Sunday Salon: Slouching Towards March

I can't believe February is almost over. I mean, I know it's the shortest month but really? Is it really almost March? Yesterday at work I bagged the first St. Patrick's Day items of the season and Wednesday was Ash Wednesday which means Easter is coming up. And Easter means spring, so that's good, right?

I finished Alan Hollinghurst's The Swimming-Pool Library last night; it was a good book, thoughtful and rich and interesting. I'll have a full review this week. It's not one that I want to linger. I started Simonetta Agnello Hornby's The Nun, about a young girl sent to an Italian cloister against her will in the late nineteenth century. It bears some resemblance to Sarah Dunant's wonderful Sacred Hearts. I've read a few good reviews of The Nun lately and decided to get in an extra Europa Editions book this month. Next up is Three Weeks in December, by Audrey Schulman, whose event I'm going to this coming Friday evening.

Andrey Kurkov signs my book

Christopher Boucher

Speaking of book events, I went to a fabulous one this past Friday. Back Pages Books, a local indie, hosted Melville House authors Christopher Boucher (How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive) and Andrey Kurkov (Death and the Penguin; Penguin Lost; The Case of the General's Thumb). What a great night with two authors of unconventional books.

I haven't read Boucher's book yet but I know I'll get to it soon. I adored Kurkov's Death and the Penguin and look forward to the next two. I picked up Penguin Lost at the event and have The Case of the General's Thumb coming to me soon as well. I enjoyed listening to Kurkov's take on how penguins and Soviets are similar (both, he said, are used to rigid civil structures and don't know how to operate outside of their group) and thoughts on the decline of literary culture in the former Soviet countries. He noted that Novy Mir, the leading literary magazine, had, at one point, a circulation of 3 million; today it's 3,000. And he said that fully half of all the books bought in Russia are bought in Moscow. Food for thought!

Today? Who knows. I really have no idea! I hope you have a great Sunday whatever you get up to.

More Sunday Salon here.

Sunday Salon- Lots of Book Events

I'm at the end of a week simply packed with books, bookstores and bookish events. I may be headed towards bookish burnout if I'm not careful! (I don't think that will happen though!)

On Monday my husband and I did some book shopping on the North Shore- we went up to Manchester By The Book, a used-and-rare bookshop to browse. I bought a book of old poetry and a paperback- no big deal. I visited another store, New England Mobile Book Fair, twice. Then on Thursday I went to a reading by the very charismatic Tayari Jones, author of Silver Sparrow at the Harvard Book Store. Jones is a fellow at Harvard University and had a large audience of fans and friends in attendance. Then on Friday, I went to the New England Independent Booksellers' Association trade show, where I got to say hi to friends and find lots of new reads. I stopped by Occupy Boston on my way to the train Friday morning and snapped this picture:

Saturday was the 3rd annual Boston Book Festival. I bumped into lots of pals, including authors Steve Himmer and Holly LeCraw and the folks from Melville House who were there selling books (yes, I bought one, Faithful Ruslan, a Soviet-era prison novel). As far as events, I got to see Gregory Maguire, Alison Bechdel, Seth and Daniel Clowes, among others, and because I ponied up for reserved tickets, Jeff and I got second-row seats to Michael Ondaatje's keynote. He was amazing. But I learned something about myself. I really dislike squeezing into tiny chairs in dark rooms. I can't tell you in much detail about any event save Ondaatje's, because at everything else I went to, there may have been some napping at some point.

Ondaatje didn't have time to pose with me, but I still got to get my picture taken with an A-list celebrity, as you can see.

Today I'm switching gears completely and going to the King Arthur Renaissance Fair! No books at a Renaissance Fair!

