Our club's vote on 'The Overstory' got completely derailed last night

We planned a simple show of hands, but then Sarah brought up the author's personal life and it turned into a 45 minute argument. Ended up tabling the whole pick. How do you handle it when a book choice gets stuck on stuff outside the actual story?

3 comments

3 Comments

val_williams1mo ago

45 minutes arguing about the author's personal life? That's insane.

terryw6728d ago

Totally get that. Used to feel the same way until a book I loved got ruined by finding out what the author was really like.

stellaw911mo ago

Used to think the author didn't matter at all, just the book in my hands. Then my group read a novel by a guy who turned out to be a real creep, and it poisoned the whole thing. Now I get why people bring it up, but letting it tank the whole vote feels wrong. Can't we just admit a book is good even if the person who wrote it isn't?