A Bookclub for the Discerning Gentleman
Just an idea for next year
Oct 26th
Hey Manzeboans,
The Library Foundation of Hennepin County has some good authors coming to speak – its sort of a fundraiser for the library so it has a cost. Here are the two I thought most interesting:
Sarah Vowell – author of the Wordy Shipmates about the Puritans. She also has been on This American Life. Thursday, March 11, 7:30 pm
or
Michael Chabon – author of one of my favorite movies – Wonder Boys, most recently wrote an autobiographical book about growing up – Manhood for Amateurs, which sounded right up our alley. Thursday April 22, 7:30 pm
Balcony seats are $35.
Here is the link for more info – http://www.supporthclib.org/events-pen.html
Its at the Hopkins Center for the Arts, we could hit up the Big Ten afterwards, or maybe the new Cooper in SLP. We should read one of the author’s books of course.
Monday Meeting Spot?
Aug 7th
Hey People…
Our next Manzebo outing is fast approaching and I’m quite excited to get together.
I was hoping to organize a wood chopping expedition but that’s falling through so I figured the next best thing was to meet by a river. Here are some options…what do you think?
-Pracna Tavern on St. Anthony Main
-Psycho Suzy’s in Northeast on Lowry and Marshall (my reco)
Or, we could meet on my rooftop deck or at Motoi, which I keep suggesting but nobody seems to like.
Let the group know what you think…it’s supposed to be sunny and 85 on Monday!
Forbes
The Results Are In
Jul 6th
Shapley Value analysis, or Shapely as Forbes likes to call it, has been a successful way for our group to choose books to read for going on almost a two years now.
I’m not sure if I’ve ever actually posted the results, so I figured I’d give it a whirl here:
So what does this mean? Well it definitely means that Out Stealing Horses is to be featured in our August get together, so go pick up a copy now. What the numbers show here is the total ‘reach’ each book had when all 10 books were in our consideration set. Reach was defined as the number of people who rated this book a 4 or a 5 on the 1 to 5 scale. I don’t always use 4s and 5s. Sometimes I use just 5s, but I’m basically looking to get the greatest amount of definition in our selection process. 4s and 5s made sense for this go around.
As you can see, Out Stealing Horses gobbled up just over 20% of our total interest.
The beauty of the Shapley Analysis really comes into play after the first book is selected. This first pass of selecting the first book could really be done by anyone, and to be honest, with the small sample sizes we’re using all of this could, but selecting the second book as a compliment to the first is the intriuging part for me.
Imagine you’re one of the very few who wasn’t interested in reading Out Stealing Horses, wouldn’t it be great if we could make sure that you were satisfied in the second of the two book selections? Well you will be, based on this analysis:
As you can see above, when we select Out Stealing Horses, 75% of our group is satisfied from a book selection standpoint, but the remaining 25% aren’t that jazzed about the book. By looking at which book provides the highest incrimental value outside of the first selection we ensure that the rest of the group is satisfied with our second choice, also known as: Octzebo: World Made by Hand.
These two books not only satisfy our entire group, but also provided the highest overall value based on your ratings.
Now all that’s left is to choose a meeting location for August. I open the floor to suggestions.
Rick Astley Biography – Working Titles
Apr 16th
Never Gonna Give You Up: The True Story of Rick Astley
Gave It Up: How It All Went Wrong (and Right Again)
4 PBRs from Sobriety
Apr 15th
Gentlemen: It was a fantastic meeting last night.
I thank you all for a spirited & rousing discussion. Even in the face of the stringent ground rules that our organization requires, you all continue to shine.
Two important notes regarding upcoming Manzebo Events:
- Smays has graciously agreed to host an old-fashioned ‘Balderque’ in May; look for details via Evite in the near future.
- The assembled quorum selected (without Shapley assistance) “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” as our next book. We will likely meet on Tuesday, June 9th to discuss it. Follow the above link to get it for $7-ish dollars at Amazon.
40 Watts From Eli’s
Apr 13th
Just in case you missed the emails this morning, the Manzebo will be assembling @ Eli’s tomorrow night to discuss Sue Carpenter’s ‘40 Watts from Nowhere.’
See you there, and save me a PBR tall boy.
Aprilzebo – Featuring Sue Carpenter
Feb 20th
Hey kids! Do you want to read about Los Angeles pirate radio in the late 90’s? I bet you do!
Actually, I know that you do because Sharpe crunched the Shapley numbers, and Sue Carpenter’s memoir “40 Watts from Nowhere: A Journey into Pirate Radio” made it’s way to the top of our reading list.
Following the above link will get you to Amazon where you can get a copy for around $13, or you can head over to BookCloseouts.com and pick up a copy for around $4.
There’s no firm date or location for the meeting yet, but plan for sometime in early April.
Febzebo Reminder
Feb 17th
Just a quick reminder that the Manzebo will be gathering tomorrow evening to discuss John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces.
If that weren’t exciting enough, Sharpe will pull back the curtain of statistical wizardry and reveal our upcoming book picks.
And finally, we should probably figure out when Manzebo Members (Manzebites?) are available for future meetings, and how often that we’d like to meet.
See you at Mancini’s.
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