• Kim Basinger (b. 1953), American actress^[40]
• Earl Campbell (b. 1955), American pro football player^[41]
• Macaulay Culkin (b. 1980), American actor, known for his portrayal of Kevin McCallister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, said he had "self-diagnosed" agoraphobia.^[42]
• Paula Deen (b. 1947), American chef, author, and television personality^[43]
• H.L. Gold (1914–1996), science fiction editor – as a result of trauma during his wartime experiences, his agoraphobia became so severe that for more than two decades he was unable to leave his apartment. Towards the end of his life, he acquired some control over the condition.^{[citation needed]}
• Daryl Hannah (b. 1960), American actress^[44]
• Howard Hughes (1905–1976), American aviator, industrialist, film producer and philanthropist^[45]
• Olivia Hussey (b. 1951), Anglo-Argentine actress^[46][47]
• Shirley Jackson (1916–1965), American writer – her agoraphobia is considered to be a primary inspiration for the novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle.^[48][49]
• Elfriede Jelinek (b. 1946), Austrian writer, Nobel Prize laureate in Literature in 2004^[50]
• Bolesław Prus (1847–1912), Polish journalist and novelist^[51]
• Peter Robinson (b. 1962), British musician known as Marilyn^[52]
• Brian Wilson (b. 1942), American singer and songwriter, primary songwriter of the Beach Boys, a former recluse and agoraphobic who has schizophrenia^[53]        
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   ^{Careful reading!}

  ^LK

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