(no subject)
Spent the bulk of the weekend in downtown Decatur for the book festival.
Went to fewer panels than I did last year.
I completely forget the order of these. But oh well.
Mark Winegardner and ______
Winegardner said he was joking about putting the two of them together, saying that he noticed they worked well off each other at past panels and idly mentioned, “Maybe we can do a literary death-match or something.” So they did and called the panel A Literary Death-Match with Mark Winegardner and What’s-His-Face?
Winegardner received the bulk of the questions and those were about his Godfather books.
________ was thrown a bone. “Thanks for taking pity on me. Mark, would you like to answer this question?”
Chuck Klosterman was packed out. He teased us with his 2nd greatest idea ever but wouldn’t say what it was.
He was tickled by the spill-over room. Or whatever you call those things. “Someone in that room: if you have a friend in the main room, text them a question to ask, and we’ll conduct the Q and A via satellite. It’ll be cool.”
Mentioned Eggers, and someone behind me whispered, “Who’s that?”
He talked about the Real World and confessed that he has long since stopped watching it but did talk about how people distill their personalities on these shows and how people do that constantly now especially in blogs.
Talked about Advanced Theory.
“Has anyone heard about this? It’s this idea that like… ok… so let’s say you’re a big metal fan.” And he gave this example. I am not, but let’s use Tori Amos as an example I feel confident giving.
You’re a fan of Tori Amos. Are you disappointed in recent albums like “The Beekeeper” (or “Beekeeper’s Daughter” or whatever.)? Do they seem sub-par to her earlier work?
“Advanced Theory says that the artist is just so advanced that you just can’t fully appreciate it,” Klosterman said. The crowd murmured. Klosterman laughed. “It makes a lot of people angry.”
It seems like this would work really well in regards to Woody Allen movies. But yeah.
Saw Sherman Alexie in the Decatur Presbyterian Church. That was a venue. I didn’t just wander in and find him there.
“I can hear my dad shouting at me from Heaven. ‘What are you doing in a protestant church? And the frozen chosen at that?’”
Alexie read aloud from his YA novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
Before he started, he took a picture on his phone and called his … agent or editor. “This is the first time I’ve ever read from it, and she wanted to know how it went. I’m going to turn the phone out to you, and you guys shout.” He rolled his eyes and waived his hand in a circle, waiting for the voice-message to cut on. “She’s vacationing in Detroit. Who vacations in Detroit?”
It seems like a wonderful book. I might have to pick it up.
He did a Q and A later. Someone asked how he got into writing.
He was a pre-med student at college. Or maybe this was after, and he was a med student. Anyway. All his life, he wanted to be a doctor. But he found out, he couldn’t stomach being a doctor. First day in anatomy, he faints dead away and felt terrible.
“Don’t be discouraged,” his professor told him. “You’re going to do it, and you’ll go back to the reservation and be this inspiration for all the young kids there.”
Another day, he did some morgue work (I am completely butchering this story. So sorry.) Saw the dead body. No problem. He had nose plugs. Everything was fine.
“Do you want something to drink?”
“Sure.”
“We keep soda in that fridge.”
So he goes over to get something to drink. Opens the door. And also sees various body parts in the fridge as well.
Faints dead-away; felt terrible about it.
“Don’t be discouraged,” his professor told him. “You’re going to do it, and you’ll go back to the reservation and be this inspiration for all the young kids there.”
It happened a third time.
“Maybe you should change your major,” the professor/advisor said.
So he dropped his med class, which was this huge four hour block of time. The only other class that fit that schedule - so he wouldn’t lose his scholarship due to full-time student status - was creative writing.
He said he loves it when people try to mitigate his writing. "Well, Sherman Alexie is working out of an oral culture."
"We all are!" he said. "Every impulse to tell a story comes from our ancestors huddling around a fire, wanting to take their minds off predators."
I didn't want to remind him of that dreadful 60 Minutes or whatever interview where the reporter practically said, "And he didn't scalp me! I was surprised!"
