October Light by John Gardner (October 2026)

[Roman Clodia]

This is our thread for a buddy read of October Light by John Gardner:

October Light is one of John Gardner's masterworks. The penniless widow of a once-wealthy dentist, Sally Abbot now lives in the Vermont farmhouse of her older brother, 72-year-old James Page. Polar opposites in nearly every way, their clash of values turns a bitter corner when the exacting and resolute James takes a shotgun to his sister's color television set. After he locks Sally up in her room with the trashy "blockbuster" novel that has consumed her (and only apples to eat), the novel-within-the-novel becomes an echo chamber providing glimpses into the history of the family that spawned these bizarre, sad, and stubborn people. Gardner uses the turbulent siblings as a stepping-off point from which he expands upon the lives of their extended families, and the rural community that surrounds them. He also engages larger issues of how liberals and conservatives define themselves, and considers those moments when life transcends all their arguments.

This thread is now open for discussion, the buddy read will start in October 2026.

Sam and Kathleen are confirmed - if anyone else would like to join them let us know here.

[Sam]

Thanks RC, your encouragement will get me to dig into this author and like him or not, I still have several books to read by him. October Light is probably a good book for this group since it won an NBCC award in 1976, so even if we don't like it, at least we'll be knocking off another classic book. I have only read his nonfiction and Grendel which is a retelling of the Beowulf myth from Grendel's POV. I'm looking forward to trying this.

[Kathleen]

Yes thank you RC and Sam. I wonder if I've avoided his fiction, afraid to be disappointed after how much I liked his book on writing? I'd like to read Grendel but only after Beowulf which I haven't got to yet.

I'm excited to try this one.