The Blether…
I underestimated John Waters’s pulling power in his home town, and queued for over an hour to get Role Models, his new memoir, signed (note to self: wear flat shoes to book signings). He looked exactly as one had hoped – freshly penciled mustache, deconstructed suit, approachability tinged with irony. I toyed with asking for a photo with him using my phone (many were), but shyness overcame me. His other groupies had made more effort – beehives, corsages, hair dye – I didn’t deserve it. Meanwhile, another of our local best-beloved oddballs, Larry Doyle (he won’t mind me calling him that…), will be releasing his new novel, Go Mutants on June 22nd. Find out more at his needlessly elaborate website.
PS: Barbara Kingsolver’s ambitious and sprawling novel, The Lacuna, wins the 2010 Orange Prize for fiction, beating Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. Mantel won’t mind, her mantel is already under strain.