Information on The Last Hurrah

Here's some information about The Last Hurrah that I pulled off of the internet (maybe it will help people to decide to pick it in the future if they have an idea what it is about):

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about the book:
The story concerns a veteran politician, Frank Skeffington, as seen through the eyes of a nephew whom he invites to accompany him on yet another mayoral reelection campaign - which turns out to be unsuccessful and the end of Skeffington's long career. Skeffington has a gentlemanly manner, lacing his talk with literary quotations. He is slightly corrupt, but delivers service to his constituents. He is an expert at juggling and balancing the claims of the various Boston-area ethnic groups. But his time has past, and he loses the election to a very mediocre and nondescript Irish challenger. While not a target, there are points of similarity between Skeffington and Boston mayor James Michael Curley. (Boston is nowhere explicitly named in the book, which invariably just refers to "the city" - but the location is unmistakable.)

A little more about it:
The Last Hurrah. O'Connor's bestseller shows an Irish American big-city political machine at work in a portrait of Mayor Frank Skeffington, who resembles Boston's James Michael Curley. Despite efforts by Curley to halt production, the novel would be adapted as a successful 1958 film, starring Spencer Tracy. Born in Rhode Island, O'Connor became a radio announcer after graduating from college, an experience that provided the subject for his first novel, The Oracle (1951).

And more:
Edwin O'Connor's prizewinning The Last Hurrah is one of the most entertaining novels ever written about American politics. It evokes the seedy grandeur of Frank Skeffington, last of the great big-city Irish political bosses, making his final race for mayor.
In its praise for the novel, the New York Herald Tribune said, "Above all there is Mayor Skeffington, fighting his last fight to keep the city from 'reverting to Government by Pigmies,' a man of complex character, great charm, wonderful wit, and with much more than Blarney on his tongue. Happy only when running for, or occupying office, [he's] more than a mere footnote to the political and social history of his time.
You hear his voice, you respond to his eloquence, you laugh at his wit, you deplore his demagoguery, and you know you have met a man in these hilarious but penetrating and revealing pages. Frank Skeffington, as portrayed by Edwin O'Connor, is a permanent creation."
"The Irish Catholic world of Boston has never before been explotted with this seriousness, intelligence, and intimate knowledge." -Edmund Wilson
"A resounding success-vigorous, amusing, and brilliantly observed." -Atlantic
"The best American novel about urban politics." -Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.

Are we all Harry Potter fans?

Hey, I completely forgot until I saw Kim's pick that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be out in July (the 21st, I believe). We could continue with our normal schedule, but we could have a "special extra" meeting to discuss this last HP book? What does everyone think?

Le Rouge & Le Noir - favorite quoatations thus far...

(Continuing Dale's tradition...)

"the sole genius of the man lies in exacting prompt payment from his debtors, and in demurring payment to the very last to his creditors" (of course speaking of M. de Renal)

"he was seized with unconquerable timidity..." (I hate when that happens)

"..stolen glances, sweeter for the theft" (this is actually the author quoting Don Juan)

"Julien was tightly pressing the hand that was now abandoned in his."

"her heart had wandered to unknown lands"

"He was in that wandering, perplexed state of mind which follows upon obtaining a long-felt desire. The mind accustomed to desiring finds itself without an object."

(my favorite) "As for Julien, he had never found himself before so near the terrible instruments of feminine artillery."

"M. Valenod had to intrench himself behind a barricade of insolence to meet the attack of truth people would make."

OK, I'd better stop here, but one final quotation: "Your friend, a noble, generous spirit, living a hundred leagues away, judges you by the public opinion of your town, formed by the fools or knaves whom chance has given the means of floating on the surface. Woe to him that is in any way distinguished." (wow..this guy's good)

see you all next week!

(bonus) SIMILE CORNER:
"hanging his head like a dog that is compelled to obey for fear of the stick."