Combined Book Club Potluck: The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro

The Art Forger

by B.A. Shapiro

The Evening and Afternoon adult book clubs enjoyed an August potluck supper on Tuesday evening. A variety of colorful summer salads including tomato and mozzarella slices garnished with fresh basil, taco salad, and a cowboy bean salad extravaganza was served buffet-style along with finger sandwiches, meatballs, baked chicken, corn chowder, fruit salad, and assorted chips with salsa. A sparkling lime sherbet punch added pizzazz to the menu. 

After the main course, club members adjourned to the library’s reading room for a book discussion accompanied by dessert. The dessert table was awash in chocolate treats; whoopee pies, chocolate pudding cake, frosted marble cake, and a banana cream pie with mile high meringue.

Book club members engaged in a lively discussion about the motives of the art thieves and forgers. Several spoke passionately about what they thought was the fate of the paintings stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. All of their scenarios were plausible. Harder to define were the motives of the thieves and the ultimate owner of the treasures. Was it greed or narcissism? What is the value of a stolen painting, if it isn’t shared with others who can appreciate beauty? Has the statute of limitations expired and who is the true owner now?

Is there a statute of limitations on recovering stolen property? “Time is often the enemy of crime investigators; the trail quickly gets cold. But time has changed the Gardner case in one way that could increase the chances of the paintings' being recovered: The statute of limitations has passed for prosecution of the theft itself. And the US attorney in Boston now says he will not prosecute anyone who has the paintings and offers to return them.

Readers questioned whether there were other undetected forged paintings displayed in museums as the plot in Shapiro’s book. Although the book is fiction, the art techniques discussed are authentic. This feature added to the enjoyment of the story which some said satisfied their preference for “true” historical fiction. Many members have been to the Gardner museum both before and after the theft and spoke highly of the building and the collection. Others said that they are now inspired to visit based on the comments of the group. If your name is Isabella, you can register for lifetime free admission at the museum. If your name isn't Isabella, you can still receive free admission on your birthday. Also, since Isabella Stewart Gardner was a big Red Sox fan, you can wear your Red Sox gear and receive a $2 discount off of admission, too!

The Art Forger was a very successful book selection and it sparked a terrific discussion about the many layers of deception that result in art forgery and theft. The Boston setting was a plus for readers and enhanced the story’s credibility. The author took a real event and crafted a complex and exciting story with an unexpected twist at the end.

What We Thought: The Memory of Running

Combined Book Club Potluck!

This evening’s Book Club meeting began with a hot and cold dish supper enjoyed by everyone. Afternoon and Evening Book Club members look forward to the biennial event showcasing tasty treats including vegetarian casseroles and home style favorites of chicken, spicy sausage and other tempting ingredients.

After dinner the group moved from the Community Room to the Library’s  front room for desserts; decorated cake, trifle, cookies, and even chocolates and a discussion of author Ron McLarty’s The Memory of Running. This book evoked strong reactions and opinions about family issues and the treatment of psychiatric disorders during the past fifty years.

 

All agreed that the author wrote a beautiful story about difficult subjects. There was enough humor to lighten up the overall sadness of the character’s lives. Familiar locations in Rhode Island enhanced the background of events as the characters moved through the highs and lows of life.

The story revolved around family and the love and devotion of parents and children as well as goodness radiating from all of them. The Memory of Running is a story of hope and resilience that exists throughout experience despite life’s trials.

This quote from one of the group inspired Book Club members and was a fitting conclusion to the evening’s program, “In a dog-eat-dog world, Smithy wore Milk-Bone underwear.”

This Month's Selection: The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty

This month is the special Combined Book Club Potluck meeting, when Evening Readers and Afternoon Readers get together for supper and conversation. The Combined Book Club Potluck is Tuesday, August 20, at 6:00 p.m.

 

Bring a dish to share that night, or join us on the blog the next day!

 

This month's selection is The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty. Here's what some reviewers have said about this debut novel:

 

"Smithy is an American original, worthy of a place on the shelf just below your Hucks, your Holdens, your Yossarians." —Stephen King
"Endearing . . . it’s a ride worth taking." —USA Today
"In The Memory of Running, professional actor and long aspiring novelist Ron McLarty has invented a character so fully and elegantly defined that the book soars with originality and life." —San Francisco Chronicle
"Captivating . . . McLarty unspools passage after passage of devastating grace and melancholy, and his taciturn hero hooks himself to your heart." —Entertainment Weekly
"Riders who hop onto the back of Smithy Ide's bike and ride America with him will cherish the journey. I loved this sad, funny, life-affirming novel." —Wally Lamb

 

Click here to read an excerpt from The Memory of Running.