Administrator's Note

I hate to get "off message" from historical fiction, but last weekend I had the opportunity to read "The Ultimate Tea Diet" by Mark "Dr. Tea" Ukra . . . well, read, more like scanned . . . . and to tell you the truth, I was in a bad mood as it was . . . an unfortunate incident when I was trying to enjoy a peaceful day down the shore . . . I won't go into all that unpleasantness now . . . suffice it to say, to my knowledge, the Democrats haven't gotten around to abolishing all property rights just yet and we'll leave it at that . . .

But getting back to the matter at hand, "Dr. Tea" isn't a real doctor. No professional degree whatever. He calls himself "Dr. Tea" because his family has been in the tea game for two hundred years and he drinks a lot of tea. I thought I would be getting expert insight into tea's effect on the human body at a biological level.

Frankly, my enthusiasm for any continued reading waned, and I contented myself with Joel Sherman's column in the New York Post and caught myself a catnap.

GREAT TIE -INS

Touche' to Andy for tying in the topical Specter jump with Specter's participation in the Warren Commision and our May theme of Historical Fiction. Young Pat Lubin was much more subtle in his--if anybody out there is paying attention--contribution. On NFL draft weekend, Pat mentioned that he was reading a book about the Dallas Cowboys being the greatest team in history--PURE FICTION--the team has not won a playoff game in 13 years and stockpiles third and fourth round picks.

Let's all tip our hats to Emily who gets credit for the first Pick or Pan with her thumbs up of The Guersny Club. Em--let us know why you like it. Her father followed suit I believe with a thumbs up for Alive. I remember reading that book in seventh grade and I can still recall how the plane stopped as he finished his hail mary, how one guy just walks off into the snow, the jubilation of the father in the cab when he hears on the radio his son is alive, and how he compared the flavor of different parts of the human body to dishes and flavors we are all familiar with. Quite the tale of human triumph.

Speaking of human anatomy, Tim is reading a good book in which the author makes physiological references to Gene Shalit.

Keep the participation coming people--till next time--

Good Reading!

ADMINISTRATOR'S NOTE

As many of you are well aware, I will be summering in the Hamptons. You won't hear me say a bad word about Antilles, but the Hamptons just "feel" right this year.

Anyway, when one is associating with that fast crowd, I can assure you that you do not want to be stuck fishing around for that perfect bon mot when the opportunity presents itself.

So, it occurred to me, what with today's news that the Honorable Senator Arlen Specter is jumping before he was pushed . . . one could say that one belongs to a book club and the suggested topic was historical fiction . . . pause ever so slightly for comedic effect . . . and so you decided to read the Warren Commission Report On The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy!!!

Do you mark the humor there? The comment packages a sophisticated, very trendy mistrust of government and a knowledge of recent history, all wrapped with a rapier-like wit ribbon. As a bonus, some "Man In The Gray Flannel Suit" backbencher-type can use the opportunity to jump into the conversation with both feet, by saying, "How 'bout that Specter?"

Please feel free to use the line, so long as you are not also summering in the Hamptons.

HOT, YOUNG LATIN ATHLETES LIVING IN CLOSE QUARTERS . . . BEYOND ALL RULES OF SOCIETY!!!!!!!

FROM MATT:

Just finished Alive, fascinating yarn of a Uraguayan rugby team that had some problems negotiating the Andes. Very captivating non fictional account. However would only recommend for the vegetarians at the table.

PS: Emily read the book referenced by Patty Francis a couple of years ago. She recommends.

FROM THE HALLS OF ACADEMIA, ALONG THE BANKS OF THE OLD RARITAN . . .

FROM: PATRICK, JR.


I'm reading The Greatest Team Ever about the Dallas Cowboys.

SOMETIMES THERE'S TWO IN A CROWD . . . AND, QUITE FRANKLY, EVERYONE'S BUSY, SO PUT DOWN THE BON-BONS AND STOP WATCHING "OPRAH" . . .

FROM NANCY:

I'm not sure anyone is aware but, I do have an infant which takes up a lot of time so, War and Peace... not so much. However, I'm looking forward to reading David's choice of Snoopy vs. The Red Baron. FYI when I do have a few minutes to myself, I'm reading a recent biography of Harriet Tuman called "Harriet Tuman."

HONEST TO GOD, THERE'S ONE IN EVERY CROWD . . .

FROM DAVID ROTHENBERG:

I've selected C.M. Schultz's challenging WW I masterpiece, Snoopy vs. The Red Baron.

FOUNDER'S STATEMENT, PART III ("Seinfeld" Reference Alert)

As the theme is HISTORICAL FICTION- I cannot resist the challenge of reading Tolstoy's War and Peace. the book will be in my lazy susan for some time. Participation people-lets go.

DISPATCH FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY . . .

