Book Club Night Kit

Famesick

Lena Dunham

Cozy night

Lena Dunham turns her attention to what the chase for creative recognition actually cost her, in the candid, self-aware voice readers know from her essays. It is a short, confessional read that makes people want to talk about their own ambitions over a second cup of tea.

Famesick, In Your Softest Clothes

Come read Lena Dunham on wanting to be seen, then sit on our couch where nobody is watching. Kugel, honey cake, a very large pot of tea, and blankets provided. Pajamas encouraged.

Reading level: Easy

Best for: A club that likes memoir, celebrity culture, and talking honestly about their own hopes without anyone needing to be the smartest person in the room.

Discussion

Warm-up

1.Before you opened the first page, what did you already feel about Lena Dunham, and did reading her in her own voice soften or shift that at all?
2.Where did you read this one, and was it a book you picked up in little snackable pieces or one you curled up with in a single sitting?

Digging in

1.The title puts a word to a specific kind of hunger. When in your own life have you felt a small, quiet version of famesick, wanting to be noticed for something you made?
2.Dunham is very willing to say unflattering things about herself. Did that honesty feel like a comfort to you, or did you sometimes want to put a hand on her shoulder and tell her to be kinder to herself?
3.Which passage made you feel the most tenderly toward her, and what was it about that moment that got through to you?
4.She writes about creative work as something that both fed and drained her. Is there a creative thing you have loved and then had to put down for a while, and how do you feel about it now?

Going deep

1.By the end you can feel her relationship to being watched changing. Without giving anything away, what did she seem to be reaching for instead, and have you ever wanted that same quieter thing?
2.If she were sitting on this couch with us tonight with a mug in her hands, what would you most want to gently ask her, and what would you want to tell her she got right?

On the table & to sip

To eat

New York deli-style noodle kugel, cut into squares

A warm, sweet, a little bit heavy comfort dish from the Jewish New York food world Dunham writes from. Make it in one pan the night before and reheat.

Soft green-herb dip with torn bread and cold radishes

The kind of effortless Brooklyn dinner-party plate her world is full of, but served on a coffee table in socks instead of staged for anyone.

Tray-bake honey cake with cream cheese frosting

Sweet, forgiving, and a little indulgent. Serve warm slices in paper liners so nobody worries about plates.

To sip

Honey-lemon chamomile in a big pot (no alcohol)

The non-alcoholic anchor of the night: a soothing, nervous-system-calming pot for a book about burning out on being looked at. Refill freely.

Hot spiced cider with an orange wheel (no alcohol)

Autumnal and nurturing, the drink of choosing a quiet living room over a party you were invited to.

Boozy hot chocolate with a splash of bourbon

Comfort with a confessional edge, for the parts of the book that are candid enough to need something warm in your hands.