Book club for snobs.

[I have a one-man club--no further members needed!]
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http://www.fresnobee.com/lifestyle/books/v-textonly/story/10064234p-10892853c.html

The book-club snub

By KATHERINE ROSMAN
The Wall Street Journal

Published 03/04/05 08:38:00

(AP) - Alan and Arlene Alda couldn't make it, but other guests were prompt: Michael Milken chatted with Ted Mitchell, the president of Occidental College, while Fox News pundit Susan Estrich talked politics with professor James Q. Wilson. The actor Michael York plucked an hors d'oeuvre off a silver platter. What could have passed for a Hollywood fund-raiser was actually ... a monthly book-club meeting.

Hosted by California Secretary for Education Richard Riordan and his wife, Nancy, the power group was hand-culled by Mr. Riordan. He rules it autocratically, making the final decision on the title to be discussed each month and mailing copies to participants. He maintains exclusivity by following one simple principle: "Membership is closed."

Nearly every city has one: the book club you can't get into. Much like clubs that screen members for social connections and Ivy League degrees, they require applicant interviews, references and take pride in their rejection rate. And now, the most elite of these groups are spawning a wave of copycats. One new Manhattan group rejected nearly 200 applicants last year. In Los Angeles, a group that started meeting in September has already turned down two applicants it suspected of social climbing. "The Reading Group" in Princeton, N.J., requires three letters of recommendation before candidates can even get on the waiting list. (That list now numbers six.)

And forget about wrangling a spot in The Aspen Institute's A-list reading club that started meeting last month at the think tank's Washington, D.C., headquarters. Between a clique of high-ranking Central Intelligence Agency officials and British Ambassador to the U.S. Sir David Manning, membership is all sewn up.

"I don't know if there is going to be room for me," said Walter Isaacson, the Institute's chief executive, before membership was sealed. (He got in, but two others not on the list crashed the first meeting anyway; they were allowed to audit.)

The new rejection rate reflects an effort to stand apart and above at a time when book groups are so popular ?- and populist ?- that they've got books written about them. (One is "The Jane Austen Book Club," a best-selling novel about a group that meets to discuss, yes, Jane Austen novels.) But it also reflects a broader societal fascination with rejecting, starting with the dozen-plus reality shows like "The Apprentice" or "Project Runway," which exist largely to showcase competitors getting booted out of a group.

Another factor is the sensitive role of status in society. In his new book, "Status Anxiety," Alain de Botton argues that people are so anxious about status these days, they're getting depressed. Harvard Business School Professor Joel Podolny adds that for many consumers, status relationships ?- even more so than status symbols like big cars and fancy jewelry ?- are more key than ever in establishing rank in society. "The real measure of status is who people turn down," says Mr. Podolny, who has an upcoming book, "Status Signals," about status and the economy.

Ann Becker certainly knows what it feels like to get snubbed. An executive recruiter and avid reader, Ms. Becker last year tried to get into two San Francisco-area reading groups known for memberships heavy with civic and business leaders. Neither club wanted her. "Poor Ann," says Susan McGuigan, the leader of one of the rejecting groups, who explains the members want to keep their club small. Ms. Becker, a fan of fat history books, has since formed her own group. "This is just like dating," she says.

In New York, legal assistant Sarah Milks has a boldfaced posting on a Web site called readerscircle.org that starts off: NOT ACCEPTING NEW MEMBERS AT THIS TIME. Despite that warning, 200 new applications have poured in over the past year, all but one of which were rejected. While the young financial and artistic types who make up the group pride themselves on their literary standards ?- their reading list includes William Faulkner and Aldous Huxley ?- most of the applicants have been "young girls who have just moved to the city," says Ms. Milks. "They're like, 'Oh I love to read Candace Bushnell," a reference to the "Sex and the City" author. "And I'm, like, 'no.'"

The group has compiled a 15-person waiting list so that in the case of an unexpected opening, the group has a qualified pool to choose from. Members read primarily fiction, nominating books for consideration and then voting on the selections on a private club Web site. In May, the members will travel to Spain together, where they will discuss "Hopscotch," a novel about a Argentinian bohemian. The author, Julio Cortazar, once owned the house where the group will stay on the island of Majorca.

