One of the perks of owning a bookshop is that quite often I get to meet the authors of the books I read. I am especially spoiled this month as I went to the Geneva Writer's Conference where I met Patricia Duncker and Bret Lott. Regular readers will also know that Jonathan Coe will be in Vevey next month.
I believe that meeting a writer provides some insight into their books. In the case of Bret Lott, for example, it was fascinating to hear how he began his career as a VC Cola salesman and how this experience influenced his first novel, which incidentally centred around a VC Cola salesman. Having heard Bret speak it was also easier to 'hear' his words as I read his words.
On this month's World Radio Switzerland SpeedRead it seemed appropriate to review books by these three novelists. At the end of the slot Alex asks me which one of these novels I preferred. Honestly, I believe you could buy any of these books and be treated to an enjoyable read and maybe even discover a writer you really like. The choice I made was strictly personal...
You can listen to the interview here.
I would post an image but in 2012 it seems to be beyond Bluewin to provide me with a wifi connection capable of uploading a 72 kb image.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
awesome post Matt!
ReplyDeleteFYI, though, I can tell you aren't an American because it's RC cola, not VC. (VC stands for "venture capital," another but very different American invention.) I have no idea what RC stands for but I remember the cola very well.
Reminds me of the Steve Jobs book in which his CEO, Mike Sculley, was selling Pepsi before he moved to apple. Jobs asked him "Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life or do you want to change the world?" Or something to that effect. Thank goodness Bret Lott took up writing.
BOO swisscom.
Yeah, someone else told me that it's RC not VC. Tsk! Bloody British!
ReplyDelete