Book Discussion Pillows

"Randy, if you were stranded on an island, what's the one book you'd want to have along with you?" "Easy: Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. It's got the perfect heft to knock coconuts out of trees." "Well, I'd like to have How to Get Off an Island, by Archie Macguyver." "That title's actually a metaphor for overcoming shyness." "We really should have our own book review show."

The Doomed Character

"It seems my fear of death has been replaced by my fear of politics."

"The university said he was a climate change denier so remove the statue."

5pm Happy Hour. 6pm discussion: what is true happiness?

Freedom comes at a cost. We must be willing to pay the ultimate price. Retail.

"O.K., O.K., people - we're not workshopping these, they're already set in stone."

"I like movies that resemble my life, so I don't feel like I'm wasting time watching a movie."

My belief is if you're old enough to take texts, counter-texts, and meta-texts in Western Philosophy, you should be old enough to drink.

"That was totally....what's the word I'm looking for?"

"Darling, I think we need to talk about where this relationship is going..." Male evolution.

"That's five votes for In The Midst of Winter....three votes for The Hollow Ground....and, again, one vote for Moby-Dick."

"Strawman argument terrorises conversation... News at eleven."

"Do you think the flat earth society has members round the globe?"

"Spoiler alert! I'm about to tell you the part that really bugged me about 'Wolverine.'" "You don't have to say 'spoiler alert,' minion. It's been a month." "Anyone who hasn't seen it yet has not fulfilled their role as a dutiful consumer, and deserves whatever spoilage they will receive." "In fact, let me know who they are and I'll enter them into my database. When the corporatist revolution comes, there will be consequences." "Um... never mind."

"...I don't believe in the past or the future. I don't even believe in right now. Everyone remembers the past differently. Everyone imagines the future differently. Everyone even disagrees about what's happening right now. So who's to say tomorrow what you and I did tonight?"

The World's Biggest Book Club

"No es problema para mi si no es problema para ti."

"So, what are you reading?"

"I have good news and bad news about your cat, Dr Schrodinger..."

"Discussion topic: Is our society becoming less civil and more violent?"

"In a just world we'd have 'No Lawyer Left Behind'."

A book reviewer reads between the margins.

"Yes, could you discuss the inspiration for the protagonist? Specifically, the motivations which propel the direction of his narrative?" "I would prefer not to." "Bartleby, the author."

"It's a great story, funny and entertaining - and better still it's not won a single prize for literature."

'What do you mean 'theoretically'? Everything we do is theoretical.'

O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art though, Romeo? Seriously, wherefore art thou? Shakespeare in the Dark.

"You'll learn a lot at our book club...like how to read between the wines."

'To avoid possible schism, a period of careful reflection is needed before changing the light-bulb.'

"Wallace couldn't come, but I brought some of his fussy prose."

"The problem is you say Nietzsche and expect everything to be just peachy."

'Apparently our postcode qualifies us for Government sponsored loft insulation.'

Spelling a newspaper

Frontispiece to 'The Pickwick Papers'

'Have you heard about the new Medicare drug plan called plan C? Medicare gives you $30 for a bus ticket to Canada!'