(My new book about the Old Crow Book Club is available through nestuccaspitpress.com)
After lunch, I drove to Mark's sidewalk. He was there, reading and smoking a Swisher Sweet. Sean, another member of the club was there, too, with a large bag of cans.
I walked up to Mark and presented the book.
“Oh wow!” exclaimed Mark. “The cover is great.”
“I really like the way it looks and feels in the hands,” I said.
I raced to the car and retrieved a copy for Sean. I handed it to him.
He held it like a spiritual text and immediately thumbing through it. He said nothing.
I took a photograph of Mark holding up the book, but not before he pulled back the cowl of his hoodie and spruced up his hair. A homeless man was primping for a picture! That should tell you right there that hope still exists.
It was almost two years to the day Mark and I had met exactly where we stood now. I remarked about that.
I briefed Mark and Sean about the upcoming plans to gather members of the book club for a pizza and (not malt liquor) beer launch party down by the creek. I also said in the coming weeks I would be paying them to distribute the book to all the street libraries within a two-mile radius.
Sean said, “Matt, I may just have to celebrate your book with some Old Crow.”
That made me laugh.
I looked at Mark perusing the book. What a funny feeling it must have been for a man to be handed a book about himself by the author who wrote it. I know it was pretty overwhelming for me—certainly a first in my writing life.
And as I stood there, it dawned on me that it's never good for an author to have any expectations for a book upon its release. I've been burned and disappointed before and thus, learned my lesson.
But...I did want something from this book. It didn't matter if Mark liked it or not. My wish: I wanted him to read it and decide to try and get off the streets. We both knew he wouldn't last another year out there.
I agree with Mark about the cover but was not smart enough to have you autograph my copies yesterday at lunch which means we need to get together again. And what a great picture of Mark which seems to capture his spirit and why your efforts on his behalf need to continue.