The Rif Raff Book Club met Sunday, July 9 for the book selection If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino at a Book Club Member's house in Berwyn, Il.

It seems like summer is a hard time for the Book Club members to get together to discuss the book which is why the Riff Raff Book Club urges you to send your reviews electronically.

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino

Very strange book. It took the first 150 pages just to get in sync with the author. It offered a literary style I have never read or think I will ever read again. It was that unique. The book took you on a journey of story lines that at first didn't come together. Once you finished, it made sense. I did like the authors inside expose of the publishing industry and the inter-workings of that business. He poked fun at his craft and the industry in a clever imaginative way. Someone that really likes to read "intellectual" works would get more out of this book than I did. The book is a must read for every college level Literature Major.

The construction of the book was very unique and experimental. It brought the reader in as part of the story - an extremely hard and interesting thing to do. I enjoyed the different stories that were tied together in the end. Calvino's use of irony and humor were excellent tools to reflect and poke fun at readers, writers, publishers and academics.