Ticket
As part of the Authorlink event series at Provo City Library, one of my local libraries, I was lucky enough to hear Markus Zusak speak last weekend. He is such a gifted writer and I enjoyed both The Book Thief and I Am the Messenger so I was thrilled to have this opportunity. Since there are already several great recaps out there from other bloggers who attended the event and Suey of It’s All About Books recorded the whole talk and has posted it in segments on YouTube, I decided I would keep this short and post a couple of pictures while mentioning the highlights (for me) of his talk. The man himself:
*swoon* He's a cutie.
You already knew he was young and good-looking from his author portrait, so the real question is does he have an equally engaging personality to go along with his looks? Yes, yes. *nods head* Ironically he said that he “survives” public speaking, but he doesn’t need improvement in that area at all. He was funny, charming, personable, quick-witted, smart, and articulate in both his talk and the Q&A session afterward. Seriously, listening to him was pure entertainment. He obviously has his hilarious anecdotal stories down. And with the adorable Aussie accent, I could have listened to him all night! Le sigh. It goes without saying that I highly recommend hearing him speak if you ever get the chance.
He gave a lot of insightful advice to aspiring writers, which I won’t go into, but one of my favorite points was his view of writing as problem-saving. I loved the sound bite for this portion of the talk:
“The answer may be just a little to the left or to the right.”
I think this is true for all problem-solving and not just the kind used in writing.
Then he talked about the experience of writing The Book Thief and how his life experiences inspired it. He even did a reading! He’d been told his reading is “atrocious” in the past but it was obvious that wasn’t true now. He said that at first he’d set out to write a book that “meant something to him.” He didn’t know that in the end, The Book Thief “meant everything” to him. This was clearly reflected in his emotional reading of the chosen passage (pp. 516-18 in the US edition for those interested), which left the audience momentarily speechless before bursting into applause.
My only regret for an evening that was completely amazing in every other way was that I was unable to stay long enough to get my newly-purchased copy of The Book Thief signed. Some stayed a total of 8 hours (including travel time round trip, waiting time, and the talk) in order to do so, and with a baby at home that just wasn’t possible for me. 
I’m very much looking forward to a reread, though with the new knowledge I have of how the book came to be. I am still in a state of disbelief that he even came to Utah and that I got to be there for his visit! 
Last of all I will leave you with the subtle Zusak themed decor of the ballroom a la I Am the Messenger – playing cards!
Awesome recap! And I do now have the whole thing on YouTube if you or anyone passing by here is interested. (Links posted on my blog today.) I didn’t notice those cards in the decor until hours after sitting there! Love it! It was so cool to see how much talking about The Book Thief moved him, and that reading was amazing.
Suey, I will link to it then! Thanks – I’ve loved all your posts.
Fabulous recap! I’m seriously considering just doing a “read these other peoples’ posts” instead of my own thoughts.
Oh, thanks! At first I thought I had nothing to say and then the post quickly became longer than I thought it would be.
this is so awesome you go to see markus! wow. and i actually went and looked up the passage (haha). Shame you couldn;t get your book signed, hey.
LOVED this post and all the pics
Aww, thanks Naomi! You always know how to make a blogger feel good. I look forward to your comments.
Glad someone liked the specifics about the reading.
Ha ha, funny enough I’m reading your sum-up before doing my own and adding to the pile. Glad to know I don’t have to recap much and can just stick to my own thoughts on it. And as someone who ended up getting home almost NINE hours after I left (they closed the freeway that night!), I can reassure you that getting it signed wasn’t the coolest part and I probably should have followed your lead and gone home to my baby. That hour he spoke was awesome. And I’m so glad I got to meet you afterward!
Nine hours! Wow. It was so fun meeting you too! The UT blogging/writing world is smaller than I thought. I’ll have to go over and visit your blog for your post.
words can not express my jealousy of you being able to hear him speak, or my love for all things marksu zusak. I love how he is le sigh both in RL and in his books! aghhhhh seriously, I would love to meet/see him one day. Bucket list, yay? And since it’s really late, i can’t check out the vids, but it is a fo-sho for my tomorrow’s to-do list. *insert one lass jealous glare* :p love the recap!
PS~Oh how I wish i had the US version with me, I bought the UK one specially b/c i loove the cover xD
The short chapter he read was titled “Confessions”. It’s the first time we hear about Rudy’s fate. Hopefully you can find it with that info. Yes! Def watch the vids sometime and let me know what you think.
I went back and watched all the videos… man. jealousy increases tenfold, he’s such a good speaker! And when he got emotional reading that chapter I wanted to cryyyyy, he’s too talented. And funny. Huh, talented and funny, why do they not make boys like that anymore!
Eek, thank you for the link!
Oh Man. I sure wish I still lived in UT right about now…
So very, very cool.
Looks like you had an amazing time! It’s always fun to meet authors in person and to hear them talk about their books. I really should read one of his books soon because I still can’t relate to all the gushing.
Hi Holly,
It’s Courtney at the Library! Thanks so much for posting about the Library’s event! We really appreciate everyone in the blogosphere helping to spread the word about our programs, because you help to build support for the things we do! And after all the hard work it takes to get authors to Provo, I’m always glad to hear that people enjoyed the events!
Best,
Courtney Lowe
Community Relations Coordinator