The Next Billfold Book Club Selection Is Terry Pratchett’s ‘Men At Arms’

Welcome to the spring semester of the Billfold Book Club! (I don’t care that there’s still one more week to get through before spring. We’re starting now.)

In honor of the late Terry Pratchett, and continuing our study of economics through fiction, we are going to be reading Pratchett’s Men At Arms.

Do not be put off by the idea that this is the fifteenth book in the 41-book-long Discworld series. Discworld is meant to be jumped into at nearly any point; it is episodic rather than chronological, and all will be explained as you read.

(If you would prefer a Discworld overview, start with this explanation at the Discworld wiki — but seriously, all you really need to know is that there’s a flat world that sits on top of four huge elephants and a turtle, and within this world there are a bunch of people and trolls and elves who act reasonably like people you know, which is to say they live relatively contemporary lives rather than faux-medieval Lord of the Rings lives, and there’s also a bit of magic.)

Get your copy of Men At Arms at your library or any of your favorite book-purchasing websites, and make sure you don’t accidentally get the play version by mistake; we’re reading the novel. (If any of you want to get the play version and do a staged reading, that’s on you, but be sure to comp me a seat.)

Be prepared to discuss Men At Arms on Thursday, April 23. I’m excited to get the chance to talk books and economics with all of you again.

Photo credit: rollingrck

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