Join host David Hartmann and fellow Columbia alumni as the book club discusses Mr. Blanding Builds His Dream House by Eric Hodgins; a selection by our book club host David Hartmann. Mr. Blandings, a successful New York advertising executive, and his wife want to escape the confines of their tiny midtown apartment. They design the perfect home in the idyllic country, but soon they are beset by construction troubles, temperamental workmen, skyrocketing bills, threatening lawyers, and difficult neighbors. Mr. Blandings' dream house soon threatens to be the nightmare that undoes him.

Date: Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Times: 6:30PM Central, 7:30PM Eastern, 4:30PM Pacific. For those in Europe the time is 12:30AM in London on August 27.

Location: Zoom Video Conference

Cost: Free

Reviews

"No ordinary jokesmith, Mr. Hodgins is light and expert." -- The New York Times

"Anyone thinking of buying a home in the country (and who isn't?) should read this book for its practical lessons in real-estate values...the theme of unforeseen costs is sufficiently familiar to everyone to evoke nods of sympathy and smiles of understanding, especially when Mr. Blandings, in a fitting climax, faced a damage suit for intimating that one of his earlier architects had shown poor taste." -- The Christian Science Monitor

Photo Credit: Simon & Schuster, Promotional Material, Public Domain