It started as a book club. It has become a bit more.

When Ralph Caruso retired from teaching in 2007 he started looking for something else to do. The longtime Barrington High School educator eventually settled on creating a book club. 

That group, which has met nearly every month for the last 17 years, has stepped beyond the boundaries of reading and discussing books. It has also raised money for the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization, and next week, the “Guinness” Book Club from Barrington will take the stage in the Barrington Public Library auditorium and perform “It Can’t Happen Here — Again.” 

The reading is an updated rendition of “It Can’t Happen Here,” which was a 1936 stage adaption of Sinclair Lewis’s best-selling novel. Caruso said his fellow book club member, Brian Power, brought up the idea of performing “It Can’t Happen Here — Again.”

“Back in 1936, it was performed all over the country by amateur groups, and it was a call-out to take action against this growing fascism that was going on in this country,” Power said. “And so, this writer’s group, having been totally alarmed by what Trump was representing, said we need to resurrect this thing. They edited it down to a 35-minute presentation, which can be done by as few as five people or as many as 20.”

A group called Writers for Democratic Action adapted the play to its current format — it can be presented almost anywhere with as few as five people and as many as 20. WDA helped organize dozens of productions in late July and is hoping for another round in late October. 

Power and Caruso, both longtime Barrington residents, said the “Guinness” Book Club presentation will be on Tuesday, Oct. 15. The group will take the stage at 6:30 p.m. 

“Yes, I’m absolutely excited,” Power said. “Just the idea that we’re doing something, that we’re taking a step. And I like the fact that I initiated this before the Democratic convention when Michelle Obama said ‘Just do something.’ We’re doing something. Kathy (Brian’s wife) and I volunteered to work at the polls. We’re going through the training. The idea of ‘Let’s take an action here. Let’s let our voices be heard’ — I’m excited about that idea.”

Caruso is also very excited. 

“I’m proud of the book club,” Caruso said. “And I’m proud that we’ve been together since 2007. In my old business, this (on-stage production) is called a learning stretch. In other words, we’re moving out of reading books and discussing them into doing something more active. Like our contribution to Big Brothers Big Sisters, there’s more to this.”

Book club outreach

When the “Guinness” Book Club first started it included Caruso and the husbands of Caruso’s co-workers.

“In 2007, when I retired from Barrington High School, you know, your world changes,” he said. “Your co-workers were your friends, but now you’re kind of out there. So I decided to start a book club…The core group first were husbands of women I taught with at Barrington High School.”

The group expanded a bit to include others who were on Caruso and Power’s men’s league baseball team. Then it grew again to include some more friends. 

The club has read and discussed more than 200 books since it first began meeting. And the titles, much like the club members, are varied and diverse. 

“The Memory of Running,” “The Straight Man,” “David Copperfield,” “Astrophysics for People in a Hurry,” “The Sounds and the Fury,” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” are just some of the books shared in the club. 

Caruso said there are not many rules with the book club — one of the few is that you can only suggest a book if you have already read it. 

“Once a month, usually on a Wednesday at the Crossroads (restaurant in Warren), we come and spend time discussing the book,” Caruso said. “If it’s your book, you kind of lead. I always call us Men of Vintage, because our average age is about 75. Sadly we’ve had health issues. If you go around the table it would be Grey’s Anatomy.”

Caruso and Power have learned that while club members’ political views and ideas may vary, members have always shared an appreciation for different opinions. That was one reason Power was open to bringing his idea of the “It Can’t Happen Here — Again” presentation to the group. 

“Once I saw it I thought ‘We’ve got the right mix of guys that would, I’m sure, want to do something’,” Power said. “A few will not participate, mainly for health reasons, and I understand that. But they’re behind it all the way.

“This was not a tough sell.”

Caruso added: “When you’ve been together with a group of people since 2007, you pretty much understand, we’re not into mind control or thought control. Brian understood that he had a receptive audience there and that we would perhaps respond.”