Hints: It's an author. I get to go to a booksigning dinner and lecture.
You can use yes-or-no questions to narrow it down if you wish.
[ April 26, 2005, 04:11 PM: Message edited by: Annie ]
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Is this author bigger than a breadbox?
Posted by Beanny (Member # 7109) on :
Send my regards to Orson Scott Card. Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
Is the author currently living?
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Noemon: yes!
Beanny: I wish. Uncle O doesn't venture out this way much, though I made a point of telling him he should last time I saw him.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Goat: Yes! I will not be having dinner with a corpse!
Though, if they had a corpse booksigning, that might have its own sort of intrigue.
Dang, you guys are good.
Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
Not a corpse! That's gross!
I was thinking of an urn, really.
Um...let's see... is the author male or female?
Posted by Portabello (Member # 7710) on :
I'll bet the answer to that question is "yes".
edit:
edit2: Man, we are thinking alike today.
[ April 20, 2005, 03:02 PM: Message edited by: Portabello ]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I can answer that one!
Yes.
[addit: ]
[ April 20, 2005, 03:02 PM: Message edited by: rivka ]
Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
Oh, right.
Is the author male?
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
yes.
Posted by no. 6 (Member # 7753) on :
It's Steven King, isn't it? Posted by starlooker (Member # 7495) on :
Is it a science fiction author?
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Edit:
No.6: No.
Starlooker: No.
[ April 20, 2005, 03:06 PM: Message edited by: Annie ]
Posted by no. 6 (Member # 7753) on :
It's not an S.F. author?
It's Dean Kootz, isn't it?
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Has this author released a book in the last three months?
-Trevor
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
No. 6: A very mean-looking "No." And it's not Dan Brown, either, in case you want to guess any other authors I despise.
Posted by IanO (Member # 186) on :
:looks around innocently:
Robert Jordan? Jackie Collins? Dan Brown? Carrot Top?
Posted by Da_Goat (Member # 5529) on :
Is the author female?
I know you said he was male, but, you know, you can never be too sure...
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Porter, get out of my head! It's crowded enough in there already.
Annie, is this author a sf&f writer? [oops, took too long to post]
[ April 20, 2005, 03:10 PM: Message edited by: rivka ]
Posted by no. 6 (Member # 7753) on :
It's Jackie Collins. I knew it!!!
Posted by IanO (Member # 186) on :
He's gonna learn ya, you educated singularity stupid ?
[ April 20, 2005, 03:11 PM: Message edited by: IanO ]
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Trevor: If so, I am a bad fan and am unaware of it.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Is the author Mormon?
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
I just realized that just because this author is big time in my region doesn't mean he's neccessarily big time anywhere else. Maybe this game is too esoteric.
Umm.... start trying to figure out genre/subject matter.
Posted by no. 6 (Member # 7753) on :
19th century farming practices?
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Does this author write primarily fiction?
-Trevor
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
I was just going to ask if he was a regional author.
Does this author write Western novels?
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Rivka: No
Trevor: Yes
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Zal: Umm.... as in Louis L'Amour? No. As in set in the West? Yes.
Posted by HesterGray (Member # 7384) on :
Does he write books of a spiritual/religious nature?
Mystery? Action? Horror? History? Children's books?
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Farmgirl is a cheater and is disqualified.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Okay _ i'll delete the link so they can keep guessing
Posted by no. 6 (Member # 7753) on :
Porn?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Farmgirl cheats far more successfully than I.
And having read her link, I say, Who?
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Hester: There are elements of spiritualism in them. It's not the main focus.
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Tony Hillerman.
-Trevor
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Trevor: No, but you're getting warmer. More literary than Hillerman.
quote:And having read her link, I say, Who?
Oh, do I need to send you some books, Rivka! And don't tell me you haven't seen the movie!
Posted by no. 6 (Member # 7753) on :
quote: Hester: There are elements of spiritualism in them. It's not the main focus.
So, it is porn then.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Eslaine loses the game. Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Yay! Books!
And I have no idea if I've seen the movie. I don't recognize the author's name, remember? Posted by no. 6 (Member # 7753) on :
*kicks stones*
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
if you can still go to the link, it mentions the movie. Look it up, and then get thee to Netflix.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
I've never heard of the author either. Or the Smoke Signals movie. But after reading this, I'm intrigued...
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
Hey -- no fair! I was just going to ask if any of his novels have been made into movies.
