Charming Billy

For her pick, Carrie suggested Charming Billy, by Alice McDermot. A combination of poor weather, busy schedules and illnesses kept most people from attending the meeting at Annette's house. Even Carrie couldn't make it, but she did call in and participate by phone. [This is not the first time someone has done this ... I called in from vacation once, and Carrie did the same when she was really sick.] We were supposed to have a pool party but it was too cold and damp to swim.

The discussion was pretty sparse as only 3 of the 5 people in attendance actually read any of the book. The few points raised were:

• the narration was often hard to follow
• what are the reasons/excuses for alcoholism?
• how would you describe this book to someone else?

The general consensus was that this was not a very good book. Carrie, who is a fan of McDermot's other works, didn't really care for this one.

As I read this book, I did enjoy it somewhat. It wasn't the best book ever, but parts were interesting. However when I finished it and tried to explain it to someone else, I realized that I couldn't really do it. The more I thought about it, the more that bothered me. By the time I made it to the meeting I had decided to dislike this book because of that.

Five people submitted ratings for this book: 1x2, 3x2 and 8. The official rating was: 3.2.