That's Just the Way It Is

On Some Days, Anyway

That’s just the way it is, when it might be February, but the day is mild and you’re called to stand before a library book club. You’ve done that before - book clubs - and it’s always a mixture of joy and anxiety. When a whole group of people sit down to collectively read your book and then take time out of their day to regather and talk about it, well, anything can happen.

You start your little talk with telling everybody that it’s ok if they don’t like the book - sometimes a reader is, let’s say reluctant, to speak badly about your words if you’re sitting right there.

But this club is engaged and active and they pepper you with questions about history, research, background and even process! You get a lot of “Well I wouldn’t normally read a book like this but I’m glad I did” and that’s great. That’s just how it is.

And one says they have no interest at all in going to the top of mountains, and another talks about getting kids outside and one even says that your prose is poetic and you likely blush over that.

A lot can go sideways at meet ups like this, but today, on this beautiful sunny afternoon, the time passes smooth and fast and you answer a million questions and try not to do all the talking and be as specific as you can - to really engage because this is a room full of deep readers who got together and all of them read your book at once. That’s just remarkable and just how it is.

And after it’s done, you even manage to sell a book, a few bucks cash in your pocket and you walk outside and you’re hungry and there’s that bodega next door just smelling like mushroom pizza. So you drop the few bucks you just made on a slice and a candy bar and wash it down with a Coke and still have a buck and some change left for your trouble.

That’s the way it is some days my friends and those days are beautiful and full and worth all the trouble. You like days like that. And the pizza ain’t bad either.