The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

DATE CHANGE BECAUSE OF ELECTION APRIL 1. BE SURE TO VOTE!
Location will be sent via Meetup message the weekend before the gathering. West Madison or Middleton

One of NYTBR 10 Best Books of 2023 and 100 Best Books of the 20th Century.

from NYT review by Jen Doll
"In Paul Murray’s latest novel, 'The Bee Sting' — an epic tale reaching back decades and spanning roughly 650 pages — things are pretty apocalyptic for one down-on-their-luck family, and that’s before we get to climate change. The problems, you might say, are coming from inside the house...

"This all may sound bleak, but Murray’s writing is pure joy — propulsive, insightful and seeded with hilarious observations. (Take PJ on “Pet Sematary”: “The moral of the film is that you can technically bring things back but it’s a lot of trouble and at the end of the day you will probably wish you hadn’t.”) And in this ailing family, there are shining moments of incredible love.
Through the Barneses’ countless personal dramas, Murray explores humanity’s endless contradictions: How brutal and beautiful life is. How broken and also full of potential. How endlessly fraught and persistently promising. Whether or not we can ever truly change our course, the hapless Barneses will keep you hoping, even after you turn the novel’s last page.