I saw Clyde Edgerton speak last weekend. He was great! I haven't read his books in years, having read three in a row at one point and felt that was all I needed, at least for the time being. After looking through the schedule for a book festival I attend almost every year, I decided to go on Sunday instead of Saturday, not because I had ears only for Edgerton but because he was the only speaker either day whom I had heard of.
I and several hundred others filled the auditorium to a large Baptist church to see Edgerton, who made the drive worth every drop of gas! Unlike too many other authors, he had prepared what he called his presentation, combining music with readings from his latest novel, The Night Train. Using a small laptop to play songs from the 1960s so that we could hear how the blues' beat differs from other musical beats, he showed a great sense of rhythm, moving his fingers and making a "boom" sound with his mouth. We got it--we totally got it. And in the process of teaching us about music, particularly the blues, he made his story come alive for us.
I'm attaching the trailer to The Night Train, which is very well done. Enjoy.
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