On my last book tour, I spent a lot of time standing alone at a podium, talking about myself and my book. But my favorite part was always the Q&A with the audience at the end, when I was far less scripted and the audience far more engaged.
So during this book tour, I decided to skip directly to the Q&A as much as possible, and I have been fortunate enough to persuade some wonderful local authors (and friends) to appear on stage “in conversation with” me, as they say in book tour parlance.
So far, I’ve lined up a stellar slate:
– March 12, Bookworks in Albuquerque, with Sharon Niederman, author of Explorer’s Guide New Mexico and a number of other wonderful books. Sharon is both an expert in New Mexicana and well-versed in the state’s Jewish history, and I can’t think of a better person with whom to discuss American Ghost.
– March 18, Boulder Bookstore (in Boulder), with Lisa Jones, author of Broken: a Memoir, a beautiful book about horses, Native Americans, friendship, and the American West. Lisa is both a teacher and a friend; I have had the privilege of studying with her (her memoir-writing class is the best I’ve ever taken) and knocking back bottles of beer with her, and I can’t decide which is more fun. She also introduced me to one of my favorite psychics, who had purple hair and completely freaked me out.
– March 31, Politics & Prose, Washington DC, with Florence Williams, author of Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History. Florence went to college with me and introduced me to half the writers I know, and she’s bodaciously (ha) smart. I somehow plan to work the subject of breasts into my book talk, to justify her presence as my interlocutor. It shouldn’t be hard to do.
– April 15, Book Passage, San Francisco, with Alexis Madrigal, author of Powering the Dream and former Atlantic Monthly staff writer and editor. Alexis married a friend from Colorado and spends lots of time in the Southwest these days, and he suspects his father’s Mexican family may have been Crypto-Jews, who migrated to Mexico to escape the Spanish Inquisition. How awesome is that?