Cory Doctorow!

Yesterday, I attended the first night of Cory Doctorow's Makers book tour tonight. It was very exciting! I've been reading along with the serialization of Makers over at Tor.com, but there are still several chapters to go. Now my reading is unmetered!

I've never been to a book reading by the author (at least, not a big celebrity one -- yes I think Cory Doctorow is a celebrity). I got there early enough to sit mere feet from the man himself. I enjoy his podcasts and reading style, and this was even better -- plus, when he was done, he took questions on anything.

Not only can Cory Doctorow talk a mile a minute, but he is coherent and well-thought-out and generally fantastic. I know some of his answers were things he's said before (some were verbatim from Boingboing, I swear), but I am still impressed at the sheer productivity of the man. He writes and tours and podcasts, blogs, and twitters, plus has the time to read and watch and listen enought to be deeply well-informed on a variety of topics. He's incredible, and I hope to one day grow up to be just like him.

Afterwards, I got him to sign a copy of the book for a friend. And a copy of the latest Ubuntu (9.10, karmic koala) for me. He was genuine, despite his tiredness, the repetitive nature of the questions (he'd answered many online or in columns before), and the scattered, racing questions and tasks pummelling him from all sides. I really appreciated getting to see him in person, even though there was no content that I couldn't get online (in fact, audio of the entire reading, and some video, is available). Attending this reading turned me from an enthusiastic reader into a serious fan.


This post's theme word similarly multitasks: growler, "one that growls," or "a container (as a pail or pitcher) brought by a customer to fetch beer," or "a small iceberg," or "a four-wheeled cab," or "an electromagnetic device for testing short-circuited coils. "