We met on Tuesday, the 28th of July to chat about Jess Walter's Citizen Vince. Jess Walter agreed to call in the bookstore and answer any questions we may have had. He was very nice and generous with his time. His spoke like one of his characters might: clipped, succinct, also meandering (providing conversational fodder later for our bookgroup).
The format for this kind of thing errs on the informal side, we all write down questions and I draw them out of a hat or bag. When a question is drawn the asker asks the author. This goes on for several questions (between 3 and 5) and usually last 15 – 20 minutes. Walter's early writing career was grounded in journalism, and he told us how this cemented in him the need for the exact word; leaving no words to waste. Fortunately for us, he elaborated with his answers, and painted a vivid picture for the group on his process. He talked about why he chose to write a book in the eighties and what this generation may be able to gleam from the Reagan/Carter race. We also asked him about some themes represented in Citizen Vince, like starting over, or being a good bad guy, or a bad good guy. He answered all of our questions fairly, and was a very funny guy.
He also gave us a thumbs up on the next selection for bookclub: Gun, with Occasional Music, by Jonathan Lethem. Meet here, at Sam Weller's lower level August 25th, at 6:30 PM.
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Here's a short video about the new novel by Jess Walter "The Financial Lives of the Poets" link to Youtube
http://tinyurl.com/l992xz
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