Bought his other new book, Flight that's out and had him sign it.
Went to fewer panels than I did last year.
I completely forget the order of these. But oh well.
Mark Winegardner and ______
Winegardner said he was joking about putting the two of them together, saying that he noticed they worked well off each other at past panels and idly mentioned, “Maybe we can do a literary death-match or something.” So they did and called the panel A Literary Death-Match with Mark Winegardner and What’s-His-Face?
Winegardner received the bulk of the questions and those were about his Godfather books.
________ was thrown a bone. “Thanks for taking pity on me. Mark, would you like to answer this question?”
Chuck Klosterman was packed out. He teased us with his 2nd greatest idea ever but wouldn’t say what it was.
He was tickled by the spill-over room. Or whatever you call those things. “Someone in that room: if you have a friend in the main room, text them a question to ask, and we’ll conduct the Q and A via satellite. It’ll be cool.”
Mentioned Eggers, and someone behind me whispered, “Who’s that?”
He talked about the Real World and confessed that he has long since stopped watching it but did talk about how people distill their personalities on these shows and how people do that constantly now especially in blogs.
Talked about Advanced Theory.
“Has anyone heard about this? It’s this idea that like… ok… so let’s say you’re a big metal fan.” And he gave this example. I am not, but let’s use Tori Amos as an example I feel confident giving.
You’re a fan of Tori Amos. Are you disappointed in recent albums like “The Beekeeper” (or “Beekeeper’s Daughter” or whatever.)? Do they seem sub-par to her earlier work?
“Advanced Theory says that the artist is just so advanced that you just can’t fully appreciate it,” Klosterman said. The crowd murmured. Klosterman laughed. “It makes a lot of people angry.”
It seems like this would work really well in regards to Woody Allen movies. But yeah.
Saw Sherman Alexie in the Decatur Presbyterian Church. That was a venue. I didn’t just wander in and find him there.
“I can hear my dad shouting at me from Heaven. ‘What are you doing in a protestant church? And the frozen chosen at that?’”
Alexie read aloud from his YA novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
Before he started, he took a picture on his phone and called his … agent or editor. “This is the first time I’ve ever read from it, and she wanted to know how it went. I’m going to turn the phone out to you, and you guys shout.” He rolled his eyes and waived his hand in a circle, waiting for the voice-message to cut on. “She’s vacationing in Detroit. Who vacations in Detroit?”
It seems like a wonderful book. I might have to pick it up.
He did a Q and A later. Someone asked how he got into writing.
He was a pre-med student at college. Or maybe this was after, and he was a med student. Anyway. All his life, he wanted to be a doctor. But he found out, he couldn’t stomach being a doctor. First day in anatomy, he faints dead away and felt terrible.
“Don’t be discouraged,” his professor told him. “You’re going to do it, and you’ll go back to the reservation and be this inspiration for all the young kids there.”
Another day, he did some morgue work (I am completely butchering this story. So sorry.) Saw the dead body. No problem. He had nose plugs. Everything was fine.
“Do you want something to drink?”
“Sure.”
“We keep soda in that fridge.”
So he goes over to get something to drink. Opens the door. And also sees various body parts in the fridge as well.
Faints dead-away; felt terrible about it.
“Don’t be discouraged,” his professor told him. “You’re going to do it, and you’ll go back to the reservation and be this inspiration for all the young kids there.”
It happened a third time.
“Maybe you should change your major,” the professor/advisor said.
So he dropped his med class, which was this huge four hour block of time. The only other class that fit that schedule - so he wouldn’t lose his scholarship due to full-time student status - was creative writing.
He said he loves it when people try to mitigate his writing. "Well, Sherman Alexie is working out of an oral culture."
"We all are!" he said. "Every impulse to tell a story comes from our ancestors huddling around a fire, wanting to take their minds off predators."
I didn't want to remind him of that dreadful 60 Minutes or whatever interview where the reporter practically said, "And he didn't scalp me! I was surprised!"
Bought his other new book, Flight that's out and had him sign it.