The new book tour
Stephen Elliott reflects on his DIY book tour. This is, like, cosmic:
The people who showed up for these events had usually never heard of me. They came because it was a party at their friend’s house and the friend promised to make those cupcakes they like or was calling in a favor. Nobody wants to give a bad party, and touring this way ensured there would be at least one person other than myself who would be embarrassed if no one showed up.
The readings mostly went very long, over an hour with questions, and people didn’t leave. We were often up discussing until 1 in the morning. An important part of the book is my troubled relationship with my father and what I took to be his confession to murder in an unpublished memoir. (I investigated and found no evidence of any such killing; my father refuses to confirm or deny it.) Following the reading, over a glass of wine or slice of cake or nothing at all, people told me about their own difficult relationships with family members, people they couldn’t forgive or who wouldn’t forgive them. In a weird way the readings began to feel like an extension of the book.
Seems to me that the very first line and the very last line of that blockquote both encapsulate very important ideas. Maybe breakthrough ideas.
I may have to read that just because it sounds so scary and intense!
I have long wished I could be a Salonnière like Mme. Condorcet, hosting exactly this kind of party. One day I will have a living room upto the task, hopefully right when my friends are all finishing their books. ;-)