For more than four decades, a group of former Hi-Pointe residents has gathered to talk about books. They call themselves simply The Book Club. At the time of its founding in 1972, the Hi-Pointe neighborhood in Dogtown was largely populated by young, married couples. “These were women who hadn’t been out of school very long, who had young children and missed the camaraderie of the classroom,” says Terry Mulligan, who has been a member since 1974. For their September meeting, the group attends Washington University’s formal discussion of the book assigned to incoming freshmen, but otherwise meets at members’ homes. They especially love when literature lets them experience other places, times and cultures. “We read books I wouldn’t ordinarily read and I end up loving some of them,” says Mulligan. “And we might try new foods or go to exhibits because of something we read.”
[about the book]
Louise Erdich, known for her works on Native American life, sets coming-of-age story The Round House in an Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota, where a 13-year-old boy seeks justice after his mother is raped near a sacred round house. The novel explores the causes of violence, how society should punish it and the entanglements of federal, state and Native American tribal law.
[opinions]
>> “The emotional trauma of the mother’s rape on the father and the son was strongly portrayed and moving, especially the son’s discovery of what had happened to his mother and the father’s frustration at his inability to help his wife deal with the aftermath.” —Phyllis Bernstein
>> “It was interesting how the author used the interplay of Indian tribal law, state law and federal law to drive the plot.” —Kathianne Crane
>> “Louise Erdrich portrays the struggles of an adolescent growing up in a community bound in traditions and ancient values and stories. As the character becomes entangled in a justice system that he fails to understand, Erdich tells the story of a strong family faced with adversity and how they retain their strength.” —Peggy Crowe
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani
By Stephanie Zeilenga
Photo by Bill Barrett
Pictured: CeCe Luecking, Liz St. Cin, Kathi Crane, Joan Gerard, Terry Mulligan, Mary LaBarge, Judy Deutsch, Juanita Jahn, Phyllis Bernstein, Colette Walsh, Diana Drisko, Peggy Crowe