Our book club in Denver got into a huge fight over the ending of 'The Goldfinch' and I accidentally called the host's take 'morally bankrupt' after my third glass of wine.

Has anyone else had a book club debate get that heated, and how do you smooth things over for the next meeting?

3 comments

3 Comments

Yeah got to hand it to you @oscarb71, that hosts take sounds like it deserved to get called out. For a book club that's supposed to be about digging into themes and characters, pulling out that tired avocado toast argument is just lazy. I get that people get defensive about their opinions, but calling someone out for buying a coffee when theyre struggling is missing the whole point of the book. Pipas whole story is about how messy and unfair life can be, so judging someones small comforts feels hypocritical. For smoothing things over, maybe just own up to the wine fueled bluntness and pivot the convo to something you agreed on from the book, like how brilliant the descriptions of the painting were. Everyone loves that part.

oscarb712mo ago

What exactly was the host's take that got called morally bankrupt?

oliviahenderson2mo ago

The host basically argued that people struggling to afford food should just stop buying coffee and avocado toast. It's a tired take that ignores how real life works for most folks. How can you blame someone's empty fridge on a five dollar latte when rent costs two thousand a month? That kind of thinking lets the actual problems, like low wages, completely off the hook. It's easier to point fingers at small joys than fix a broken system.