The Madness of Art: A Guide to Living and Working in Chicago Book

I am reading the first edition, 1993, significantly different from the 2nd (1995) and 3rd edition (listed here). Goodreads, fix this!
The first half of this book -- and I am reviewing the 1993 edition -- is a series of contributions from book club members all over the country, with a distinctive majority from the Chicagoland area. In all of their unique voices, they describe how their book group functions, what its aims are, and what works for them as far as "rules" and expectations of membership. The second half are book lists of specific titles they have read, some of which include notes on how successful or unsuccessful they were at sparking good discussion. Because the book is so old, it's now an artifact of popular literature from the early 90's, highlighting the strange popularity of Ann Tyler, Anne Rice, and Amy Tan, but also listing plenty of classic and timeless book group faves. It's interesting to note the heavy weight of female readers as opposed to male, which comes as no surprise, but it would have been interesting to include at least one all male group -- I'm sure they were out there. I'm in an all male group now, at Oakdale Prison, and find that our discussions, though not often tied to our own emotional lives, are just as sophisticated and resonant.
There aren't a whole lot of research studies out there on the dynamics of book groups, but what there is is very interesting. Some notable authors are Catherine Sheldrick Ross, Elizabeth Long and Joan Bessman Taylor, who happens to be my professor at U of Iowa. You can find a chapter by her in Research-Based Readers' Advisorywhich discusses the concepts of discussability and non-appeal in book selection and successful discussion. She studies the strange phenomenon, among other things, of what makes a book we didn't like to read a great book to discuss (and vice-versa), and also investigates how a publisher decides if they will include a "reading group guide" at the end of the book. Good stuff. I understand the 1995 (2nd edition) of The Book Group Book has two submissions by the creators of Changing Lives Through Literature, a program based in Massachusetts that allows probationers to shorten their probation if they complete and pass a 10-week session of bibliotherapy. All they mean by that term is using classic literature in discussion to direct the reader to identify with the character, creating empathy, expanded worldview, and a resonance with their own lives. Massachusetts has been doing this for about 20 years and has been very successful but, to my knowledge, no other state has tried it. Apparently their recidivism rate has lowered by something like 41%. I think it's a shame its not happening during a sentence, but it probably happens all the time individually by those who want it to happen. It's really just a question of temperament, exposure and access. Books change lives.