In defense of ageing & bad book Karma

Last night I went to a reading by author Bich Minh Nguyen. She read from her memoir Stealing Buddha’s Dinner.

Her family moved to the U.S. when she was a baby and the book has a lot to do with them trying to fit in – about them trying to be “super-Americans” as Bich (pronounced Bit) kept repeating. I’m neither Vietnamese nor an immigrant, but, like Bich, I grew up in the 80s. We ate the same junk food while watching the same corny television shows.

So, I enjoyed the reading. And, it made me aware of something I hadn’t thought of before. For most of my life I’ve read the works of authors older than me, if not dead. Now that I’m almost 30, I’m getting the chance to read authors from my generation, since there are few authors who get published in their 20s. (A notable exception: Christopher Paolini wrote Eragon when he was in his teens, but I can’t relate much to riding a dragon.)

The older I get the more writers their will be with which I can relate. Three cheers for getting old!

As for the bad Karma…

When the reading ended, copies of Stealing Buddha’s Dinner were available for purchase. I only had about $4 in quarters in my pocket for parking and my credit cards, but that was it. They didn’t take credit card.

I, who will soon be hawking my own book, attended another author’s reading of a book with “Buddha” in the title no less, and did not buy a copy. If that ain’t bad book karma I’m not sure what is.

 
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