I missed the linkage spoliage -- I'm going to assume that the answer is -- yes.
Thus my guess is: Norman Maclean.
Posted by IanO (Member # 186) on :
:serious:
Graham Green?
Posted by IanO (Member # 186) on :
Cormac McMurtry?
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Ahhh, got it.
I would never have guessed the author.
-Trevor
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
quote:Graham Green
Isn't he an actor?
And Zal, No. Actually I thought you might be one to guess right off.
Rats. I guess I'm not as high-connected as I thought.
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
Aargh. More spoilage.
Fine.
So let me just say that I have heard of Sherman Alexie. I haven't read any of his novels, but I did read his short story "What You Pawn I Will Redeem", which was published in The New Yorker.
[ April 20, 2005, 03:30 PM: Message edited by: Zalmoxis ]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Movie added to Netflix queue.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
I'm just amazed, once again, at the simply power of Google. It is just the most amazing search engine.
From Annie's first post, all I had to type into Google was: book signing dinner lecture April 21 Montana
(no quotes or anything) and it came right up!
I love Google.
Posted by IanO (Member # 186) on :
I fused Graham Green, the Native American actor, with Graham Greene the author into one person.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*slaps forehead* I neglected to use the best clue -- the date! D'oh!
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Well, that was fast a furious.
Yes, it's Sherman Alexie, who is an AMAZING author. He has written a couple novels, Reservation Blues being the one I'd most highly recommend, but mostly writes short stories. They read like poetry, and are fabulous. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is his most famous collection, and it is off of those stories that he based the screenplay for the movie Smoke Signals. I reccommend them all to anyone who likes cultural, prosey stuff.
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
See my post on page 2 for a link to his award-winning story about an Indian man trying to scrape togther enough money to buy his grandmother's Indian regalia from a pawnshop.
It begins:
"One day you have a home and the next you don’t,"
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Sweet. I haven't read that one yet.
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
Oh and...
This is a big deal, Annie. He may not be widely, widely known, but he certainly has quite a following in the Bay Area.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Oh, how cool is that? I love Sherman Alexie!
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
See? Noemon and I have excellent taste -- what other validation do you need?
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Cool, Zal. He lives in Seattle and is from Spokane, so I thought it might be a regional thing.
Here's a funny anecdote. My friend Amanda, who teaches English in Great Falls, was on a plane home from Salt Lake a couple weeks ago. She sat next to a middle-aged Native American man and talked with him throughout the short flight. She found out he was from the "Spokane area."
"You don't happen to be a Spokane indian, do you?" she asked him.
He looked at her knowingly. "No. Cœur D'Alene. why do you ask?"
She was a little embarrassed. "Well, it's just that my favorite author..."
He chuckled. "Sherman Alexie, right?"
She smiled sheepishly. "I assume you know of him. I bet you get asked that all the time."
"I don't just 'know of him,' actually," the man continued. "I went to Kindergarten with him. And high school. And I was his roommate in college."
"Wow. I'm going to his booksigning next month. I love his writing."
"We've lost touch recently, though. Haven't seen him in quite a few years," He mused. "I'll tell you what," he said to her, fishing out a pen and paper. "Here is my name. When you see him at the booksigning, tell him I say Hi."
Amanda was stunned. "OK," she agreed.
"Also," the man said, "tell him he owes me twenty bucks."
[ April 20, 2005, 03:42 PM: Message edited by: Annie ]
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
quote:Noemon and I have excellent taste -- what other validation do you need?
None. None at all. Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
Heh. Now that is an anecdote.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
no. 6 - I met King (and was kissed by him) in 2001... fangirl squeal Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
So, Sherman Alexie was, in a word, fantastic. We went to the dinner and booksigning that preceded his lecture, and it was all great. The best part was Amanda and I talking to him whilst our books were being signed. (this is Amanda of the aforementioned anecdote)
"So," Amanda says to the incredibly stylish Sherman, "I bring greetings from an old friend."
"Really?" he laughs. We're, incidentally, one of only a handful of white girls in the room.
"Yep. Do you remember Otis Half Moon?"
Sherman bolts upright, startled. "Yes! Back when we palled around, he went by Wilford, though. Do you remember Half Moon?" he asks his friend at the end of the table.
"Oh, sure," the confirming witness chimes in.
"How on earth did you meet him?" Sherman asks Amanda.
