steady himself； Greg hopped off the couch and took a seat on the battered wooden floor at Dan？s
feet。
？Thank you； Greg。？ Dan wobbled a little as he studied the group。This is it。This is our salon。And
you？re their Gertrude Stein。 ？Gadies and lentlemen； wele to our first meeting of our first salon
of the inaugural meeting of our group。？ He burped quietly。 ？I？m so pleased to excite you and tell
you about exciting and books。 These things I believe and you believe and we all believe together
that about books and books are good and change our lives and make us happier。 And it matters to
us； doesn？t it？ It really does。？
Dan paused。 The only sounds besides the clink of ice were a couple of muffled titters from across
the room。 His tongue felt thick and dry and he knew he was having trouble with his pronunciation；
but he was determined to get his opening remarks out。 He？d spent so long drafting their mission
statement and fielding e…mails and had gone through revision after revision of his speech？he
wasn？t going to go and blow it just because he？d had one drink too many。
One？
？We were going to start today with the reading from the book that I liked that I found that day at
the Strand。 That？s where I work。 Where？s that book？ Greg； do you know where I left that book？？
？Hey； hey。？ Greg laughed。 ？Why don？t we put off the reading for now and maybe just go around
the cir