ON the first Wednesday night of every month, a group of fellas gathers in a local pub.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re not just there for drinks and dinner, they\u2019re there to discuss the latest book they\u2019ve read.<\/p>\n
Nick Mason has been president of the Bendigo chapter of the Tough Guy Book Club for just over a year, and a member for almost four.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about wanting to get men together in a social setting that binds them with a common interest, just getting men sitting around talking to each other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
This month, the club is celebrating Hemingway Month, where all the chapters read a classic tale of masculinity from the revered novelist.<\/p>\n
\u201cHemingway was a very artistic character who was also arguably quite flawed and never came to grips with who he was as a person,\u201d Mr Mason said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s probably what we don\u2019t want to happen with men, we want men not to have to go down that path, becoming a lesser version of what their capable of being.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Mason said he\u2019s always loved reading, and one of the benefits of the men\u2019s book club is it builds empathy and allows men to explore some hidden emotions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about getting a whole heap of blokes in a room and talking about the sort of content and the books that we read, some of them are a bit light-hearted but some of them are also pretty heavy hitting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s primarily it\u2019s about getting blokes together talking about things they can\u2019t necessarily talk about with their friends, with their family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Mason said some of the group\u2019s members are \u201chardcore tradies\u201d and the conversations and discussions in the book club are an \u201coasis\u201d for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got one or two guys in the club where, dare I say it, Tough Guy Book Club is their only intellectual outlet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether you\u2019ve read the book or not and that says what we\u2019re really here for is each other and we\u2019re not necessarily here for the books, the books are the social glue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Tough Guy Book Club currently meets at Bridge Hotel at 7pm on the first Wednesday of every month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ON the first Wednesday night of every month, a group of fellas gathers in a local pub. They\u2019re not just there for drinks and dinner, they\u2019re there to discuss the latest book they\u2019ve read. Nick Mason has been president of the Bendigo chapter of the Tough Guy Book Club for just over a year, and […]<\/p>\n