Pencil This In: Chicago Nerd Social Club Book Club

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 8, 2014 5:40PM

“I’m stranded on Mars. I have no way to communicate with… Earth. Everyone thinks I’m dead. I’m in a Hab designed to last 31 days. If the Oxygenator breaks down, I’ll suffocate. If the Water Reclaimer breaks down, I’ll die of thirst. If the Hab breaches, I’ll just kind of explode. If none of those things happen, I’ll eventually run out of food and starve to death. So yeah. I’m fucked.”

So says Mark Whatney, the NASA astronaut and protagonist in Andy Weir's The Martian, who is stranded on the Red Planet, presumed dead by his crew mates, and must improvise in order to survive. Originally self-published in 2012, Crown picked up the book and republished it this year. The Martian is being adapted into a movie directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon for a late 2015 release.

The Martian is the subject of Chicago Nerd Social Club's monthly book club meeting 6:30 p.m. tonight at Filter Cafe, 1373-75 N. Milwaukee Ave. If you've read the book or are looking for some recommendations on whether to read it, consider attending.

If you have an event for inclusion in "Pencil This In," please contact Tankboy (for A&E-related listings), Melissa McEwen (for tastings, dinners and food and drink-related events) or tips[at]chicagoist[dot]com.