October has sort of slipped away from me reading-wise. Today I'm working on three books: Silver Sparrow, Growing Up, by Angela Thirkell, an English country novel I'm reading for fun, and Ondaatje's The Cat's Table. Next up will be my Halloween pick, Nightmare Alley, by William Lindsay Gresham. I'm supposed to be reading Everything Happens Today, by Jesse Browner, for the Europa Challenge, but I may have to pick something else. We'll see. Then I'm just going to pick something at random off my overflowing bookshelves, which is what I recommend all of you do, too.

What are you up to? I hope you have a great Sunday. More Sunday Salon here.

Sunday Salon - My Own Boston BEA

I hope those of you in the U.S. are having a nice holiday weekend and enjoying some good weather- it's very nice here in New England, with some much-needed sunshine and warm weather. I'm thoroughly enjoying my three day weekend!

It's been quite a week; while some of you were at BEA in New York, I had a little mini Book Expo of my own. Tuesday night I attended a reading by British author China Miéville thanks to Harvard Book Store; he gave a great performance in support of his new book Embassytown- and with him, it really is a performance. There were so many memorable moments and quotable quotes. For example, every time someone prefaced a question with "I haven't read The City and The City yet but..." he would say "you should read it, it's awesome." He talked about some of the philosophical themes in his new book and in The City, and talked about the "thousands" of emails he gets every time he "defeats" someone according to the website Could They Beat-Up China Miéville?" (And I love how that site found a hugely pugnacious-looking photo of Miéville, who is actually a really, really nice person.)

Here's a really grainy picture of me with him during the signing. I had him sign my husband's book to Boston Bibliophile and he actually remembered meeting me two years ago at his last Harvard Book Store appearance!

The next night, Wednesday, brought me to a reading by the charming and incredibly smart Holly LeCraw, in support of the paperback release of her great book, The Swimming Pool, at Newtonville Books, also a wonderful independent bookstore. Holly was gracious enough to let me interview her here on my blog earlier this year, and I have to say it was a real pleasure to meet her in person. She read with author Sarah Gardner Borden; both were excellent, and Holly even gave us a sneak preview of her as-yet-untitled next novel.

That's Holly after we got to chat for a few minutes about the books we're enjoying right now. She's re-reading The English Patient, one of my personal favorites, in anticipation of Michael Ondaatje's new book and his visit to Boston this fall.

Then later in the week I got in some good book shopping at some of my favorite stores, like Raven Used Books in Harvard Square, Rodney's in Central Square and Lorem Ipsum in the Inman Square neighborhood of Cambridge as well as  Pazzo Books and Seek Books in West Roxbury.  I found some unexpected treasures in each! I love all our local used bookstores.

So maybe I didn't get to BEA but I had a great bookish week.

And- here's something. If you're in the Boston area, I will be appearing alongside several area bloggers to talk about some of our favorite books for summer reading, at an event hosted by Porter Square Books of Cambridge. The event is this Friday, June 3, at 7pm. The event will last about an hour and we'll be around to chat afterwards. There is a display up at the store now with our choices if you want to do some early shopping! I hope to see you there!

Sunday Salon- Guess What? I'm Reading.

It's Sunday and I'm reading. What else, right?

Well, I'm also attending the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair today, which runs from 12-5 at the Hynes Convention Center. I went yesterday, too, to browse, but today I'm going for the appraisal session. I don't want to say too much more since I'll have a full write-up tomorrow.

The past week was a busy bookish one for me, with readings by two major and favorite authors- Paul Auster doing the only reading outside of New York City for his new novel, Sunset Park, and the inimitable David Sedaris reading from his new book, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk. Both were fabulous. Sedaris even took time during his event to promote someone else's book, Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, by Wells Tower. I don't know if that book would be my cup of tea but I thought it was fun and very classy of Sedaris to do that. The event was huge; Harvard Book Store closed for the duration and there was overflow seating all over the store. We got great seats in front of one of the big TVs they set up for people who didn't get seats in the room with Sedaris. He signed books before and after his talk, and I got my books signed, and got to meet him, while I was still waiting to get into the store. It was quite a memorable night! None of which is to take anything away from Auster, of whom I'm been a fan since college and who I was thrilled to meet (again). He's also a really terrific reader and really whet my appetite for his new book.

