Phileas Fogg is a rich English gentleman living in solitude. Despite
his wealth, Fogg lives a modest life of mathematical precision. He
dismissed his former valet, James Foster, for bringing him shaving
water at 84°F instead of 86°F and hired a Frenchman by the name of
Jean Passepartout as a replacement.
At his club, Fogg gets involved in an argument over a newspaper
article stating that with the opening of a new railway in India, it is
now possible to travel around the world in 80 days. He accepts a wager
for £20,000 from his fellow club members, which he will receive if he
makes it around the world in 80 days. Accompanied by Passepartout, he
leaves London by train at 8:45 PM on Wednesday, 2nd October, 1872, and
is due backat the Reform Club at the same time 80 days later,
Saturday, 21st December, 1872.
This week's book is Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne and we'll not be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury — contact us for details.