The author, a writer, teaches at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, is from a large New Orleans Catholic family. She and a group of "arty" friends start The Existential Crisis Reading Group. The chapters of the book correlate to the months of the year. The Group's readings weren't usually books per se, but bits and pieces of this and that on a topic chosen by the member in charge of the month. Along the way, the author works through her grief at the suicides of her two younger sisters, the death of her father, and the after effects of Katrina.
I chose to read the book for its New Orleans connection, and though I sometimes found it pretentious (and there's lots of drinking), I liked her evocation of New Orleans's unique ambience--the food, Mardi Gras, and yes, the cemeteries. ( )

Didn't finish. ( )

Much more a personal memoir than a book about a book group (the “our year” in the subtitle led me to expect a broader approach to the group's experiences), Gisleson organizes her musings on grief, loss, renewal, and what might give life meaning when one is faced with loneliness and death, around a year of book group meetings. Gisleson, a mother of young children and third daughter in a tight knit family of eight children, works feelings of grief and futility over the loss by suicide of her two youngest sisters, of her father by cancer, and of the terrible destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina on her city, New Orleans.

For some reason it took quite a while before I really felt engaged by this one – for the first half or so, Gisleson seemed a little too angsty and self-indulgent. By the June meeting, though, which included John Cheever's story, “The Swimmer,” I was hooked. I really enjoyed the way the different readings, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama, offered such varied perspectives. One of my favorite bits, though, was from a piece Gisleson wrote and presented at a literary event, with a background story of her father's death, a condolence letter from one of her lawyer father's death row clients, and the John Cusack movie, “Hot Tub Time Machine,” (and a nod to Dante, lost in the dark wood, “midway on our life's journey”)...

”Though I'm starting to think that the dark wood isn't really so bad. Sometimes you run into people you know, sometimes sympathetic strangers. There can be camaraderie there, like, Hey, we're here together in the dark wood, can I pour you some more of this bourbon, can you recommend a good book? Was the letter from Death Row another low branch across the path or was it the murky green light that filters in between branches? And what about your kids? They're happy enough, they're fine, you can hear them in the sunny clearing nearby and you can always go join them. Sometimes you think it would be nice if we could widen these paths, make it easier for our kids when it's their turn in the dark wood. But I think the best thing we can do is make sure they're equipped. They can bring their own machetes, their own bourbon.”

( )

3.5 - 4 stars

The Futilitarians is a weightier book than I normally choose to read, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The book is heavy on philosophy, a subject I honestly did not know very much about before I read The Futilitarians. Anne Gisleson and her husband Brad chose to create the Existential Crisis Reading Group (nicknamed The Futilitarians) to focus on the question of how people move on in the face of great loss. Anne lost two younger sisters to suicide, weathered Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and lost her father to cancer. Feeling burdened by her many losses, she strove to find a way to carry on using the group’s monthly meetings and reading choices as a path to recovery.

Gisleson chronicles a year of the Futilitarians’ meetings including their reading choices for each month. I enjoyed some months more than others but learned a lot as I followed her path to find meaning in her life. I am glad I received it as part of Little, Brown’s Ambassador program; I doubt I would not have chosen it myself, and it was well worth the read. All opinions are my own. ( )

Anne Gisleson's memoirs dealing with her father's death and her twin sister's suicides 18 months apart is quite a heavy read. Her husband had his own losses he was grieving through as he lost his partner and mother to his son very early in their marriage to cancer. Combine that with suffering through Hurricane Katrina and life's daily offerings, there is a LOT of pain in here.

Together with their friends (who had many pains, as well), Ann and her husband, Brad, start a book club, the ECRG in which they really delve deeply into the meaning of these books. I can attest that I did add several of those books to my TBR pile.

A book dealing with loss, comfort and healing. Not your basic summer beach read at all.

Thanks to Little, Brown and Company and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. ( )