Shakespeare & Co.

I have attended a few of the 7pm Monday night readings at Shakespeare & Co., recently and last night's talk by Wendell Steavenson about her recent book, The Weight of a Mustard Seed was really incredible. The book is about an Iraqi general, Kamel Satchet, but seen through the eyes of family, friends and former war colleagues, as she never met Satchet himself. It is a portrait of a man, but also a look into Iraqi life. Last night she read a nice portion of a chapter and really allowed you to get into the story. Sometimes it seems authors are anxious to read through and get to the wine or something and you don't get a strong sense of the writing. This was not the case. I have read the book, but awhile ago so it was great to "re-enter" it, so to speak. Second; often I find the q&a session following a reading a bit painful and akward but this one flowed and was full of engaging and good questions about Iraq and the war, something of a news item that we (I) seem to pay less attention to these days with the focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan and poor Obama's republican battles.
In any case, it was a reading that left you wanting more and I love that kind of thing.