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Filed Under Life
From Pandemonium to Powell's - Great American Tour d'Store
Posted May 14, 2009
3 comments posted. Read them now.  Starting Monday, May 18th I'll be driving across the country, from Boston, MA to Portland, OR and stopping by bookstores of all shapes and sizes along the way. I'm taking the Northern Route, because it's a great excuse to check out Montana's Bitterroot Mountains. I'm also meeting up with a few comedy writers I've only ever known online, so I sincerely hope they were honest about the lack of twin-headedness. Plus there are these fire-breathing scorpions down south that I'd like to avoid. My only traveling companion will be my chocolate Lab, who I promise is only allowed to drive in North Dakota. If you pass me on the road and I'm singing at the top of my lungs, feel free to place a quarter in the tip jar affixed to the muffler. Then stop tailgaiting me.
From Pandemonium to Powell's8 States, 8 Stores, 3300 Miles
After unpacking boxes and setting up my writing nook (wherever the laptop gets plugged in) I'm reading at Powell's Books in Portland (SE Hawthorne) on June 18th. I'm planning on doing some live comedy, and since Portland is conveniently isolated from the laughter epicenters of NY and LA, nobody will know how badly I'll crash and burn.
Over the next week and change I'm hitting 8 bookstores - in Buffalo, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Chicago(ish), Minneapolis, Fargo, and Missoula. There aren't any events planned at any of the stores, I'm just stopping by and saying hey, which is why I'm not posting dates and times. As I travel I'll document what makes each one of these indies so special, like whether the poetry section can kick the ass of the self-help section, and if it's really true that the ghost of Old Man Jenkins haunts the store on the first prime numbered Wednesday of each month. Check here or my Twitter page for updates. I promise that's really me on Twitter and I don't frequently use one of my man-eating robots to post updates automatically for me. 1010111011010101101.
Before leaving the Boston area, I have one final in-store event at Pandemonium Books in Cambridge, this Friday night, May 15th at 7pm. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the great local bookstores in the area, all of which have been incredibly supportive of my little novel.
Newtonville Books, Newton MA: they have an insane performance space in the back that was either built by the Masons or the Martians - I can't remember. They also have an expansive children's section with more than enough room for your spawn to wreak havoc, pester you to buy stuff, or settle down and read.
Brookline Booksmith, Brookline MA: Located in the heart of Brookline's Coolidge Corner. One of their lot has been helping me research my next novel. Take note, booksellers, I will convince you to work for free.
RiverRun Books, Portsmouth, NH these good people have a reading series at a sexy little martini lounge. This is the way literature should be experienced: tipsy and on a comfy couch. Plus their energetic events manager turned me on to Twitter, so send your complaints there. In 140 characters or fewer.
Porter Square Books, Cambridge MA: provides a wonderful refuge from the craziness of Mass Ave, and is conveniently close to both Davis Square and Harvahd Square.
 
copyright 2004-2024 G. Xavier Robillard
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