In December I'm going to be catching up on 2010 releases (and probably in January, too) and I'm starting to work up my list. To the End of the Land, The Swimming Pool, The Bells, Sunset Park, just to start.

Today? Today I'm reading Salman Rushdie's new one, Luka and the Fire of Life, and working on The Sacred Book of the Werewolf and Moscow 2042 for Russian month. I'm loving Moscow 2042. Vladimir Voinovich has to be some kind of comic genius. This book is political satire crossed with time travel and contains several riffs on the literary merits of science fiction even as he plays with its conventions. Very fun. I was going to wait till December to start the Rushdie but I couldn't sit on it any longer.

What are you reading today? More Sunday Salon here.

Sunday Salon - Another Week in Books

So I'm a little late to the party today; please forgive me. It's been another fun, bookish week. Monday night I joined some pals to see author Luis Alberto Urrea at the Harvard Book Store. He was great; smart, funny and charming. He passed out postcards he and his wife Cindy made based on locations in his novel Into the Beautiful North; folks could keep the card and mail it to someone or write an address on it and the Urreas would mail it back from another place. Mine came back to me with his signature postmarked Texas. Very fun.

Tuesday I got to meet Justin Cronin, author of The Passage, at a packed event at the Brookline Booksmith. Wow! That had to be one of the best readings I've been to so far this year. He did a great job of selling his novel and he was very kind and courteous when I met him in the signing line.

Thursday I started an "Artist's Bookmaking" class at my local adult education center. Over the next eight weeks I'll be stitching, gluing, binding and decorating all manner of little books and leaflets. On the first night we stitched our handout packets together using a simple stab stitch. My plan is to blog the class and my creations every Thursday so I'll have a full report then.

Yesterday my husband and I went to the semi-annual warehouse sale at the Harvard Book Store, where they open up their warehouse facility and sell lots of cheap, wonderful things. They have both remaindered and used books and there are always treasures to be found. I got only four books, but they were high quality- three novels and a comics collection. I'll have a full report on my Friday Finds post later this week.

Then, last night, we went out to neighboring Dedham, where a new Borders opened up. It's amazing! They are doing all kinds of giveaways and contests this weekend, giving away baskets of books, e-readers, gift certificates and more. I probably won't win anything but there's always hope!

Today? Today I'm reading Gina Ochsner's The Russian Dreambook of Color & Flight, and going out for an ice cream cone sometime soon. Have a great Sunday!

More Sunday Salon here.

Sunday Salon - Happy Mother's Day!

It's been a busy week in books for me, but next week looks to be a little more laid-back. Last week I went to two author events- on Wednesday Maxine Kumin read from her latest book of poetry Where I Live: New and Selected Poems 1990-2010, and the next night, Brunonia Barry from her new book, The Map of True Places. I got a bunch of books signed as well, of course. I'm putting together a little giveaway for later in the week; stay tuned. Barry was charming and talked about the evolution of her writing career and the ideas behind her new book and shared what some of what she learned about celestial navigation during her research for Map. Her first book, The Lace Reader, was the first book that was sent to me as a blogger and I'm a big fan. It was a great night and a pleasure to meet her. I've been doing various interviews for the blog I'm assisting with for the Association of Jewish Libraries, and I hope to share some of those with you soon. My interview with local author and academic Maxim D. Shrayer should be ready for prime time soon and there are more to come. I had fun participating in Persephone Reading Week this past week; at this point I think I'm ready to add every book in the Persephone line to my wishlist! Today I don't know how much time I'm going to have for reading but I'll do the best I can. I've started reading Alina Bronsky's wonderful, heartbreaking Broken Glass Park, but I have a family Christening today and I think that will keep me pretty busy. What are you doing today? I hope whatever it is, you have a great day. You can read more Sunday Salon here.

