LONGVIEW, Texas — The dog days are a great time to plow through some books, attempting to reduce the stack on my need-to-read shelf. The stack grew a few weeks ago after attending the Mayborn Literary Non-Fiction Writers Conference in Grapevine, Texas. The two-and-a-half day event gathers 300-plus writers for inspiration, critiques and camaraderie. Several nationally known writers gave presentations and, of course, sold and signed books. I bought a few, naturally.
This is the second conference I've attended, and I plan to return. It's rejuvenating to spend time with folks who care passionately about writing, whatever their level of success. Writing can be hard, lonely work, and for most of us it doesn't pay worth a flip. That's why I have a day job running a newspaper, because I would starve on the money I make writing.
One way you get better at writing is to read good stuff. Here's a quartet of books I've read over the summer that you might enjoy curling up in an air-conditioned corner with, or maybe even stretched out on a beach somewhere.
— "Uncivilized Beasts and Shameless Hellions: Travels With an NPR Correspondent," by John F. Burnett. Burnett is a familiar voice to fans of National Public Radio. He's based in Austin but has reported from across the globe. In person, he is as fine a raconteur as I've encountered, and a heckuva harmonica player. He ended his talk at the Mayborn with a two-minute blues solo that had the room rocking.
One of his best stories involves trying to talk a Marine helicopter pilot into taking him to Baghdad, from the post where he was imbedded with U.S. troops, just as Saddam's statue was about to fall:
"I wasn't a good-looking woman (Burnett is 6-7 and thin as a Southern pine), and I didn't have any Skoal, cigars, or porn to barter. He (the pilot) wasn't interested. Then I said I worked for National Public Radio.
"NPR," he said. "Cool. I'm a 'Car Talk' freak."
Burnett got his ride into Baghdad.
"Uncivilized Beasts" is public radio at its best put to ink-and-paper. Burnett is a fine reporter, and those of us who have enjoyed his stories on the radio for more than two decades will appreciate this compilation.
— "America, America," by Ethan Canin. A favorable review in the Wall Street Journal propelled me out the door and down to the bookstore to buy this novel, against all common sense. I have so many unread books lying around that it's ridiculous. But I bought and plowed through it in a few days. "America, America" is political fiction, set in 1972, with a fictional presidential candidate added to the historical slate of characters — Nixon, McGovern, Muskie. The protagonist is a small-town newspaper publisher, now in his 50s and recalling the events of 35 years earlier. How could I resist?
If you want a fine vacation novel, a cut above run-of-the-mill mysteries and suspense thrillers, consider "America, America." For those of us who came of age during those times, it especially strikes a chord.
— "The City of Falling Angels," by John Berendt. This tale, by the author of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," came out three years ago, so I snared a copy at half price. He recounts the fire that destroyed the Fenice Opera House in Venice. Berendt is adept at insinuating himself into the lives of a fascinating cast of characters — from high-society American expatriates to an aged glassmaker intent on re-creating the blaze through his art.
The book rambles about but in a pleasant way that appealed to my rambling soul. It made me want to book an extended visit to Venice — especially in the summer. Especially this summer
— Finally, there's Bob. As in Bob Shagochis. I have just started his first novel, "Easy in the Islands," which won him a National Book Award for first fiction in the mid-1980s. Shagochis was a keynote speaker at the Mayborn conference; he spends his days lately holed up in a Western cabin, trying to finish a novel.
He prefaced his talk by saying, "I'm gonna be sober before this is over." I don't think that happened. Let's just say Shagochis is from the Ernest Hemingway/Hunter S. Thompson/F. Scott Fitzgerald school of writing. He works hard, plays hard, and described himself — indeed most successful writers — as "emotional predators."
Living well is not the best revenge, he said. "Writing well, and ruthlessly, is the best revenge."
I don't know about that. But it seems to work for Bob.
Enjoy.
Gary Borders is publisher of the Longview News-Journal. His e-mail address is gborders AT coxlnj.com.
