Name:
Chas Lang
Chapter:
Mornington Chapter
Who are you:
So who am I? I'm I pretty ordinary 30-something guy. It's hard for 30-something guys to make new friends, but I found a way to do that. This isn't supposed to sound sad, but I'm a totally normal guy. I have a lot of hobbies outside of books, and all those hobbies are what I live for. I love my family, I like my job enough, but I like relaxing and hobbies more. I don't think there's anything wrong that there's nothing "special" about me. But I do like community, I'm really big on community, whatever that means.
How long have you been with TGBC:
Not sure - Dan McMahon recruited me over the summer break when we were reading a brief history of seven killings - so a month of two after that meeting.
How did you end up coming to TGBC:
I love this story. When I was living in Sydney with my girlfriend (now wife) and we would drive back to Melbourne to visit family. We would stop in Beechworth on the way there and back, staying in the holiday park. We'd also always stopped at the brewery for a pizza and a beer whenever we were there. The brewery is always busy and the tables pretty close together. We ended up being at a two person table that was only a foot away from Dan MCMahon and his partner. We got talking and obviously Dan mentions bookclub. They met at the Shakespeare in Surry Hills, not far from my house. Honestly, at the time, it sounded like a fun enough night out, but something I wouldn't get into too much - I wanted to read more. Now I'm running a chapter and have friends across Australia because of this club. Says a lot about drinking too much and talking to strangers in a pub...
What’s your favourite TGBC book?
This is an unfair question. I probably like/love about 60% of the books, medium on 30% of them, and dislike 10% of them. But I like that I pick up things I wouldn't pick up otherwise. If I really had to decide I'm going to go with Cannery Row by Steinbeck because I've read it about 10 times and is one of my favourite books I've ever read.
Why are you a member of TGBC?:
For so many reasons: to make friends, to help my community, to read more, to read more of what I wouldn't read otherwise, to find guys with other hobbies that aren't reading, to learn from men older than me, to help men younger than me, to have something to do on the first Wednesday of the month.
What do you think a "Tough Guy" is?:
A DGSC who isn't scared about learning. Someone who isn't scared to speak his opinion but isn't scared to admit that he's wrong. Being able to admit you're wrong is important - I'm not saying spout an uneducated opinion, but there's so much to masculinity that is about being stubborn that's just stupid. A real tough guy can learn.
What's your favourite library?:
I'll stick with the local - Mornington Library. Great and friendly staff, easy inter-library lone system.
What book have we not read yet that you’d like to do at TGBC:
Fight Club - it's probably way cliched, but there's such a great exploration of masculinity in there it may be interesting. Then again, scratch that, it may be too easily misunderstood. Let's go with Fear and Loathing in Last Vegas - it's another good exploration of freedom and changing times that may not attract as many fuck heads who don't understand it.
What something people wouldn't know about you if they judged you by your cover?:
I'm an extremely anxious person. A lot of people think I'm very laid back but it's very much to the contrary. I don't mind sharing that. I think we need to normalise anxiety.
Also for the attached photo - it's a photo of me at my favourite Scottish loch - Loch Lochy. It's the best loch because of its name. I FINALLY GOT THERE!
