Remarkably Bright Creatures was the book I selected for my Old Bags Book Club to read this month. It was an enjoyable book with a satisfying ending, but the ladies all agreed the most outstanding part was Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus who is one of the narrators of the story. We spent a good part of the evening discussing the plot which was somewhat predictable, but that did not detract from the “remarkably bright” octopus who is clever, insightful and empathetic. Online reviewers from five stars down to one star all agreed on one thing — having an unusual character, like an octopus, narrate a story is a winning writing technique. So what’s with the photo? In keeping with the ocean and aquarium theme, I served my guests sand dollar cookies and beachy pudding cups topped with gummy octopi, with pumpkin pie as a backup. It was a delicious evening with good friends and a remarkably fine book.
