Thursday, August 16th 2012

Rubén Martínez read from and discussed his new book Desert America: Boom and Bust in the New Old West at The Booksmith in San Francisco.
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I got to meet Rubén briefly before his reading. He’s a really likable guy with a strong background in journalism and a lot of life experience, a combination that captures the fractured heart of contemporary America in skillful, compelling prose.

The videos above contain an introduction to the book and some of its themes, a reading therefrom, and a Q&A that reveals quite an interested audience. Give this a look. Amazingly, if you’d like, you can read eight separate excerpts right here.