ZLAC Book Club — October 28, 2025
For Members and Their Guests
James
by Percival Everett
Meeting location is the clubhouse. You may bring your own dinner or snack. BYOB.
Book description from GoodReads.com:
When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.
Brimming with nuanced humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim's agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first-century American literature.
You don’t have to read the book to attend!
If you're looking to support small businesses, consider shopping locally with Mysterious Galaxy Books, Warwicks Books, La Playa Books, and Bluestocking Books. Most have free or discounted shipping, and in some cases free local delivery. Purchases from Bookshop.org also support small bookstores. This book is also available at the library!
The book club includes a rating system!
We think it’s fun to know what our ZLAC community thinks of a book! The system is from 1 to 5, with 2.5 being that you would recommend the book with some hesitation. Anything between 2.5 to 5 is how much you liked it. And anything below 2.5 is how much you hated it.
Don't be shy, all views and opinions are welcome! We will collect the scores and average them, then post the ZLAC score in the following month's Eight Oars newsletter.
Can't make the in-person meeting? No problem! Email your score to: carolynw.ca@gmail.com, and you will be included in the scoring.