Facilitators who help readers put together new groups and rescue troubled ones say that the emerging elitism shows up in materials intended to guide groups and in the advice their clients ask. Sites like bookbrowse.com now have sections on how to handle members who talk too much, don't talk enough or focus too much on socializing. Sandy Brown of the Chicago-based Association of Book Group Readers and Leaders, an umbrella group of facilitators and readers, says compared with a few years ago, she gets more inquiries about how to restrict membership. "There's more and more refinement about who is getting to join groups," she says. Instead of simply trying to start a group, many of her clients "are trying to reach into the right niche" of readers, she adds.

Last year, when business consultant Carol Cheng Mayer and two friends were brainstorming about forming a reading group, their target readers were women with business and cultural connections. After setting a membership limit at 10 and extending invitations, the founders wait-listed two people who asked to join early on. Two others were turned down because the founders thought the applicants were social climbers. "We're serious readers," says Jean Oh, a founder who works as a marketer for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

As for the meeting places, the group settled on such high-profile spots as Los Angeles's Hotel Bel-Air and the Montage Resort & Spa in Laguna Beach, where members will have the chance to get a prediscussion massage. They read classic and contemporary fiction, such as Richard Russo's "The Risk Pool," a novel about a father-son relationship. The novel, which came out in 1988, was suggested by a member who works for Tom Hanks's production outfit, Playtone Co. Mr. Hanks is scheduled to produce a film adaptation of the book.

While there are no statistics on the growth of extra-selective book clubs, there are a few indicators about the rise in readers groups in general. Clubs registered with Book Passage, an independent store in Corte Madera, Calif., now number nearly 200 ?- double the figure just three years ago. Readinggroupguides.com, a Web site that offers discussion guides for 1,600 books, had 160,000 unique views in February, 60 percent more than the previous February. Oprah Winfrey, whose name is synonymous with book clubs, now counts nearly 600,000 members in her reader's group ?- even though she's switched her focus from contemporary fiction to classics.

The selective groups say they need to be picky about admitting new members, because a mistake can disrupt fragile dynamics and because they want the groups to be a manageable size. In launching its monthly reading club, the Aspen Institute invited "friends" of the think tank ?- people who had either attended the group's seminars or were donors. They aimed to limit membership to 18 or 20, a number that they thought would allow the best discussions.

But with its focus on leadership ?- readings include the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. and Plato's "The Republic" ?- the group generated so much interest that Elliot Gerson, an executive vice president of the institute, had to reject dozens of applicants. He is now considering launching similar concepts in New York and Chicago. At 26 members, the original group is "stretched to the limit," says Mr. Gerson.

The models for many of these groups have pedigrees that go back decades. The Washington, D.C., group headed by Helene Safire, wife of New York Times columnist William Safire, is nearly 25 years old and includes novelist Kate Lehrer (wife of Jim Lehrer), Irene Pollin (co-owner with her husband of the Washington Wizards basketball team) and poet Ruth Boorstin (wife of the late Pulitzer Prize-winner, Daniel). Most of the participants are original members, and their rules of admission are straightforward and strict: "When Helene decides someone is great, they're in," explains Ms. Lehrer.

The women, 18 in all, assemble on the first Tuesday of every month for a pot-luck dinner and discussion at the Safire home. Each member brings a dish, and the group decides jointly on the next assignment. Mostly they read fiction, which they find easier to talk about. (Their first book was "The World According to Garp.") Another steadfast rule: no political discussion. The group's 20th anniversary was celebrated a few years ago at a black-tie dinner held at The Phillips Collection, a museum. (Husbands were invited.) "It was magnificent," Mrs. Safire says.

Back at the Riordans, it's a schmooze fest. Early in the evening, Mr. Riordan hit Mr. Milken up for two donations ?- one for tsunami victims and the other to help fund a program at the University of California at Berkeley, Mr. Milken's alma mater.

Mr. Riordan: "We could have the school's name and yours if you want. You want to call it the Milken Program?"

Mr. Milken: "What about the Riordan Program?"

Mr. Riordan: "You need the notoriety from it more than I do."

After the dinner-discussion of Philip Roth's "The Plot Against America," (the book got a thumbs-up from the crowd) guests moved to the library to sip port and brandy. Mr. Riordan stepped onto the balcony overlooking his tennis court, pool and chapel and spoke (off the record) to a member who is also a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Mr. Mitchell credited Mr. Riordan for advancing his name to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to fill a special education reform post. For Mr. Milken, it was his second book-club meeting that month. The earlier meeting ?- consisting of his wife, their three children and their significant others ?- was to discuss "Money Mischief."

