Summary

Chapter Eleven begins on the day of the first meeting of his group. Baker is alone in his house, his family having gone to visit his wife’s parents. He becomes increasingly anxious, obsessively prepares a speech he plans to give to the group, and spends a great deal of time obsessing over which beer to take, and how much. Eventually, he arrives a half-hour early. Andy shows him in, and then leaves him alone “with the sounds of the barn swallows and [his] thumping heart" (162).

The ten people who said they could make it do arrive, Baker commenting on his narration that he cannot remember who was the first. When everyone has gathered, with some beer and still not knowing exactly what is going on, Baker starts his speech with a joke, and then tells them the whole story of how he...