Atiq Rahimi at Harvard University, April 29

This past Thursday I was able to attend a talk given by Afghan writer, teacher and filmmaker Atiq Rahimi. The talk was given at Harvard University's Department of Comparative Literature as part of the PEN World Voices Festival. The afternoon event consisted of a talk by Rahimi followed by a Q&A and a signing and reception.

Rahimi, a native Afghan who moved to France via Pakistan following the Soviet invasion, spoke at length (and in French, translated extemporaneously by his publisher, Judith Gurewich of Other Press, who did an A+ job) about his Prix Goncourt-winning novel The Patience Stone. He began by reciting a well-known folktale often used to comic effect but which he turned into a bittersweet allegory about exile. A man looks for a lost key on an illuminated sidewalk, at night. The key isn't there- he knows the key is at home but says he's looking on the street because "that's where the light is."

Rahimi went on to talk about the differences for him of writing and speaking in different languages, especially French and his native Persian, and about how the rules of grammar dictate writing choices and methods. He talked about his experience of returning to Afghanistan for the first time after the fall of the Taliban and being "shocked" by the decline in Afghan culture and the corruption in politics. He talked about his work in television, where he's helping to produce a soap opera (and train young men and women in filmmaking) as a means of influencing a "cultural revolution" among the people, especially the women. He said television was his medium of communication to the Afghan people because of the country's low literacy level, and said he tried to get his show, peppered with subversive messages about politics and gender, broadcast at a time when women would be alone in the house and have the opportunity to reflect without someone watching them. Cultural revolution via soap opera sounds a little funny but I found his reasoning quite astute.

Overall I found him to be brilliant, inspiring and fascinating. The problems in Afghanistan resonate worldwide and I admire and applaud his efforts to effect change through art and culture. Rahimi said that changing the political system requires changing the culture- and that changing the culture requires changes in the political system. I will definitely look out for his earlier novel, Earth and Ashes, and would encourage anyone to give him a try.

Sponsored by PEN America, the event was technically open to the public but unfamiliar as I am with the Harvard campus it was a little difficult for me to find, and it seemed like a very Harvard-only audience. And although Gurewitch did a fantastic job translating off the cuff (not easy!) I was glad that my French was good enough to understand him without her assistance. Having to pay such close attention to his words helped engage me that much more in his talk.

You can watch the opening credits to his soap, "Raz ha een Khana" (Secrets of this House) here:

Reading: Peter Carey at the Harvard Book Store

Last night I was lucky enough to get to see Australian author Peter Carey read from his latest novel, Parrot and Olivier in America, at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge, at a reading sponsored by the fabulous Harvard Book Store.

Carey began by talking about Alexis de Toqueville, the French aristocrat and author of Democracy in America, his observations on the young United States published in 1835 and 1840. Toqueville was the inspiration for the book and for the character Olivier de Garmont, a French aristocrat and child of survivors of the French Revolution, who comes to America with his servant Parrot to observe the American prison system. Carey then read segments from the book and took questions.

He was a fun speaker, by turns smart, snarky and charming, and did a funny, engaging talk and reading. In the Q&A period, we learned that the first Australian edition of Oscar and Lucinda was printed on "toilet paper" and that no, he has not seen the movie.

Carey is also the author of a bunch of nonfiction and 11 novels including two Booker Prize winners, Oscar and Lucinda and True History of the Kelly Gang. Before the release of Parrot and Olivier I was thinking about writing an Author Appreciation about him but since I've only read Oscar and Lucinda it would be a little difficult. In lieu of that, here's an excerpt from my review:

Carey does an amazing job with Oscar and Lucinda. The writing itself is gorgeous, literary and loaded- more like a nineteenth century love story than one written in the nineteen-eighties. I like that he chose a style that reflected the time and place of the story's setting rather than a more modern style. It's a wonderful throwback to the days when characters were rich and nuanced and novel structure more formal and stylized. It's also highly readable, with an engaging plot and characters you come to know well and care for. Carey evokes his settings beautifully as well; Australia comes across as an anarchic frontier of gamblers and predators, victims and saints. The action keeps going right to last sentence, and I didn't want it to end. I wish every book could be this good!

