That's one of my least favorite books, even though I tore through the first 900 or whatever pages -- the ending was so disappointing and stupid.

Yeah, the first 900 pages or so are all sorts of fun. I kind of want to re-read that part, and skip the ending. Of course, I should have thought of this BEFORE I'm about to start a new job, because I know re-reading IT equals no sleep for me.

That scene was a jaw-dropper when I read it, too --

I know! Because yes, they are all about twelve. Because after you and your guy friends have defeated a terrible monster, are lost under the city, and are starting to argue/freak out, the obvious answer that occurs to a TWELVE YEAR OLD GIRL is to have sex with all your friends. What? Reading some posts online that try and explain it as Bev choosing empowerment, and reclaiming her sexuality just make me want to punch people. While laughing at them.

Agreed. I read the book when I was about 14, and I was all like "REALLY? What the hell?"

I was a good bit older (Carrie came out when I was about 14), and my reaction was also, "Huh? Where did THAT come from?"

Incidentally, I'm re-reading Insomnia right now, which takes place in Derry a few years later and looks at the older folks. As you'd expect with King, some characters from It make cameos in Insomnia. Most notably, Mike Hanlon.

I suppose I could see the development arising from an abused child's reaction to recent horrifying trauma, but no way in hell should it be empowering to Bev or an uplifting, healing experience for all concerned . Like others, that was my "What the hell is King smoking?" moment that threw me out of the narrative. (About a malevolent child-eating clown monster that can alter reality, so it's not like the bar for my suspension of disbelief had been set to gritty and naturalistic!)

Don't know the timing of this. Was this scene written during King's battle with drugs?

The Pulitzer board dissed fiction [link] It's been 35 years since it last declined to name a fiction winner.

The Pulitzer board dissed fiction [link].

Wasn't Franzen's book eligible? Or was that last year?

Freedom came out in 2010, so it wasn't eligible. I'm having a hard time coming up with a book that I think should have won, but it is pretty shocking that they didn't pick anything.

I just read a book that I think other Buffistas might like: Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan. It's about a band of German and American jazz musicians in Berlin and Paris in 1939/40, and about the fallout in 1992 when one of them, who was captured by the Gestapo in Paris, is the subject of a documentary and festival in Berlin. It's written in the distinctive voice of one of the surviving musicians, which I thought was done very well -- colloquial and slangy but easy to understand -- and gives a glimpse at the world of jazz in Europe between the wars, a subculture I knew very little about. Anyone who's interested in the music, the time period, or the experiences of black people (both German and American) in Europe during the rise of the Nazis should give it a look.

Hey, I got a question for the group:

When someone includes the phrase, "and, of course, we also want him to get the girl" in their book review, how would you describe your reaction?

And by someone you mean me, as I just posted my reviews of Feed (by M.T. Anderson, not Mira Grant) and Ready Player One. As for the phrase in question, I had issues with using it myself, but I was tired and it's a common phrase.