Martin Schneider writes:

I mentioned recently that I am a bit of an Orwell junkie. So it with no small pleasure that I announce that, having decisively proven its worth with Richard Yates's Revolutionary Road, the New Yorker Book Club now turns to Orwell's terrific memoir of his days as a dishwasher in Paris and a hobo in England.

I must say, after Revolutionary Road, I was half-expecting the Club to continue with books that are currently in the public eye. This classics-minded selection immensely increases my enthusiasm for the project. Down and Out in Paris and London was probably one of the first "grown-up" books I ever read, but it has been a while. I'm looking forward to this!