I could think of no finer
bookstore to host the first public reading of Fobbit than Fact and Fiction in
downtown Missoula, Montana. Bookstore
owner Barbara Theroux is an enthusiastic champion of all books, but especially
those by Big Sky Country authors. She
rolled out a carpet as red as the cover of Fobbit for me last night—which coincided
with Missoula’s festive First Friday event, along with the weekend-long
Brewfest.
At 5:30, I read a short
selection from Fobbit, introducing the audience to Lieutenant Colonel
Eustace Harkleroad, and then answered questions for about a half hour. Our conversation ranged from integrating
comedy into a narrative set in a bloody combat zone to how to land a literary
agent. I’d joked on Twitter I was
worried about talking to a room of empty seats, Clint Eastwood-style. But Missoula readers totally allayed those
fears. They made my day.
After the reading, I moved to
the front of the store to sign a couple dozen books (maybe more, maybe less—my mind
was a blur at that point). Some things I
need to work on in the future: abbreviating my chats with readers so I can
keep the line moving….and trying to improve my penmanship—which may be a lost
cause at this point. And to Justin whose
book I accidentally dated “5.7.12,” I apologize. Consider the book a collector’s item, the
product of an addled author’s “Launch-Week Brain.”
Two memorable moments:
1. Midway through the Q &A session, my mother came in, walked up to the
front of the room and said she needed my cell phone (my wife was at another
location in Missoula, setting up Backyard Bungalow’s booth at the Prairie Sisters Party, and my cell phone was the one we use for credit card
transactions). My mother apologized to
the crowd and snuck back out. I told the
group, “Y’know, Mom was always barging in and interrupting me right when I was
in the middle of something important.”
2. Due to a printing error on a Fact and Fiction
flyer, we decided to hold a second reading at 7 p.m. Three people showed up, but they were the
three coolest people in the world: Kris, a poet studying at the University of
Montana; Chris La Tray, a literary advocate and blogger; and Chris Connor, a
childhood friend of mine from Jackson, Wyoming (Chris now lives in Missoula
where he runs the Ronald McDonald House).
We called it “The Chris Reading” and it was a perfect way
to end the evening.
At every stop during the book tour for Fobbit, I intend to support independent bookstores by buying a book recommended by booksellers. For the first event, I chose a new memoir about living in Saskatchewan, A Geography of Blood: Unearthing Memory from a Prairie Landscape by Candace Savage. Barbara Theroux said the book told a familiar story, but it was so well-written that it makes it stand apart from the rest of contemporary Western literature. Here’s the first paragraph:
Let's just say that it all began when Keith and I took a trip. Keith is Keith Bell, my companion of going on twenty years, and it's largely thanks to his love of travel that I've seen a bit of the world: the wild-and-woolly moors of Yorkshire, the plains of Tanzania; the barren reaches of Peninsula Valdes in Argentina. Yet the journey I want to tell you about was not a grand excursion to some exotic, faraway destination but a trip that brought us closer to home. A nothing little ramble to nowheresville.
Sorry David but you know how it goes- first things first & I'm afraid Backyard Bungalow upstaged you! Mom
ReplyDeleteI feel terrible! I thought you were here next week. Rest assured I'll be done to buy the book!. Thanks for doing Missoula first and all the independent bookstores. I hope you seel millions!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Missoula was such a good place to start the tour. Now it's on to Billings, Bozeman, Livingston, and then circling back to Missoula for the Book Fest in October.
ReplyDeleteThanks for launching your tour in Missoula, David--Fact and Fiction is a first-class shop for sure, and Barbara Theroux a first-class host. Enjoyed the evening, and best of luck going forward.
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