So yeah, even though it's the only book of his I've read, it's one of my favorite books ever, right up there with Possession, so that has to count for something.

I've only just started Parrot and Olivier and while I'm certainly enjoying it, it's much too early to say more than that. It's received some great reviews so far, including one by British author Ursula K. Le Guin, so I'm pretty optimistic that it'll end up being a favorite of mine, as well. I'll definitely keep you posted!

Here's my signed title page from Parrot and Olivier; I also brought nice copies of Oscar and Lucinda and True History for my Booker Prize collection. What I didn't bring was the copy of Oscar and Lucinda I actually read, a battered paperback with a taped-on cover and coffee stains. When you get books signed, what would you rather bring- the book you read or a pristine copy for collecting? I almost regret not bringing my reading copy but then again, does it matter that much?

Recent Author Events and Readings

There have been some great bookish events in Boston this past week.

First of all there was the fabulous Boston Book Fest. I was a volunteer at the Old South Church, one of three venues hosting talks and signings; I was pretty busy working the signings but got to say hi to Comedy Central fixture and The Areas of My Expertise author John Hodgman, who was very sweet- every single person I saw leave his line left with a big smile, myself included.

Earlier last week, I got to see My Father's Paradise author Ariel Sabar do a talk in a Cambridge bar called Central Kitchen; Central Kitchen has a beautiful, Middle-Eastern-themed bar and event venue called The Enormous Room where Sabar was set up to do his mellow and fascinating talk about his book.

He answered several audience questions about writing the book and about his relationship with both of his parents. It was really interesting to hear him address these things, which weren't covered in the book itself.

My husband and I got there mere minutes before he started but still got excellent seats. I got to meet him briefly afterward and get a signature on my galley.

Then, on Sunday, I got to meet legendary author Margaret Atwood, twice! I was invited to spend the early part of the afternoon assisting Random House staff at a private signing where Atwood had to sign approximately 600+ copies of her latest novel, The Year of the Flood, for distribution to area bookstores. Four people and I helped open boxes, shift stacks of books, repack boxes and cart the boxes down to cars for delivery; it all took about two hours and it was a tremendous opportunity to spend quiet time with this amazing, brilliant woman. She was also gracious enough to sign my stack of books and pose for photos.

Later that evening I attended her reading event sponsored by the Harvard Book Store, where she read from Flood and played portions of a music CD inspired by the hymns she wrote for the book.
Audience members asked her questions about the politics of the book and about her feelings about being identified as a writer of science fiction; she answered that she sees her work as descended from the speculative tradition of Jules Verne rather than the space-and-aliens tradition of H.G. Wells.

(The CD is available for purchase, along with other YOTF swag, at www.yearoftheflood.com.)
It was an unforgettable day!

Events with Adrian Tomine, Seth, and China Mieville

It's been a busy week of readings in literary Cambridge.

Tuesday night a friend and I attended a double reading at the Brattle Theater, hosted by the wonderful Harvard Book Store and starring graphic novel creators Adrian Tomine and Seth, of Shortcomings and It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken respectively. Each man took a turn at the podium, telling stories and sharing insights into the comics world.

I particularly enjoyed Seth's "twelve stories" format, with a random display of sketches and pictures running behind him on the movie screen as he told a series of anecdotes about his life and career, punctuated by little bell rings. He started with his childhood spent creating his own superhero universe in notebooks kept hidden from everyone until he showed them to an art school admissions officer- and got in. Then he moved on to art school, career and more.

