don't knock it till you try it: library literary readings

Tonight I went to see Said Sayrafiezadeh speak at the downtown Minneapolis library. Said (I'm going to act familiar and use his first name, because I'm lazy) is the author of When Skateboards Will Be Free, a memoir about growing up in the Socialist Workers Party. 

I haven't read the book, but I saw a little blurb about the reading in the City Pages and it sounded like it might be good. Also, since I am "a writer" I thought it might be high time for me to go out and start, you know, "supporting other writers" or whatever. 

But truth be told, I generally dread readings. It is the rare author who can actually read well in front of an audience. Because of this--or maybe just because I have no attention span--I generally find that I don't retain anything from the presentation. I have no idea what the book was about, no idea how he answered the question about the title or what it was like when his dad read the book.

Tonight, however, I was pleasantly surprised. Said was funny and engaging--not a boring, droning literary type, but not a pompous cocksucker either. Virtually unprecedented! He said some interesting stuff about why it was a big deal for him to be in Minneapolis (his parents met here, the Socialist Workers Party was really big here, etc.). He read an excerpt from the book, and he was so good at reading I was actually able to follow the story! Then he talked some more, and then he answered some questions. 

My favorite part was when some woman tried to tell him that the Socialist Workers Party actually got a lot of political work done (Vietnam protests, women's "liberation," etc.), even though she heard him say on NPR that the party wasn't politically effective at all. He was all, Whatever! Well, I guess he was more like, "I respect your opinion, but I completely disagree with you." I swear, it seemed more badass at the time--guess you had to be there!! 

So I was pleasantly surprised by the reading. Said was fun to listen to, and he made me want to read his book (usually a reading has the opposite effect on me). My only criticism is that the whole operation was so safe. I guess that's to be expected--it was at the library, after all. But the evening included not one but two introductions by white guys in suits. Tons of information about the library was shared, and donations were solicited. After the reading, audience members had the opportunity to get their books signed while drinking water and munching on cookies in the atrium. 

Furthermore, I was surprised by the advanced age of most people in the audience. Hey, I think it's great that tons of seniors came out to support a brand-new author. However, where were all the young people? The author is only about 40 years old--I thought he'd draw a somewhat younger crowd. There might have been one or two other thirty-something nerds in there, but virtually everyone appeared to be over 65. Is this what it will be like if I ever go on a book tour?