Well, I'm back.

I'm back home now, with piles of loot and small heaps of other people's business cards. And again, I walk into the library, but now I feel like I know what's going on, which is cool.

By the way, I don't know if any of his books are this funny, but Sherman Alexie is a hysterical public speaker. Really, really gut-rollingly funny. He spoke for an hour, with the twin running gags of his own Spokane Indian heritage (he's Catholic, and says an animal has never talked back to him) and his librarian fetish ("I've dreamed of this moment... except in that dream all of you were naked.")

He would descend into seriousness very suddenly, because his childhood had a good chunk of reservation education horror in it, and then skim right back up to the surface. It was pretty incredible.

( I just had to transcribe the funniest bit. )