Then last night the same friend and I took our husbands to see China Mieville, whose new novel The City and The City came out recently. (Click on the title for my review. Spoiler alert! I loved it.) This event was also sponsored by Harvard Book Store. First I got to meet Heather, the events coordinator from the store; as an added bonus, she quoted from my review as she introduced Mieville.

Mieville was fantastic. The reading itself was brief; as I have already said in my review, what makes the novel is the process of uncovering it. Cognizant of that as the author, he didn't want to give too much away, and moved on pretty quickly to the Q&A.

The questions were very good; the audience was both smart and very familiar with his work. He talked about everything from his creative process to politics to funny band names. One particularly bright audience member, to whom I happen to be married, asked Mr. Mieville about his process as a writer; as someone who frequently sets his stories in invented cities, did he start with the story or the city? The city, Mr. Mieville answered, quite definitively. He starts with the city and builds the story up from there. Given the nature of the city in his latest novel, it's difficult to imagine it any other way!

Of course the highlight of the evening was the signing and the opportunity to gush to the man himself about how much I enjoyed The City and The City.

But how pleasantly surprised was I when Mr. Mieville gushed to me when I asked him to sign my book with my blog name! He shook my hand and said he read my blog and thought it was really good- wow! It was very sweet of him to say that and just absolutely made my entire day- possibly my entire week!

Sunday Salon

So this past week was a little bit busy with events and reading. I started on a small stack of books from my TBR pile and my conference stash- I got started on Godmother, by Carolyn Turgeon, as well as Strange Ways by Rokhl Faygenberg and The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway.

In addition to The Cellist of Sarajevo, the week brought me into contact with more literature on or from the Balkans. LibraryThing sent me Forbidden Bread, a memoir by an American named Erica Johnson Debeljak, about her love affair with and marriage to Slovenian poet Ales Debeljak, and I got to see Bosnian author Aleksandar Hemon read from his new collection of short stories, Love and Obstacles, at the Harvard Book Store in Cambridge. Hemon read part of a story and answered really interesting questions from the audience- questions about his influences, his ideas about literature, about identity, and more. He was funny and charming and self-deprecating in turns; I had him sign my copy of The Lazarus Project, which I still haven't read. But I think that it may work its way closer to the top of my pile sooner rather than later!

There was also a nice event at the same bookstore with Polish author Eva Hoffman, who read from her new novel, Appassionata. Appassionata is the story of an itinerant musician who has a passionate affair with a Chechen militant, and becomes implicated in his actions. The selection she read was lyrical and literary and lovely. I may or may not read the book; time will tell. But she was neat and I'm glad I went.

While I was in the store to see Hemon I picked up a couple of tickets to an upcoming event with author China Mieville in June. That one I can't wait for!

Today? Work, then reading, and more reading. And maybe some quality time with a frappuccino.

Robert Pinsky's "Recitation Celebration," April 7, 2009

Last night I attended Robert Pinsky's "Recitation Celebration," an event hosted by Cambridge's Harvard Book Store, at the First Parish Cambridge - Unitarian Universalist. The Harvard Book Store is my favorite indie, and not just because they gave me two free tickets to the event.

Pinsky, Poet Laureate from 1997-2000 and current teacher at Boston University's Creative Writing program, hosted in honor of Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud, of which he is the editor. Six local celebrities read one or two poems a piece from the collection- or in one case, an original composition not included in the collection. From the press release, readers included:

• Jody Adams, James Beard Award-winning chef and owner of Rialto restaurant

• Tom Magliozzi, Peabody Award-winning co-host of NPR's Car Talk

• Stephen Greenblatt, John Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard, editor of The Norton Shakespeare, and prize-winning author

• Steven Pinker, Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard and prize-winning author

• Michael Holley, host of Celtics Now, co-host of WEEI's Dale & Holley Show, and best-selling author

• Bill Littlefield, host of NPR's Only A Game, author, and veteran sports commentator

So as you can see it was a fun, diverse lineup.

