The World According to John Irving

I was able to see John Irving speak in Iowa City a couple of nights ago and was pleased to learn that his next book, Last Night in Twister River, will be taking place, at least partially, in Iowa City.

Seeing as Cider House Rules, The World According to Garp, Hotel New Hampshire, and A Widow for a Year were all made into movies (A Widow for a Year was released under the title the Door in the Floor), I think it's safe for people to start practicing for their dream roles.

So judging by the reading, if you're a female bodybuilder whose not afraid to parachute naked onto a pig farm and then beat beat up a bunch of sissy artists, I think there may be a role available for you.

Other than that, I don't think there's much I can add to Iowa Independent's great roundup of the reading, which includes, among other things, Iowa Writer's Workshop director Samantha Chang's funny comment on how great it was to see 500 people walking down Dubuque Street for something other than a football game.

Thank you for the reading Mr. Irving and good luck on your book. Go Hawks.

Iowa City Celebrity Sighting

A few days ago I was attending a panel discussion with famous whistle-blower Daniel Ellsberg. The discussion was great and filled with all sorts of anecdotes and analysis of the extent of freedom of the press.

There were probably about 20 people who had stuck around for the panel discussion and the Q and A session that followed it. The moderator was taking questions about the first amendment when someone all of a sudden shouted out "How long am I going to have to listen to Pat Buchanan?"

People looked confused, so the man began to explain himself. Ultimately his question, if I interpreted it correctly, was concerned with the ownership of the airways, and who decides what kind of content is broadcast around the nation.

You don't need to know the response to his question. All you need to know is that that man was none other than John Heard, who, among other things, played the father of Kevin in Home Alone.

That is all I have to say about that.