"The book was not as well received as I had hoped," he said.

___

All Booked Up

Can't get into your town's "It" reading group and want to know what you're missing? We talked to publishers, retailers and high-profile readers to identify some of the country's most selective book clubs. Here's a look at what they're reading, whom they're letting in and why others have been locked out. (Book groups' "official" names appear in quotation marks; otherwise, names are based on members' own descriptions.)

BOOKGROUP/LOCATION/YEAR FOUNDED: 'The Moveable Feast Book Club' New York City 1998

NUMBER OF MEMBERS: 8

HOW OFTEN GROUP MEETS: 9 or 10 times a year

NEW MEMBERS IN THE LAST THREE YEARS: 0

RULES: No discussion of the book before dinner _ and during dinner, only discussion of the book

WHAT'S FOR DINNER: Take-out food at members' homes _ so focus isn't on who throws the nicest dinner parties

LAST BOOK READ: "Howards End," by E.M. Forster

CURRENT BOOK: "Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage," by Alice Munro

COMMENTS: Writer Bette Bao Lord and PBS journalist Robin McNeil hatched the idea for this fiction-only book club on a plane between New York and Washington. Other members: former U.S. ambassador to China Winston Lord; writers Calvin Trillin and Hannah Pakula; Leslie H. Gelb, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations.

BOOKGROUP/LOCATION/YEAR FOUNDED: Epic Book Group Chicago 1978

NUMBER OF MEMBERS: 20

HOW OFTEN GROUP MEETS: Every other Sunday during school year

NEW MEMBERS IN THE LAST THREE YEARS: 4

RULES: Books are chosen by a University of Chicago classics professor, who is also the group's paid moderator

WHAT'S FOR DINNER: Nothing

LAST BOOK READ: "Beowulf: A New Verse Translation," by Seamus Heaney

CURRENT BOOK: Virgil's "The Aeneid"

COMMENTS: The group, which includes former Nuveen Investments CEO Richard Franke, was started by parents of students at a local prep school. To keep the focus on books _ this year, they're reading epics _ they often meet in boardrooms, with no food.

BOOKGROUP/LOCATION/YEAR FOUNDED: Pre-Natal Book Group Newton, Mass. 1995

NUMBER OF MEMBERS: 10

HOW OFTEN GROUP MEETS: Monthly, except December and August

NEW MEMBERS IN THE LAST THREE YEARS: 0

RULES: No new members admitted who "can't say where they were when JFK was shot," says member Marianne Herlihy.

WHAT'S FOR DINNER: "We just focus on drinking wine," says co-founder Tricia Blank

LAST BOOK READ: "Brick Lane," by Monica Ali

CURRENT BOOK: "Housekeeping," by Marilynne Robinson

COMMENTS: The group, founded by two women who met in a pre-natal aerobics class, isn't currently accepting new members. They dismiss applicants who say they liked huge bestsellers like "The Bridges of Madison County," says Ms. Blank.

BOOKGROUP/LOCATION/YEAR FOUNDED: Serious Reading Group Stockton, Calif. 1983

NUMBER OF MEMBERS: 15

HOW OFTEN GROUP MEETS: About every six to eight weeks

NEW MEMBERS IN THE LAST THREE YEARS: 1

RULES: Only non-fiction _ mostly works on social policy, religion, current events, science

WHAT'S FOR DINNER: Dessert and coffee

LAST BOOK READ: "What's the Matter with Kansas?" by Thomas Frank

CURRENT BOOK: "Evil in Modern Thought," by Susan Neiman

COMMENTS: Founder David Wellenbrock, a chief deputy district attorney for San Joaquin County, says the group focuses on serious books. A newcomer who was condescending to a longtime member didn't last long. "He was deselected," says Mr. Wellenbrock.

BOOKGROUP/LOCATION/YEAR FOUNDED: 'The Book Babes' Denver 1988

NUMBER OF MEMBERS: 12

HOW OFTEN GROUP MEETS: Monthly

NEW MEMBERS IN THE LAST THREE YEARS: 1

RULES: Flexible: One member has been granted a year-long sabbatical while she completes a screenplay

WHAT'S FOR DINNER: Pot luck dinner

LAST BOOK READ: "The Kite Runner," by Khaled Hosseini

CURRENT BOOK: "Ahab's Wife," by Sena Jeter Naslund

COMMENTS: New member Karen Moore waited five years to be considered; she got in after offering "Babes" a 20 percent discount to her home-furnishing store. Group was also featured in an alpha-hydroxy skin cream television commercial.