OK people, this is what I'm starting to read today: "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"
by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I believe it is only in hard copy.
Enjoy!
Patty

FOUNDER'S STATEMENT, PART II

EDUCATION HELPS A SOCIETY LEVERAGE EVERY OTHER INVESTMENT IT MAKES, BE IT IN MEDICINE, TRANSPORTATION, OR ALTERNATIVE ENERGY. IT APPEARS TO BE THE SINGLE BEST BET THAT A SOCIETY CAN MAKE.

THE NY TIMES MAGAZINE, 2/01/09

OK PEOPLE- WE SHOULD ALL BE PREPARED TO MOVE THE CLUB ALONG. LETS DISSECT WHAT IS GOING ON SO FAR. FIRST A CLUB NEEDS INVOLVEMENT. I HAVE HEARD BACK FROM ONLY THREE MEMBERS SO FAR AND WE NEED 100 PERCENT PARTICIPATION. SO I WILL GIVE AN ASSIGNMENT FOR THE NEXT WEEK- BUT BEFORE THAT LETS LOOK AT SOME OF THE INPUT.

ANDY MADE MANY LITERARY BRIDGES IN HIS COMMENTARY AND USED MANY GOOD WORD AND EXPRESSIONS. PART OF THE PARTICIPATION WILL BE "GOOD WORDS", "GOOD EXPRESSIONS" AND WHEN YOU CAN USE ONE OR POINT ONE OUT, WE ALL APPRECIATE IT. HIS REFERENCE TO THE "HOARY CHESTNUT" I LIKED AS IT WAS TIED IN NICELY WITH THE NETWORK SCRIPT. ANY HOW, OTHER POINTS TO WRITE ABOUT ARE "PEARLS OF WISDOM" AND "PICKS AND PANS".

UNFORTUNATELY ANDY WENT OFF TRACK WHEN HE CHOSE THE THEME. HE ACTUALLY WENT DOWN THE PATH OF "QUESTIONS TO PONDER" WHICH WILL BE ANOTHER GOOD DEPARTMENT. I PERSONALLY WILL HAVE TO GO WITH NAPOLEON DYNAMITE BECAUSE OF HIS ARROGANCE-LARGELY FOUNDED IN HIS IGNORANCE WHICH IS GENERALLY THE BASES OF MOST ARROGANCE. WITHOUT THAT IGNORANCE WE HAVE TOO MUCH RESPECT FOR OUR OWN MORTALITY AND SHORTCOMINGS.

PATTY FRANCIS GAVE SOME VALUABLE INPUT AS TO A BOOK THAT WAS IN HER LAZY SUSAN LAST WEEK-"THE SHACK." NOW THAT BOOK MAY HAVE QUALIFIED FOR A BROAD THEME SUCH AS "HABITATS" OR PERHAPS ONE NOT SO BROAD AS "BOOKS ABOUT GREAT NBA CENTERS THAT PLAYED SHAZAMM." OTHER IDEAS ON THEMES ARE- SHAKESPEARE, MYSTERIES, POEMS, WAR, BIOGRAPHICAL APPROACHES TO US HISTORY, ETC. SO PATTY, WOULD YOU PLEASE PICK THE BALL UP AND CHOOSE THE THEME FOR THE MONTH OF MAY. WE CAN THAN ALL GO AND PICK A BOOK THAT FITS.

EVERYONE ELSE SHOULD COME UP AND SHARE WITH EVERYONE WHAT BOOKS ARE ALSO IN THEIR LAZY SUSAN. THOMAS JEFFERSON INVENTED THE LAZY SUSAN SO HE COULD OPEN AND READ SEVERAL BOOKS AT THE SAME TIME WITHOUT HAVING TO REOPEN HIS BOOKS OR GET UP OUT OF HIS CHAIR. YOU CAN HAVE ONE BOOK IN YOUR LAZY SUSAN OR AS MANY AS YOU WANT AND ONE THAT FITS THE THEME. WE JUST NEED YOU TO READ 10 PAGES PER DAY.

JUSTIN SHARED WITH ME THAT HE LOVES DR. SEUSS AND HE WILL HAVE A COUPLE OF THOSE BOOKS IN HIS LAZY SUSAN. I WILL HAVE TWO. THE FIRST IS BY STEVEN SELENGUT CALLED "THE BRAIN WASHING OF THE AMERICAN INVESTOR." THE SECOND ON IS BY JEFF AUGEN CALL "THE VOLATILITY EDGE IN OPTIONS TRADING." MY LIGHTER READING WILL HOPEFULLY BE PART OF.

NOTICE: BLOG WILL BE CLOSED TODAY DUE TO DEATH OF HARRY KALAS

The Thomas Jefferson Lazy Susan Book Club blog will be closed today as a tribute to long-time Phillies' broadcaster, Harry Kalas.

As a further tribute, for an appropriate time, a picture of Harry will be replacing the familiar picture of Thomas Jefferson on the front page.

Posting and commentating may resume tomorrow.

