Meeting #1: Beyond Book Club Chicago
May 22, 2015 – May 25, 2015 

Chicago was the first ever assembly of Beyond Book Club. It was attended by 10 of the 11 members – Carlos Palacios was in absentia.

This meeting was the seminal BBC gathering, the meeting in which the central tenets, rules, and practices of the BBC were established. The principles of friendship and intellectual discourse were embodied in this first meeting. The hosts were William Grenis and Christopher Vasseur, the former of whom now resides in New York, the latter remains a resident of the Windy City. The weekend took place over Memorial Day Weekend of 2015, and as such, reflected many of the summery and patriotic activities of that wonderful holiday. BBC attended a country music bar, did some outdoor grilling, and went to a Chicago Cubs baseball game. They ate deep dish pizza (which is really a big cheese pie and there’s nothing wrong with that but I don’t go around calling hamburgers ‘circle steaks’ now do I?) (I don’t call milk ‘melted ice cream, do I? No, I don’t, because I’m not insane). Anyway. Billy and Chris co-hosted a party in Billy’s apartment building, which became a veritable Chicago nightlife hotspot with many local friends coming through. Perhaps the most encouraging and affirming aspect of the entire weekend was the complete success of the serious discussion portion.

On both Friday and Saturday, a discussion took place for each of the two works of literature. To a one, the members of the book club put on their thinking hats, reading glasses, and sober faces. Despite the presence of shenanigans and activities before and after the book discussions, it was an in-depth and varied series of conversations about the themes, implications, story, and highlights of the novels chosen. Additionally, Max created a powerpoint for each book that served as a refresher course on their respective plots. Clearly, the first book club meeting was a resounding success. Merriment was had, the bonds of friendship were further edified, and each member engaged in thoughtful and fascinating discussion with one another. In that respect, the first ever book club meeting lived up to the club’s ideals of advancing both friendship and the pursuit of knowledge.