Bill Bryson gave a great talk at Drake University tonight. Here is a sample:
He recounted some stories of Des Moines and abroad and read from his books. The Knapp Center has a capacity of 7,000 and I'd say there were about 4,500 people there (it was packed full except for a section of seating that was folded up behind the stage). He said that was much better than his Barnes and Noble signing in Virginia, where 5 people showed up (one was the manager, one thought it was going to be James Patterson, one was a guy named Bill Bryson who showed up because they shared a name, and his wife, who appeared to have one Bryson too many in her life).
One of the highlights was when he took a few questions from the audience, the second person up was an old english teacher from high school, Mr. Craft (or Pratt?). "You taught me real good!" said Bryson. Four stars, would sit through again.
Edit: The Des Moines Register on the event (not the best coverage -- I'm pretty sure he said 120 years old, not that it matters). Also, I was close with my guess of 4,500, DMR says 4,800.
Posted by alangage at April 2, 2009 10:08 PM
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