Damned (not me, the book)

Last night was the final Talking Volumes of the season. I really like attending these events. I try to read the book most of the time (this year, I only read 2 of 4; the last two years I read all 4). It makes it more fun when you've read the book, but since they are newly published, sometimes there is only a week or two to get it done. Though I thrive under pressure, this year it just didn't always happen.

Chuck Palahniuk was the author on the hot seat last night. Palahniuk (pronounced PAULA-nick, which I didn't know) is probably best known for writing the book Fight Club. His new book, Damned, is not a book I would ever have pulled off the shelves. It is about a 13-year old girl, Madison Spencer, who dies of a marijuana overdose and ends up in hell. Each chapter starts, "Are you there, Satan? It's me, Madison." based on dear Judy Blume with a little Gulliver's Travels and Dante's Inferno thrown in. It chronicles Madison's trip through the levels of hell, with a Breakfast Club-like crew of unlikely friends. It is twisted and dark and made me laugh out loud and squirm too. Seriously weird. I could not wait to hear this guy.

He was a trip. He came on stage to hoots and hollers from the crowd. Kerry Miller said this was probably the first time an author got cat calls at Talking Volumes. A sizable number of people raised their hand when he asked who was at their first author event ever. He had the craziest stories. Every time he told a story, Kerry Miller would ask, "Is that true?" It didn't really matter, he was great at telling them. We laughed a ton. Then it was opened to audience questions. Some guy in the crowd said he was waiting so long he wondered if he'd have to take off his shirt in order to ask a question, and then he took off his shirt. Bet that hasn't happened too many times at Talking Volumes. Then at the end, Chuck (yeah, we're tight) tossed out a hundred or so inflatable jack-o-lanterns and told us that whoever could get one of the jack-o-lanterns highest in the air, he would give one of his favorite books he's currently reading. Suddenly, the Fitz was full of people blowing up balls and tossing them in the air. Probably another first.

He didn't sign books, only had already signed copies for sale, which was the only disappointing part, since I didn't really need two copies of the book. But, it will go down as one of the more raucous evenings I've spent dedicated to books.