[I’ve long been
a fan of book
talks, but since my most recent book, We the People: The 500-Year Battle over Who
is American, is intended to be my most public yet, I’ve redoubled my
dedication to talking about it anywhere and everywhere. Since I’m on sabbatical
this fall and even more flexible, I wanted to take this week to highlight some
of my prior and upcoming talks, as examples that I hope can lead to more such
opportunities! I’ll travel and talk anywhere and am happy to pay my own way for
the chance to share these stories and histories!]
On three
distinct, equally inspiring conversations I experienced at my most
recent book talk.
1)
An Early Engagement: As is my wont, I arrived
significantly early at Peterborough’s
wonderful Toadstool Bookstore for my talk this past Saturday afternoon. That
perpetual earliness is both a blessing and a curse, but this time it was
certainly more of the former, as my seat next to the display of my book and
talk info meant that I was able to sell a couple copies before the talk began.
That was much appreciated, but I appreciated even more my conversations with
those potential readers, and especially one with a young man who is considering
writing his own book (on why, contrary to popular stereotypes, millennials will
save the US and the world). The conversation about writing, publishing, and
many related topics offered an excellent reminder that the community of writers
(past, present, and potential) is another vital form of solidarity for my work,
and got the whole event off to a really inspiring start.
2)
A Cultural Context: The Q&A/discussion after
the talk was, as has been the case with just about every talk I’ve ever given,
the best part, as each and every audience member had an interesting perspective
to add into the mix. But I was especially struck by the perspective of a woman
who at a young age moved to the mainland from Puerto Rico, and was able to
offer an analysis of the exclusionary definition of America from the point of
view of someone (and a family and community/culture behind her) who has become
part of the nation in every meaningful sense, yet still felt and feels that
sense of separation. I’ve written
in this space about the song “America” from the musical West Side Story, and how much it
captures that insider-outsider dynamics when it comes to the Puerto Rican
American community. But this audience member offered a far more personal,
intimate, and thoughtful perspective on those questions, and I’ll carry that
perspective with me in all future discussions of the book.
3)
A Present Problem: As I imagine will be the case
at pretty much all my book talks, our conversation—before, during, and after
the talk—was never too far removed from current events, and particularly from
(to quote the title of my book’s Conclusion) “The Battle in the Age of Trump.” There’s
a valuable therapeutic quality to such conversation to be sure, a sense of
solidarity that is part of why I love giving talks and engaging audiences of
all types; but I find that such collective connections of historical/scholarly
topics to current events can also genuinely model practical ways to engage our
present problems. I felt both those effects at many moments during this talk,
but never more so than in my one-on-one conversations with John
Willis, a retired professor and Peterborough resident who came to the talk
wearing a “Make Racism Wrong Again” hat and a “Black Lives Matter” pin, and
whose thoughtful historical and contemporary ideas more than bore out those
adornments. As this series has consistently illustrated, my talks are always as
much about the perspectives I hear as those I share, and John, like all the
folks at the Toadstool, exemplified that inspiring balance.
Upcoming book
talks tomorrow,
Ben
PS. Ideas or
suggestions for future talks, in-person or online? I’d love to hear them!
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