"On a plane to Great Falls. He says to tell you he's in Santa Fe these days and sends his greetings. And that you owe him twenty bucks."
Sherman laughs sharply. "Ha! I owe him a lot more than twenty bucks! That was the second to the last time I ever got drunk.... hey.... he didn't tell you any dirt on me, did he?"
Amanda smirked. "Just a little."
"He didn't tell you about the time we ran naked around the apartment building pretending to be wild dogs, did he?"
"Nope. Didn't tell me that one."
"Good," he smiled. "I would hate for that one to get out."
His lecture afterwards was hilarious. It was about politics and sex, mostly, but done in such a way to alienate basically nobody. He's a smart guy. He explained how he helped arrange the anti-war protests in Seattle, and called himself a lefty left liberal, but admitted that he's a liberal who hates liberals, especially the ones who ride around naked on bikes or dress up like sea turtles when all that he wants to accomplish is to get these protests taken seriously. He made fun of ignorant fundamentalism and ignorant atheism. He talked about Oprah and rez life and evolution and the fact that Crazy Horse never had to use talcum powder for chafing on cross-country rides. I laughed so hard my head hurt. His conclusion was that the only solution to irrational violence and hate is irrational forgiveness, and it was one of the more rational conclusions I've ever heard presented.
Everyone go read some Sherman Alexie.
[ April 24, 2005, 09:05 PM: Message edited by: Annie ]
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
I'm glad you're back safe.
[EDIT: And of course I'm glad you had such a wonderful time there, but since we covered that via phone...
...
]
Hobbes
[ April 24, 2005, 09:38 PM: Message edited by: Hobbes ]
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
Very cool, Annie. I have to say that I'm a little envious. Sherman Alexie came to Fresno to Fresno State to speak awhile back and I wanted to go but couldn't. Maybe now that I live closer (much, much closer, but that's another story) I can go if he comes back.
I have to say that I haven't read a lot of his stuff, but I've seen him interviewed a couple of times on TV and I think he's intriguing. So, I will go find some of his stuff to read now.
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
That is really really cool! I met Sherman Alexie at a hydrocephalus conference a few years ago here in Chicago - we were two of the oldest folks with the childhood version of the condition there (and there's about 10 years between us).
Aside from the chat time we had, the highlight of the conference was a poem he'd written the night before which made up his keynote (he's also the father of a kid with disabilities).
I was already a fan of his work. Unfortunately, I missed him at his last booksigning here in Chicago.
What a great way to spend an evening! I am truly envious.
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
quote: We're, incidentally, one of only a handful of white girls in the room.
This reminds me that I offered to look over something for you...
"Hey, Vincent, remember the time your dad took us to Denny's?"
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Yeah. He got me the Grand Slam Breakfast. Two eggs, two pieces of sausage...
And steve, that's awesome. He is an amazing guy, enit?
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
And wow, that sentence was murky, wasn't it. Two of us are one of a handful. Heh.
I think I shall leave it for the lovely harried tone it gives the piece.
And I'm not rushed to get that piece read over, either. I only just got back and am still catching up on everything else. And thanks Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
OK, now guess which famous author I'm going to see on Thursday!
(hint: you'll never get it)
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
What are the chances of a national symposium on women, Islam and the veil being held in Missoula, Montana and one of my favorite FrenchArab authors being the keynote speaker? What are the chances of this happening the week after my favorite American short fiction author speaking in Bozeman when I was going to be there for the weekend anyway?
Weird. That's what the chances are.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
So Yamina couldn't make it; she had to undergo surgery. It was pretty tragic. However, we watched her film Inch'Allah Dimanche, which was fabulous. The other films of hers that I've seen are all documentaries; this one is a drama with documentary flavor, and I really enjoyed it. Check it out on Netflix if you can.
So tonight, to round out my mad spate of famous author stalking, I'll be going to a lecture by Slavoj Zizek. I'm not quite sure I'm smart enough for it, but maybe I can get some smartosmosis if I sit close enough to someone who is.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Blushing]](graemlins/blushing.gif)
by him) in 2001... ![[Kiss]](graemlins/kiss.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
It was pretty tragic. However, we watched her film Inch'Allah Dimanche, which was fabulous. The other films of hers that I've seen are all documentaries; this one is a drama with documentary flavor, and I really enjoyed it. Check it out on Netflix if you can.