I really got the impression that it was first time in ages that a 'boss' had shown any interest in them personally (Michael is always about Michael) and so they were all flattered.

What I hated about that sequence (and to give him the benefit of the doubt, perhaps there is a cultural divide) was that Jaime seemed perfectly willing to market his smoothies as a 'milkshake', which to me is misleading labeling. He spends so much time talking about more accurate labeling on meat that I was…

I think it's a waste of half a menu. The goal with most of these places is to convince you they offer healthy options, but then know that most people won't choose the 'healthy' item once they're in the door. That way you don't really have to care how good the 'healthy' item is.

It's the 'saving' numbers that are all messed up. Sure, these people are saving money, I have no doubt. They're feeding their families for less. Good job. But focusing on how much off retail you saved is pointless. The important number is how much less you spend now than you spent before couponing. That's a *much*…

Jack isn't a bourbon. It's a Tennessee Whiskey, andreally it's not a good comparison, unless you're just comparing 'things I would drink'. Jim Beam Black and Maker's are the best bourbons that can be found under $20, hands down. Maker's is too sweet for a regular tipple in my book. Bulleit has a good bite to it, but I…

Roundup doesn't runoff?? What, it defies the laws of physics?

I'm sure I'm picking nits here, but how is it a simile? 'They were a kind of code"; "If they were a code, who held the key to it?"

Both of you have great points. Iris' passivity/martydom is definitely one of the defining features of the book, whether readers enjoy it or not.

Tasha- I have to believe the ending was intentionally vague about whether the pages make it into the box or not. We've had too many instances of things being destroyed (or created) after people die to not wonder what would happen if she didn't hide it away. And Atwood specifically tells us that she was found sitting…

Scrawler- I think your analysis is dead on, but it all just plays in to why I have trouble sympathizing with what she does. She has *no* reason whatsoever to be jealous of Laura. Iris has a crappy life, to be sure, yet on a couple occasions (like this) she acts as if she's jealous of her irrational sister, and has to…

For the first third of the book I wasn't entirely convinced that we were reading what had actually been published, but by the end I had concluded they were actual excerpts from the book. I'm *not* convinced we have the entire book, if for no other reason then to keep us from being able to actually critique it in its…

I guess it depends where you are. CR is the family tipple at Christmas gatherings, and I assure you the purple bag was present.

FJ- I knew within the first 40 pages (by the time Iris gives the award) that Laura hadn't authored the book. There was so much talk of controlling how other people perceived you, and other people acting as filters of reality that I knew this was some attempt at controlling what people thought of Laura after her death.…

Language and Style
I personally would never have used the word 'blunt' to describe the language used here, but I get the point that you are making.

TorpedoVegas- The more I've thought about it (due to these discussions) the more convinced I become that the BA novel can't be trusted as an accurate narrative of Iris and Alex. Perhaps most of the emotions and the sci-fi stories are what she wrote down, but I would bet she edited it up to make it completely plausible…

It was clear to me from extremely early on that the novel hadn't been written by Laura, but Atwood does such a brilliant feint throughout the book that I did at several points wonder if somehow it *was* Laura's story, even if she hadn't written it. She makes sure Laura is in town at the right times, in downtown, she's…

"Of all the aggravating, frustrating things Iris did in her life, the one I can least understand or sympathize with was her decision not to come clean with adult Aimee"

It's hard not to make a Liefeld jab when the woman in the image above looks like her anatomy is wrong. What's going on with her chest??

Again
Think this is any more likely to happen than the HBO show he shot a pilot for last year?

I don't know if it was a regional thing (like Euchre) but my family was in Detroit in the same time period, and we played Pit regularly. Honestly, part of the fun I get from F&G is how much they throw in little things from 1980 Detroit that brings back fond memories.