BOOKGROUP/LOCATION/YEAR FOUNDED: Corcoran Book Group New York City 2002

NUMBER OF MEMBERS: 6

HOW OFTEN GROUP MEETS: Monthly

NEW MEMBERS IN THE LAST THREE YEARS: 0

RULES: No real-estate talk

WHAT'S FOR DINNER: Themed to "The Da Vinci Code," group met at an Italian restaurant

LAST BOOK READ: "The Time Traveler's Wife," by Audrey Niffenegger

CURRENT BOOK: "Savage Beauty," by Nancy Milford

COMMENTS: Most members work at Corcoran Group, a national real-estate firm. One broker who didn't read three consecutive books was ejected. "We didn't say it like the Donald, but we said, 'Maybe you don't have the time,' " says founder Enma Baron.

BOOKGROUP/LOCATION/YEAR FOUNDED: 'San Francisco Book Club' San Francisco 1998

NUMBER OF MEMBERS: 12

HOW OFTEN GROUP MEETS: Monthly

NEW MEMBERS IN THE LAST THREE YEARS: 2

RULES: No book over 350 pages, no Oprah books, no non-fiction. Miss two meetings in a row and you're on the "cc" line in group e-mails

WHAT'S FOR DINNER: Pizza and beer

LAST BOOK READ: "Peer Gynt," by Henrik Ibsen

CURRENT BOOK: "Disgrace," by J. M. Coetzee

COMMENTS: The club is run by Jeff Boesiger, a biotech engineer. He asks applicants to submit an essay. "I've got a reputation of being the book club-dictator," he says, "but I like to think I'm a benevolent leader."

BOOKGROUP/LOCATION/YEAR FOUNDED: 'Leftist Literary Club' Washington D.C., 2004

NUMBER OF MEMBERS: 15

HOW OFTEN GROUP MEETS: Monthly

NEW MEMBERS IN THE LAST THREE YEARS: 0

RULES: Democrats only

WHAT'S FOR DINNER: Coffee, dessert and wine

LAST BOOK READ: "America Right Or Wrong," by Anatol Lieven

CURRENT BOOK: "Don't Think of an Elephant," by George Lakoff

COMMENTS: Co-founder Ed Calimag, an Internet technology consultant, wanted to invite Republicans, but he was overruled by others. "There were people in the group who are very opposed," he explains.

BOOKGROUP/LOCATION/YEAR FOUNDED: Afternoon Book Group New York City 1998

NUMBER OF MEMBERS: 19

HOW OFTEN GROUP MEETS: 10 times a year

NEW MEMBERS IN THE LAST THREE YEARS: 6

RULES: Fiction and biographies; group decides jointly what to read next and who will host the meeting

WHAT'S FOR DINNER: Lunch, hostess's choice

LAST BOOK READ: "New Grub Street," by George Gissing

CURRENT BOOK: "The Killer -Angels," by Michael Shaara

COMMENTS: Co-founded by Meredith Brokaw (wife of retired anchor, Tom) and poet Ginny Rosenblatt (wife of essayist Roger). Other members include screenwriter Alice Arlen ("Silkwood") and novelist Kate Lehrer (wife of PBS anchor Jim), who is also in a Washington, D.C. group run by Helene Safire, wife of New York Times columnist William Safire.

BOOKGROUP/LOCATION/YEAR FOUNDED: The Evening Group Princeton, N.J. 1981

NUMBER OF MEMBERS: 13

HOW OFTEN GROUP MEETS: Monthly through the school year

NEW MEMBERS IN THE LAST THREE YEARS: 0

RULES: Anyone nominating a book for an upcoming meeting has to have read it first

WHAT'S FOR DINNER: Fruit, cheese, dessert and wine

LAST BOOK READ: "The Growing Seasons," by Samuel Hynes

CURRENT BOOK: "The Kite Runner," by Khaled Hosseini

COMMENTS: Some members call it "the evening group" to differentiate it from "The Reading Group," a half-century-old Princeton reading club that meets in the morning. Two newcomers admitted a decade ago dropped out because the group was too serious. The experience was "disastrous," says group co-founder Lynn Johnston.
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