This past Saturday, my son and I drove down to Austin to attend the Texas Book Festival.  I went merely as a visitor; I was not one of the festival authors since I didn’t hear about it until recently.  The main draw for me was a chance to listen to one of the leading literary voices of the current generation, Don DeLillo.  I came to his books late, reading the brilliant 1998 novel Underworld while on vacation in July 2015.  I bought his latest novel, Zero K, as soon as it was released this past spring, and I managed to get him to sign my copy of it.

The highlight for my son, of course, was listening to and meeting Nick Offerman, who played the iconic Ron Swanson on the television comedy Parks & Recreation.  We also browsed several exhibit tents, and I got to meet author Mary Helen Specht (I’m reading her 2015 novel Migratory Animals right now).

Perhaps I will submit The “Volunteer” and its sequel for next year’s festival.