An Evening at the Library with Michael Perry

All week people have been coming to the reference desk to tell me how much they enjoyed last Friday's Evening with Michael Perry, a program sponsored by the Western Springs Library Friends. Even at the Morton Arboretum on Tuesday morning, I chanced upon one of the 63 people who attended the library program. Recognizing me, she said, "I really enjoyed Friday night!" It's unanimous. I did, too.

In case you don't know, Michael Perry is the author of a series of memoirs depicting his everyday life in a rural Wisconsin, starting with Population: 485. He describes himself as an incredibly lucky man to be part of such community with family and friends that he has known his entire life. It is not that he has never left. Population: 485 is a "coming home story," according to Perry. "Just one of many [such books]" he humbled said. Maybe, but his book stands out for its eloquence and sympathetic descriptions. In telling about his driving ambulances and fighting fires with his brothers and mother in the volunteer fire department, he conveys how we all have a duty to get past our differences to be good neighbors.

"Belonging" was a theme of the evening. Just as Perry appreciated being part of a community and being accepted by ours for the evening, he writes books that belong among other books. Just as he called Population: 485, a "coming home story," he followed with Truck: A Love Story, which he said is also a gardening book. When asked whether the love was for a woman or for the old truck, he replied that his heart was big enough for both. His latest book Coop could be called a "back to the farm" book, but it is much more. I wonder what's next. Actually, he did tell us he is writing two more books, one of which is for young adults, but I can't quite remember their plots.

Perry told stories about and read from each of his books, including the collection of essays Off Main Street. We mostly laughed as he pointed to the humor in situations, such as having kidney stones, but he also was serious about family and responsibility. And as the son of parents who have fostered many children, he defined family in a broader way than most of us would. I think we all left the room with bigger hearts.

Perry said that he enjoys speaking in libraries, and I believe him. He spent a long evening with us, signing books and talking to everyone who waited. I recommend him to libraries far and wide.

An Evening with E. L. Doctorow: The Big Read Finale

You could have heard a pin drop, as E. L. Doctorow paused in his reading from his National Book Critics Circle winning novel The March. Hundreds of readers from eight libraries listened to his tale about the final months of the American Civil War. In the story about Sherman's march through Georgia and South Carolina, the English journalist Hugh Pryce had just pulled a small, thin slave named David onto his swaybacked mule, and they left the ugly scene of Union soldiers beating and raping a plantation owner's daughter. Pryce said to himself, this is not your country. This is not your war.

After reading two sections of his novel, the author answered questions from the listeners. Though most members of the audience were over forty years of age, the best question about the story came from a high school student who asked why the author thought it was important to write about the Civil War now. Mr. Doctorow said that Sherman's march was an innovation in warfare. To move quickly the army did not carry provisions and lived off what it found in its path. As it destroyed towns and plantations, freed slaves and many whites no longer had homes and followed the army north. In the process a culture was destroyed, embittering its survivors and descendants. The scars of the Civil War remain today as we still have racism and regional hatred. Doctorow added that when you write about the past, you also write about the present.

The author answered questions about his methods of writing. He said that he was initially slowed down by computer word processing, as he found it too easy to revise his text. He just kept revising and not finishing until he started working from printouts instead of from the monitor. He writes facing a blank wall to avoid distractions. He avoids most quotation marks. He said that they are like ants on a page. He claimed that if an author writes well the reader knows what is speech and who is speaking without them. (In his spirit I have not used quotation marks in this report.)

The presentation by E. L. Doctorow was the final program in a two-month long series from eight libraries in the western suburbs of Chicago. The Big Read 2007 featured book discussions, fashions from the Civil War, portrayals of famous people, an army encampment, quilt displays, musical performances, movies, and slideshows about Lincoln and Chicago's role in the war. Most of the programs were well attended and the libraries have heard many grateful comments.

In about a week, librarians from Clarendon Hills, Downers Grove, Hinsdale, Indian Prairie, Lisle, Thomas Ford, Westmont, and Woodridge start planning for 2008. What should we read next year?

An Evening with Lee & Bob Woodruff: A Disappoinment

Last night I attended a presentation of authors Lee and Bob Woodruff, who talked about their new book In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing, which tells about Bob's recovery from traumatic brain injury after being injured in action in Iraq. The event sponsored by Anderson's Bookshops was held at Naperville North High School in Naperville, Illinois, and attendance was good. The auditorium was almost filled. I had ticket number 664. Many books were sold and the lines for autographs were long, so the evening was a success for the bookstore, but I was disappointed.

Three things bothered me.

The first is that the central part of the event was set up as an interview. The Woodruffs sat across from Chuck Goudie, an ABC newsman who conducted the interview. Goudie did not seem prepared. He even joked about borrowing some questions. His questions seemed without focus, the pace was was slow, and I felt much time was wasted. Goudie called for audience questions rather early in the evening.

Audience questions can be good or bad. It was hard to tell because no microphones were provided. There were some interesting people in the audience who had experiences with traumatic brain injuries, but I could not hear what they said. Goudie and the Woodruffs had to repeat audience questions and comments.

There was no reading from the book. Authors ought to always give the audience readings from the books they are promoting. They should hook them into their prose. I left not really interested in the book.

Lee Woodruff was articulate, and Bob Woodruff spoke well for someone still recovering from his brain injuries. It was unfortunate that we heard from them so little of the time.

The lesson for bookstores and libraries is think twice before you let local news personalities run your author presentations. The Woodruffs are on tour for the next few weeks, so if you are in charge, check the arrangements.