FIRST THEME TO BE DISCUSSED

Well, this is something of an unexpected burden to be placed on one's shoulders at this hour . . . on the eve of Easter . . . I was relaxing after a refreshing colonic, following with baited breath our navy's pursuit of pirates on Googles . . .

First of all, I'm going to have to insist on giving proper credit for source material. That screed you read was, of course, cribbed from the movie, "Network", which was written by the wonderful, two-time Oscar winner, Paddy Chaefsky. (Parenthetically, I'm sure some of you remember that the movie, "Rocky", in competition with "Network", won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1976, and commentators at the time were quick to point out the irony that Chaefsky had previously won an Oscar for "Marty", which was a simple "Rockyesque" story, as opposed to his verbose "Network".)

Secondly, since I have been granted this platform, let me urge all of you to get involved and attend one of the Tea Party Tax Revolution Parties scheduled in your area. I am enclosing this helpful link: http://www.teapartyrevolution.com/default.aspx. Fate has brought forth for us a true patriot, one Glenn Beck, who by my lights is comparable to a John Adams or a Thomas Jefferson, although perhaps without the intellect, character or writing ability, and, arguably, more compromised by a direct financial interest.

Thirdly, at present, I will choose to ignore the patent absurdity that a reading club is somehow more "elevated" than a fantasy football league or an NCAA bracket pool.

Having said that, I'm sure that many of you are confident of the first theme that I will head straight for with laser-like focus . . . that's right, I imagine you're thinking I'm going for that hoary old chestnut, compare and contrast the themes of alienation and religion as found in Nietzche's "Thus Spake Zarathustra" and Kafka's "The Penal Colony" . . . but instead, I'll throw a bit of a curveball . . . I'll make it easy for the Generation Y Millenials . . . used to getting all their information off the Googles . . . make it cross media . . . to whit:

"Which fictional character has a higher probability of being the commissioner of his own private fantasy football league by the age of fifty: Napoleon Dynamite or Holden Caufield?"

FOUNDER'S STATEMENT

You people and sixty-two million other Americans are listening to me right now. Because less than three percent of you people read books. Because less than fifteen percent of you read newspapers. Because the only truth you know is what you get over this tube. Right now, there is a whole, an entire generation that never knew anything that didn't come out of this tube. This tube is the gospel, the ultimate revelation. This tube can make or break Presidents, Popes, Prime Ministers. This tube is the most awesome, god-damned force in the whole godless world. And woe is us if it ever falls into the hands of the wrong people and that's why woe is us that Edward George Ruddy died. Because this company is now in the hands of CCA, the Communication Corporation of America. There's a new chairman of the board, a man called Frank Hackett sitting in Mr. Ruddy's office on the 20th floor. And when the twelfth largest company in the world controls the most awesome, god-damned propaganda force in the whole godless world, who knows what s--t will be peddled for truth on this network. So, you listen to me! Listen to me! Television is not the truth. Television is a god-damned amusement park. Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, story tellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, sideshow freaks, lion tamers and football players. We're in the boredom-killing business. So if you want the truth, go to your God, go to your gurus, go to yourselves because that's the only place you're ever gonna find any real truth. But man, you're never gonna get any truth from us. We'll tell you anything you want to hear.. We lie like hell! We'll tell you that Kojack always gets the killer, and nobody ever gets cancer in Archie Bunker's house. And no matter how much trouble the hero is in, don't worry. Just look at your watch - at the end of the hour, he's gonna win. We'll tell you any s--t you want to hear. We deal in illusions, man. None of it is true! But you people sit there day after day, night after night, all ages, colors, creeds - we're all you know. You're beginning to believe the illusions we're spinning here. You're beginning to think that the tube is reality and that your own lives are unreal. You do whatever the tube tells you. You dress like the tube, you eat like the tube, you raise your children like the tube. You even think like the tube. This is mass madness. You maniacs. In God's name, you people are the real thing. We are the illusion. So turn off your television sets. Turn them off now. Turn them off right now. Turn them off and leave them off. Turn them off right in the middle of this sentence I am speaking to you now. Turn them off!
As he exorts his audience, his eyes circle around and he collapses to the onstage floor in a swoon - a show-stopping seizure.


WELCOME TO THE THOMAS JEFFERSON LAZY SUSAN BOOK CLUB.

RULES:

1. READ 10 PAGES MINIMUM PER DAY
2. READ MULTIPLE BOOKS.
3. SHARE WHAT YOU ARE READING EVERY TWO WEEKS .
4. PARTICIPATE IN CLUB THEME.
5. SHARE WISDOM
6 SHARE WORDS.
7. COMMENT ON WHAT OTHERS COMMENT ON.


I request that Andy choose the first theme and that everyone email me what books they are reading. Please feel free to expand club. I do not have Ryan's email or Em, Matt, Kate, or Justins and anyone else who would care to be involved. The only restriction to joining the club is that you have to be literate. We are elevating the bar beyond fantasy football and NCAA basketball.