Susan and I launched our first book club **Read/Discuss/Dine** event in September. The group shared great insights and varying opinions about the Alice Munro short story. For our second event, we decided we would delve into one more short story by Alice Munro before moving on to another author.

**Guidelines:**

* Stories/articles will usually be around 50 or so pages or maybe even less than that.
* We ask that you please read the short story **before the event.**
* Come prepared to share your thoughts and insights about the story.
* During the discussion please do not talk over each other or have sidebar conversations - one person at a time speaking/sharing her thoughts.
* We will do our best to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to speak and share observations.
* Participate with an open mind - be **polite and respectful** of opposing opinions and different points of view.
* We will try to keep the group size small to make it easier for everyone to participate in the discussion. Also, our book club events will take place at a private residence, so we need to limit the group size for now.

**LOCATION:**
I will give out the **confidential event address** only to the persons on the confirmed Attendee list.
**FOOD/DRINKS:**

* I'm going to order our dinner from ***Lulu's Restaurant*** \- here is a link to their menu:
* [LuLu's+in-store+menu+2024.pdf](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e25e6670380c52e91a193d2/t/66e98bb2e3398a002ce122e3/1726581684003/LuLu%27s+in-store+menu+2024.pdf)
* Please contact me anytime with your order but **NO LATER THAN** **November 18th**.
* I will place the orders/pay/pick up the food and take it to our meeting place.
* You will reimburse me on the night of our book club meeting.
* We will have bottled water available for you.
* If you want something else to drink (wine, soda, coffee, etc.) it's **BYO**.

**Why Did We Select this Story:**

* We decided to do another short story from Alice Munro's collection before we move on to another author in January.
* We thought this story would generate an interesting discussion about marriage, infidelity, aging, loyalty, and expectations in life through the lives of everyday and sometimes imperfect people.

**Short Story for November:**
"**The Bear Came Over the Mountain**" by Alice Munro.
[The-Bear-Came-Over-the-Mountain.pdf (racheldodge.com)](https://www.racheldodge.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/The-Bear-Came-Over-the-Mountain.pdf)
FYI - the 2006 movie "***Away From Her***" was based on this short story.

**Here are some sample discussion questions:**

1. What are your general impressions of this story and characters in the story?
2. How does the author use the story title to tell us about the story?
3. What is this story really about—love, loyalty, atonement, none of the above, all of the above? What else?
4. Is this story about a deep, passionate, and enduring love story? Or is this only about a journey that a marriage might take?
5. How does this story explore the irony of life and the choices we make along the way?
6. Is this story telling us that there are multiple versions of life events, and that no version is more real/less real than any other? Or maybe what we think is real, isn’t.
7. Is this a simple morality tale where one person is getting payback for cheating?
8. What types of conflicts (internal/external/social) take place for some of the characters?
9. Alice Munro deliberately leaves some unanswered questions. Does the ending feel incomplete - uncomfortable? Tell us why.

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Our next ***Food for Thought*** short story discussion will take place on **Tuesday,** **January 14, 2025, at 6:00 PM**. We will be moving on from Alice Munro to another interesting author. We also will try a new take-out restaurant.

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**© *2022-2025 Menlo Park Area Women Better Than 50 – all rights reserved including content, descriptions, rules, photos, and statements.***
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