Chapter 16

Had Calvin learned of such controversial and queer details of Jackal’s private life, Jackal believed that the two men would stop talking and their friendship would abruptly end. The monthly book club had kept such a relationship intact. Such novels that drew them together included Styron’s Sophie’s Choice, Updike’s The Widows of Eastwick, and Oats’s Blonde. Other readings entailed Paradise Lost, The Awakening, and numerous books by Kurt Vonnegut. Once and only once did the book club read and discuss a Stephen King work, Lisey’s Story, which all the readers in their rather uppity group disliked. Without such bonding, Jackal firmly believed he wouldn’t carry out a relationship with the neighbor. But novels of various genres tended to draw men together, which Jackal had often noted in his diary, and allowed a humanistic substance to blend differences.