Last night I had the opportunity to meet with Josh Mohr‘s students in his Noir class at the University of San Francisco.
We talked about elements of noir (I like Josh’s breakdown: fatalism, cynicism and morality better than mine: slick, brutal, weird), what makes a good mystery, my shame over having never read Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, and, as always, the unspeakable horror of the literary life. Good times!
This week I’m taking Alice, Pemberton, Lupita and the rest of the gang from Forest of Fortune up the coast to San Francisco, Anchorage, Seattle and Portland. Check out my events page for readings, book signings and miscellaneous mayhem.
Many thanks to Leland Zaitz who sent me this striking cover from a pulp published in the 1930s with the same title as my novel. What’s going on here? What are they doing with that poor chap? Who was Pierre Quiroule? Why is the skull wearing a red eye mask? Is that the Forest of Fortune off the starboard beam? So many questions…
I was tagged in the “Ten Books That Have Stayed with You” thingy by my friend Pia Ehrhardt.
The Unstrung Harp by Edward Gorey
The Failure James Greer
Incidents of Travel in Yucatan John Lloyd Stephens
Ship Fever Andrea Barrett
The Collected Works of Billy the Kid by Michael Ondaatje
Last Last Chance by Fiona Maazel
Monsieur by Jean Philippe Toussaint
The Keep by Jennifer Egan
2066 Roberto Bolano
Revenge Yoko Ogawa
Many thanks to Todd Taylor at Razorcake for shooting this video from the Forest of Fortune reading at Avenue 50 Studio in beautiful Highland Park, California on August 18. THe art on the walls behind me is by Sergio Teran. Here’s the disposition:
Intro: 00: – 4:45
Reading: 4:45 – 16:25
Q&A: 16:25 – 26:11
And, no, I have no idea what is going on with my hands during the Q&A.
This was a nice surprise. Book Soup’s best sellers for last week.
Ruland combines dark humor with a thorough understanding of human frailty in this offbeat gothic gambling tale.
Forest of Fortune in Kirkus Reviews.
For the last two plus years I’ve started my week by getting up at 3:40 in the morning, making coffee, and driving to L.A. During those long dark drives up the 805 to the 5, over to the 73 and then on to the 405, Brad Listi’s Other People was my co-pilot. No one feels like doing anything that early in the morning, but as I made my way to L.A. I would become inspired by the stories the writers on Other People shared. The heartache and loneliness of the struggle. The validation and joy of achievement. They all taught me something. Even the insufferable guests who never bothered to listen to the show and were baffled by Brad’s line of questioning were instructive. During those drives, I often thought about what it would be like to be on the show, what I would say, how I would craft my responses. Then, when my turn came to be on the show, it wasn’t anything like I thought it would be. It felt like having a conversation with an old acquaintance. Hats off to the host for doing a good thing extremely well and making it so easy to enjoy.
Next month I’ll be doing some traveling on the West Coast with readings in San Francisco, Anchorage, Seattle and Portland. My events page has (or will have) the most up-to-date information with links to book stores, readings and Facebook invites. If you live in or near or between these cities, I’d love to see you!