The readings took place in two rounds- each guest reading a single poem per round and the first round consisted of serious poems. Jody Adams read a poem by Mark Strand, Magliozzi read Marilyn Nelson, Howie read Terrance Hays, Pinker read Andrew Marvell, Greenblatt chose "Questions from a Worker Who Reads", by Bertold Brecht and Littlefield picked "Dulce et Decorum est" by Wilfred Owen.

That all took only a half hour, so Pinsky had everyone read a second poem, this time something lighter. Adams had departed for her restaurant so round two started with Magliozzi reading his own composition.

Winter is a grand old time
Of this there are no ands or buts,
But remember all the salt and grime
Can rust your bolts and freeze your nuts.

He said that the poem originated in the early days of his radio show, at a time when he thought no one else was paying attention.

The evening continued with various humorous and light verse. Pinker's second choice was Thomas Wilde, Greenblatt read "The Brain is Wider than the Sky," by Emily Dickinson, Littlefield cracked up with Ogden Nash's "Columbus" and Pinsky himself read Stephen Dobyns' memorable "Tomatoes". But it was Michael Holley who brought down the house with his lively reading of Lucille Clifton's "Homage to My Hips," which he introduced enthusiastically with "Poetry's for everybody!!" What better way is there to sum up the spirit of the evening than with that heartfelt exclamation?

But that was not all.

At the end of the evening, a special guest was brought out- Robert Hildreth, a financier and philanthropist who read a poem and then announced a $2 million gift to the Boston University Creative Writing department, establishing the Pinsky Fellowship, a grant program enabling any student in the program to take a 3-4 month trip anywhere in the world, to work, study or even just "be alone". The school has started a pilot program already with five students and destinations chosen so far include Patagonia and Greenland. He stated that his goal was to raise an additional one million in donations, which he solicited from the audience. Hildreth is not an uncontroversial figure (previous charitable efforts include providing bail money for illegal immigrants) but who can argue with this former schoolteacher's efforts to promote poetry and scholarship.

All in all it was a great evening, with wonderful poetry and a spirit of sharing and generosity. And I thank the Harvard Book Store for their generosity in providing this lifelong poetry lover with free tickets!

Abraham Verghese Reading at the Harvard Book Store

So last night I got to attend a reading at the Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, something I rarely do and should do more often.

I went to see Abraham Verghese, author of the amazing and just-published Cutting For Stone. I've already told you how much I loved this book- I laughed, I cried, I couldn't put it down for all 500+ pages.

The reading was very well-attended, between the usual Cambridge crowd as well as his own friends and family who live in the area. I was very lucky to get a seat- I think it was the last available one!

He read from two sections of the book- one funny and one serious, and took questions. He talked about a lot of things- his career as a doctor, the rewards of practicing medicine, how his writing and medical work intersect, and his previous memoirs as well. Since Cutting for Stone only just came out, the memoirs are what most of his fans have read. Verghese talked about the process of writing Cutting for Stone, the research he did into 1950s medical practices, including purchasing an entire set of 1950s textbooks, and how he felt like he had poured everything he had into the novel- and believe me, it shows. If you haven't read it, you need to- it's a showstopper.

He read beautifully, and seemed like such a sweet man as well. During the signing, he took a few minutes to talk to each person in line, asking questions that showed interest in each person- even little old me. I didn't mention my blog but he had some nice things to say about librarians, which I appreciate.

And I did something I have never done- I bought it in hardcover, despite the fact that I already have a galley. I kind of had to- I couldn't find my galley for the reading and I wanted to get his autograph. Plus today is my birthday, so it was a little early present to myself. When I was in college my friend Jean and I went to readings together all the time; I have this whole collection of signed books that we got at readings. Anyway it was a great time.

Here's the trailer for the book:



So read the book, but do me a favor and ignore the terrible write-up it got in the New York Times!