News.
Camp of the lost year 2020
The Tough Book Club camp is significant for many reasons, it’s a chance for goons from all over the country to catch up, do a lot or not much at all. It’s a chance to get away from whatever grind you face day to day and come back refreshed. In short it’s the ultimate extension of…
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White Teeth - Zadie Smith (2000)
‘What’s past is prologue’. Zadie Smith clearly chose Shakespeare’s words carefully when looking for a preface to a novel that is rooted firmly in the past. This quote has also served as a preface to at least one of Salman Rushdie’s novels and it is clear that this is not the only…
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August challenge, good work 2020 – #goodwork
This month's challenge was relevant and tricky. It was about making the effort to recognise someone in service work doing a good job and exceeding expectations regardless of being noticed or not. Goons were asked to take notice of those quiet achievers out there and make a point…
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High Fidelity - Nick Hornby (1995)
Top 5 things about this book It is beautifully written. Nick Hornby writes with such restraint that the reader is left with ample room to fill in the detail of where the action occurs. We are allowed to use our own imagination and understanding to ‘feel’ the pubs where various…
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TGBC Wins 2020 Vic Men’s Health Award
We don’t normally like to pat ourselves on the back that much, but 2020 was an extraordinarily shit year for us all so we’re going to take some comfort in celebrating a win. Covid lockdown consumed a lot of our time and though as a club we’re all about hitting the pub for a beer…
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Goon Profile - James "JB" Barry
Name: James Barry aka JB Chapter: Footscray VIC Who are you: Real quick: a son, a brother, a mate, and board member of TGBC. How long have you been with TGBC: My first meeting was the inaugural Footscray chapter meet in February 2016. There were three of us that night: Shay…
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The Water Dancer - Ta-Nehisi Coates (2019)
Approach this book like you would a winter swim at the beach. Just dive in. It will slap you and disorient you straight away, turning your world upside down. Then it will envelope you and lull you with its calm. Every now and then, it will dump you on your arse, forcing you to…
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Indigenous Literacy Foundation fundraising
Tough Guy Book Club is a club for men who don't read enough. Or men who want to read more. Or men who read too much and need somebody to talk to about all the amazing and interesting shit they've been reading... look, you get it. Reading is involved. So, since we believe reading…
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COVID life -Tough Guy Book Club the pub book club for men..
That's our thing, always has been, right from day one. We like to read, pubs, chat, think about what's going on with ourselves and the world around us, drink beer and read. So, what do we do when the pubs are all closed? And when the world is dealing with some pretty serious…
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Cannery Row - John Steinbeck (1945)
It's easy to be swept up in the reputation, celebrity, and strength of Steinbeck synonymous with Of Mice and Men, East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath. Perfectly explained by Nick Pitts, considering Steinbeck, "It's going to be a tasty meal, but you've got a lot of chewing to…
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TGBC Monthly Challenge – #showussomething
The challenge for May 2020, apart from finding a path through your hoarded toilet paper, was to show us something at home. How do you make your signature dish?, are you working on a renovation project?, an instrument or langauge you are learning, building a car, digging for oil……
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The Martian - Andy Weir (2011) Take 2
A boys own adventure set on the big red planet, The Martian sets up our ‘hero’ biologist/astronaut Mark Watney as a McGuyver type character who can solve almost any problem with a little know how, a few tools and occasionally some luck. Stranded on Mars after a major dust storm…
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