Book Club

[Alter Ego]

Thought would be better to pull into a separate thread rather than keeping multiple “spoiler” tags in the main monthly thread.

Assume big spoilers in this thread; I do not intend on skirting any subjects because someone may not have read the book.

In other words, do not continue reading unless you want to be spoiled!

[Alter Ego]

In the monthly thread, I said that I felt that there HAD to be a 3rd book. I still feel that way.

The last chapter of Beartown spells out the fates of four people: Ahmet, Zachariah, Bobo and Benji.

Beartown says two will become professionals, One will become a dad and one will die.

Us Against You clarifies: Ahmet and Zacharias become the professionals (when I said it was misleading, I meant Beartown mislead you into assuming it would be Ahmet and Benji) and Bobo is the dad. I believe this is specifically said...in 10 years blah blah blah. He uses the same words.

So, that leaves Benji. And that leaves death. I suppose he could also be a dad, but Backman specifically says that’s what Bobo becomes.

So, I still think there will be a 3rd book - maybe it will have Beartown people, but I agree that there’s not much more you can say about them. But, Benji wants to do something- go out in the world and change it. So now, looking back at what Beartown says, he must have become someone big enough that his death is on TV.

Obviously I could be wrong, but I otherwise don’t know why Backman would deliberately use the exact same words to describe the futures in Us Against You and leave out the most provocative statements: death and TV. There has to be more to the story.

[Alter Ego]

Of course, Backman could still knock us on our head because, after all, why can’t a person be more than one thing?

But even then, he would need a 3rd book to say that!

And, yes, I’m being selfish and stubborn because I need to know what happens to Benji!