I was home from Soul Camp for just a few hours when Wred Fright and Crazy Carl Robinson pulled in with bells’n’whistles. They were nearing in the end of their own weeklong Underground Literary America book tour. A different city (or two) every day.
It was a bit nutty that our schedules were such that I was retreating to study in the woods during the same week that two of the novelists who I publish were on their first big book tour.
The kids were thrilled to see our AllStar writer heroes, who jumped quickly into action by handing out wacky presents, including some to the neighbors who pulled into the drive moments later.
Sadly, Martha and our daughter had to take off, but the boy and I got to enjoy snacks and wild splashing and bellyflopping action in our backyard pool with our dynamic duo as they unwound after hours on the road between gigs.
Henry never saw such sights. Carl told him “You know, Henry, it says in the Bible that you and your daddy and I are going to jump right into this pool. It’s in the Book of Revelations.” The poor boy’s eyes were bugging out—but a kid who thrives on daily battles with dragons is on a good level for CC.
Earlier, before we hopped into the pool we were having snacks and chatting. The neighbor’s dog was barking. Carl stopped what he was doing and tilted his head and listened… “Dog fight!” The dog barked some more. “…in Lansing! …Tonight!” woof woof woof “…There will be a pug there…” woof! “…and a Bisenji!” woof woof! “It’s going to be a good one!” Henry was speechless…a fun thing to witness.
We did a phoned-in report from this “reading” in Michigan. I hope it wasn’t too incoherent—I did a big bellyflop after my input. Here’s the podcast: www.literaryrevolution.com/litamerica.html
I think the tour stop at the Northwoods Bureau of the ULA was good for the lads.
(The big local indy bookstore was excited about them coming here—but it was trashed from Harrypalooza the previous day so they couldn’t host an event. The managers told me they wished they could’ve done a ULA show instead! I was surprised at such an eager response. But, hey, our message is strong—in the real world the MFA naysayers don’t have the impact that they do in the blogosphere.)
Here’s hoping that our ULAers had a good Pittsburgh reading after they left from here! It was at a large, high-end indy bookstore.
The writers were invigorated that every venue they performed at was hugely different from the previous. That’s what the indy scene offers: diversity instead of homogeneity. –Coffeehouse, punk club, anarchy bookstore, feminist meeting lodge, chain bookstore, big city, small town…you name it, they played em all in the past week.
There are no writers out there today who are more entertaining!
I think that Wred should bring his guitar and amp to readings—he’s great at both! I’ve heard him do the combo performance before and it’s high impact. But he said they didn’t have room in the car. He’s a rockin’ reader and that’s one of the things that are special about him—audiences like surprises. These two writers blow them away at readings—what a tame term “reading” is! When ULAers show up you don’t get a “reading.” It’s a show. Wred and CC bring rock’n’roll and the WWF to their venues…a fresh change of pace!
Actually, they do give a reading—they’re reading the crowd—seeing what the needs are—they’re not doing a canned act. CC even does spontaneous tarot readings.
Writing is one of the helping professions, after all.
So, here we have one book about hapless rockers and another book about a guy who tramples every taboo—yet they both deliver unexpected uplift, laughs and insight—what a treat! How many establishment writers out there strike a reader like they’re getting a wild gift?
