Perth Voice Interactive

BOOK Clubs.

The stereotype is lots of quiche, middle-aged ladies, coffee shops, and romantic novels with a hint of self-discovery and adventure.

Well, chuck that image in the bin, because the Tough Guy Book Club is here.

Consisting of blokes who meet in the pub to review books, it’s a bit like going to the boozer and finding people who can read.

“For too long the pokie machine, the cover band, and sports on the TV have left the men in our pubs a bunch of boring p*icks with nothing to say,” states the TGBC website.

“It’s time to change that, let’s put heavy duty discussion back on the table at the pub.

“We’re about reading books, hitting the pub with the goons, and rowdy conversations. 

“Our club is about putting real decent conversations back in the pub.”

Recently, I bumped into a random “Tough Guy” at The National Hotel in Fremantle.

A trendy 60-something, who looked half his age, he arrived on his own and was chatting away to strangers.

He had just come from a “meeting” in Perth where he gave his tuppence worth on A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.

He said he enjoyed the camaraderie and lively discussions.

It was good for his mental health and got him out the house.

TGBC director Shay Leighton summed it up in a larrikin nutshell.

“How the hell is reading, you know, picking up a book and learning new sh*t, become something that’s considered the opposite to toughness,” he said.

“I can assure you there is nothing tough about knowing less than the next guy.

“That’s why ignorance is considered a weakness.”

Founded in 2012 in Collingwood in Melbourne, the TGBC now has more than 5000 “chapters” across Australia, including one in Perth, which has monthly meetings at The Hyde Park Hotel.

The organisation is a not-for-profit charity and run by volunteers. All the chapters read the same book every month.

The selection is diverse and covers everything from Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and Margaret Atwood’s Hag-Seed to World War Z by Max Brooks and Craig Silvey’s Honeybee.

The most recent selection was Sarah Winman’s Still Life.

The book club is light-hearted and fun, so if you’re new to literature and all-things reading, don’t be put off. 

The down-to-earth humour is reflected in their FAQ, which details the rules of the club:

1. No Work talk. We don’t talk about work at our club because you are more than just your job, guys constantly ask each other “what do you do” as an introduction, and it’s a pretty sh*t introduction because it really it doesn’t tell us much about a person, it just limits the conversation to surface level shit.

2. Our “100% Don’t be a f*ckhead rule”. This one is hopefully pretty self-explanatory; it essentially means that if you are some kind of f*ckhead then you are not welcome at our club.”

The next meeting of the Perth Tough Guy Book Club is at the Hyde Park Hotel on April 2 from 7pm-10pm. You have to join before going.

Check out their website for more details: toughguybookclub.com/perth_wa.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK