What: A reading by Daniel A. Hoyt and Iain Ellis
Where: The Raven Book Store (8 E 7th St)
When: Saturday, August 15th @7pm



Tomorrow I am going to the reading at the Raven. There are several reasons for this. Reason number 17 is that the Raven is an amazing bookstore. This will be my first reading in the U.S. after living in China for a year. It's not like China doesn't have bookstores, but there's nothing in the universe quite like Lawrence and the people who pulse around its flickering, light-filled center. Also, sometimes at readings in China, "shit goes down," and not something enjoyable, like the things I imagine used to happen at Bukowski readings, or the one reading I went to where Gregory Corso read with Ray Manzarek from the Doors at my undergrad university, and my friend picked up Gregory Corso from the airport and he was already drunk.

I'm not going to lie to you, even though this is the internet. I haven't read anything written by either of these writers. This makes me feel like a chump, but it's okay. I like going to readings when I haven't ready anything by the people giving them, and then becoming interested in their writing. Less guilt, more reading attendance, I say. I think that I am going to enjoy it. Last night after feeling a little bit jumpy being around so many people speaking English after a year functioning as a mute in China's Detroit, I felt a little pressure to produce on this blog. As a result, I've been reading an awful lot about Daniel A. Hoyt and Iain Ellis.

* Here is the write-up on the Raven's site about the reading.
* Here is the description of Hoyt's collection of stories Then We Saw the Flames from his publisher, UMass Press.
* Here is an EXCELLENT column on Cab Calloway written by Ellis.
* Here is an article from the Pitch with descriptions of Ellis' reaction to the Slits show at the Replay.
* Here is a good description of Ellis' book Rebels Wit Attitude on his publisher Soft Skull Press's site.

Top 3 possibly embarrassing reasons why I am excited about this reading:

1. Researching this blog post reminded me to listen to my Slits albums.
2. The write-up on the Raven's site mentions that these two writers met at the Replay in Lawrence. This makes me inherently trust them, even though maybe it shouldn't.
3. Ellis was born in Manchester, and I like the accent of people from Manchester, even though my cousins are from Dorsett and my friend Sarah is a Brummie.

In conclusion, I hope other people decide to go to this excellent reading.