The Girl Watchers Club: Lessons from the Battlefields of Life

by Harry Stein

Shares the personal stories and observations of a group of World War II veterans who meet every week for lunch in Monterey, California, including an H-bomb mathematician, a Nazi prison camp survivor, and an electrical engineer.

Genres: Nonfiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2004

About the author

Conservative author Harry Stein is known for his light touch on hard topics: How I Accidentally Joined the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy (And Found Inner Peace): I Can't Believe I'm Sitting Next to a Republican; The Idiot Vote -- The Democrats' Core Constituency; etc. Now, with his comic novel Will Tripp, Pissed Off Attorney-at-Law , he does his bit to take back popular culture from the radical left.

Harry Stein is a veteran author and journalist who, in his earlier life as a liberal, regularly wrote for The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Playboy and Esquire, among other places he will never appear again. A contributing editor to City Journal, he written twelve books.

Reviews

[Layne Streuding]

Adore! Didn’t want this book to end, it was such an easy read as it’s a “fly-on-the-wall“ narrative transcript of the conversations of 6 WWII vets reflecting on their lives and the status of the world. So much comical wisdom. The meetings of this group occur where they all now live in Monterey, California. Reading this book as I’m also living here in this sweet town was an extra enjoyment.

[Amy]

I have to say overall you really have to appreciate the men of the Girl Watchers Club. Honestly there is nothing more humorous, interesting, amazing, and sometimes heartbreaking then a group of men sharing life stories together and life lessons as well. The men themselves are of course the star of the show and for most of it Stein stands back and lets them shine. However, Stein does make his own opinion on things known throughout the book which becomes rather irritating. He also tends to frame some of his interview questions the same way to support some of the points he makes. The book several times becomes a comparison study between Stein's own baby boomer generation and the "Greatest Generation" or "The G.I. Generation" overlooking the fact that both generations are entirely different from one another. After a while it comes across as Stein simply self hating and whining about his own generation. I wish he would have focused everything on the Girl Watchers and their experiences both sad and humorous. No comparison study was needed at all in my opinion.

[Maggie]

"Deep down inside, we're all about fourteen years old and in the first year of high school. Everybody else is bigger and smarter and knows more than we do. And we spend our lives looking for someone who has the answers. But here's the big seret: Nobody has them. Every human being, even the most successful, is basically flying by the seat of his pants."

"Till her, I'd never told any woman I loved her, did I ever tell you that? A lot of guys tell every woman they see."

[Brian]

Set in California, a group of WWII vets get together regularly - for almost forty years - in their retirement to discuss life. The book opens on 9/11 and the author recounts the group's dicussions. Another life lesson book...an enjoyable one. I love the idea of being retired...being with friends...being around coffee, books, and life discussions...being in California. This may explain my attraction to this book.

[Leah]

DNF

[Alexis]

I read this book as a recommendation from my dad. It was very hard to get into it and it was a slow read however the experiences and thoughts of the men in the "girl watchers club" were priceless. I felt like I was sitting with my grandparents and great aunts and uncles. That generation was something to be admired.

[Barbara]

This book is worth a read, but I found it to jump around quite a bit. The reader definitely gets to know the Girl Watchers and admire them in many ways. I found it to run on a little long, but would have appreciated a little more historical background about WWII veterans today. I'm not naming names, but I would be troubled to have one character as a grandfather.

[Patrick]

Great Read

[Denise]

I didn't know I'd like this as much as I did. It felt like I was talking with my grandfather and his friends, and I was ready to hear their stories and lessons.

[Heather]

I re-read this whenever I want to be reminded why i do the work i do --plus reading about these men reminds me of the strong older males in my family. What a hoot!

[Whitney]

Watch out for the language! Sailors, for sure!

[Kellysue Hornsby]

A great book. Made me want to spend more time with my dad.