Hi All,
I thought it was a really worthwhile outing to The Crane Bar last night to see Willy Vlautin live. What a coincidence that the author of one of the first books we read at Book Club should show up in Galway a few weeks later. I'm beginning to wonder if Matt had insider knowledge of Mr. Vlautin's tour schedule before he nominated the book :)
I felt that the €15 ticket price was a little steep for The Crane to begin with but in the end it was a nice intimate venue which was by no means overcrowded. Maybe that was just because most people in Galway wouldn't be aware of who Willy Vlautin is.
As you can see from the photo on the left, kindly taken by Hugh this evening, I asked Willy to autograph the book on behalf of all the members of Galway Book Club. He seemed genuinely flattered that The Motel Life was chosen as one of the first books to be discussed at the club. He was very friendly too. I'd say he's a nice guy and as for his music, personally I really enjoyed it. The supporting acts were fairly entertaining also although the first guy, Chad ??? sounded a bit like a Johnny Cash impersonator to me. But this is about books so there's no point in me trying to sound like a music critic who doesn't know what he's talking about especially seeing as I never even heard of Richmond Fontaine. However, as the author said himself, his tour which was initially supposed to showcase a "soundtrack" to his latest novel,Northline, gradually became more focused on the music of his band in general. He did play one or two instrumentals though.
BookClub members who attended the gig included Hugh, Tristan C, Sandra, Anne-Marie, Matt Kid, Karl and myself. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 13th may in Bar No. 8 for 8pm to discuss The Silver Swan. Hope to see you all there.
Regards
TristanPeter
