Fantastic reading. Afterwards, I picked up a copy of the looks-to-be-incredible What the Shadow Told Me (previously blogged here), as well as a copy of Biminim Strimpoonanamam's seminal The Best of the Short Story of the World, available from Spine Moneky Press, which includes English-to-Burmese-to-English of Shirley Jackson's "Jackpot!", Franz Kafka's "The Paint Eater", Chekhov's "The Dog-faced Woman", and Hemingway's "Spic-and-Span Shiny Somewhere," among others.

After the reading we also received free copies of the What the Shadow Told Me discussion questions, unfortunately not-yet-available at www.kurtisdavidson.com. But here's a taste:

1. You have been overheard to say, regarding What the Shadow Told Me, "This is the greatest book I have ever read. It has changed my life." Explain.

2. T. Coraghessan Boyle has written that What the Shadow Told Me "redefines black humor." Given that Boyle himself is a black humorist and assuming that What the Shadow Told Me redefines black humor in the best possible way, Boyle is acknowledging that everything he published prior to June 27, 2002 -- the date of his comment -- is by definition inferior to What the Shadow Told Me. Given this, should American readers rise up en masse and demand that Boyle relinquish to Kurtis Davidson every literary honor that he received before that date? And royalties, too? Justify.

Again, these guys are great writers (and great readers). Definitely make the trip to see these guys if they come through your area.