That time a stranger spoiler-bombed the ending during our club's pizza break

We meet at Beans & Leaves every other Tuesday, and last month we were halfway through discussing The Silent Patient when this guy at the next table leans over and says 'oh yeah, the therapist did it, right?' Just like that, no warning. I spent 20 minutes building up the twist for the new members and he flattened it with one sentence while chewing a pepperoni slice. He wasn't even in the club, just some random eavesdropper who thought he was being helpful. Has anyone else had a non-member ruin a book for you in public, and how do you even recover the discussion after that?

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brian_jackson1mo ago

My buddy Dave got the ending of Gone Girl ruined at a bar in Portland. Some drunk guy overheard him telling his date they were about to read it and just yelled out the twist from three stools away. Dave said the whole table went dead silent and the date just stared at him like he was supposed to fix it somehow. He tried to play it off like the guy was messing with him, but the damage was done. The worst part is the stranger patted him on the shoulder and said 'enjoy the book' like he just did him a favor.