My book club recently celebrated its 40th anniversary with a dinner party at a local country club. Of the original eight members only three were there, but the party was enlivened by the presence of many members who have joined over the course of the years.
One feature of the gathering was the showing of a video another member and I had made back in 1991. Called “Book Club, The Movie” it shows the Chatham-Harwich-Dover block with its huge oak trees and pleasant old homes. There was a bit of a meeting shown in the movie, but the body of the work was short bursts of rap members had written and performed, using the titles of books we’d read. At the party we all laughed at the filmed antics of our younger selves. We’d been beautifully silly.
Living on “The Block” entitled you to belong to the book club, and we used to joke about membership being written into the deeds of our homes. Limiting membership this way meant that getting into the book club did not descend into a popularity contest or a socially competitive situation. Also, the randomness of who happened to buy real estate on our block made for a variety of personalities with different interests, thus widening the range of what we were reading.
For the 40th anniversary party we had a new performance written for the occasion. Member Kit Polga decided we should memorialize the spirit of our book club with a parody of “Modern Major General.” As a group our club is not much for singing, but we chanted our lyrics to the rhythm of the Gilbert & Sullivan work. And here is a shortened version of it:
We are the very model of the modern Book Club pinnacle
We’ve information vegetable, animal and mineral.
We’ve studied Cleopatra, and other things historical
From World War I to World War II, in order categorical
We’re very well acquainted too in matters geographical
From Italy, to Paris, France, to Guernsey and to Portugal
We’ve learned about ourselves, and matters psychological
In short, we are the very model of the modern Book Club pinnacle
We are never dulled with apathy, but always read with empathy
We’ve read about calamity and trifled with insanity
We’ve read about antiquity, morality, integrity
We read with great acuity, curiosity, tenacity
We discuss with great verbosity, but never use profanity.
We are a group of neighbors very practical
We read and eat in meetings quite dramatical
We are always very comical
Our friendships are exemplical
Our group has proved sustainable
We really are INCREDIBLE
In short, we are the very model of the modern
Book Club pinnacle.