Our discussion of After visiting friends...

Our discussion of After visiting friends... was lively and spirited. A man who spends his time searching for the answers to how his father died, and the people he met along the way would make a good movie one reader suggested. But many readers had issue with how much time and effort he expended in his search. He went all over the country, talked to his father's former colleagues, searched through the newspaper archives, and almost met his father's mistress. Was it an obsession, or just a dogged reporter digging for the facts? This was one of the major issues our group was divided on...couldn't the author just accept the facts he was given as a child when his father died? Why go digging for the truth, when it may not be pleasant to hear? Was the author justified in bringing his mother and brother into the search, and finally telling his mother what he ultimately discovered? And...why was this so important to him? Finding the truth didn't change the fact that his father was gone.

Our group did like the descriptions of the newsroom, and newspaper work, which really illustrated how demanding the reporters and editor’s jobs are. These men (and they were mostly men) worked hard, and played hard. Some readers found it discerning that the narrative jumped from past to present, and other felt it lent a flow to the story that helped them understand. Several times during our discussion readers brought up the fact that the book (or project as one termed it) was airing dirty family laundry, and wondered if it was justified. We all agreed that we hoped it was.  I think we also agreed that the book was well written and interesting.