'Here Comes Everybody'

July 12, 9:06 AMSF Literary ExaminerSonny Smith

Next

1 comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the SF Literary Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Adobe Bookstore

The proprietor of Adobe Bookstore is a big history buff and I’ve often speculated that history will think kindly of him as well.

I have seen only a small glimpse of Andrew McKinley’s vast stockpile of used books, and by that I mean at least two storage spaces, the Adobe basement, the bookstore itself, not to mention his apartment and his van which spills books out as the side door slides open- and this small glimpse tells me that his passion for collecting is a likable brand of cuckoo.

As he collects books, so does he collect photographs of people and more hard to see, is his collection of local artists. Sunday night July 13th Adobe Bookshop will host a few writers who are as much a part of his collection of books as the books themselves. Under the banner of “ Here Comes Everybody”, Evan Rehill, Leigh Gallagher, Jason Morris and a visiting guest from Brooklyn, Ryan-Daniel Healy, will read from their assorted novels, poetry and short stories.

Whitman peddled his handmade books from door to door. Gide had the money to publish himself, but these folks have no money and reading series like these are the new door to door. To be a great writer you must first be defeated. So don’t be afraid to spit on them or throw things. If a rumble breaks out, all for the best. Take Evan Rehill for example, he is the holiest man I have ever met, who has never offended a soul and never taken anything from anybody, who has never thought of anything but his work and how he may improve it for the benefit of mankind. Tear him apart crowd! And writer Leigh Gallagher, she is living proof of the old saying “every human is working out their destiny in their own way. All one can do is stand back and be patient.”  Destroy them!

The war rages on and there is never a better time to be profoundly moved.

At about 6pm Andrew will cross the street to buy two bottles of punch and four bottles of wine. The reading will begin at 8pm. After about a half hour into it a man, as if from some thirty-year reunion of ‘the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers’ will come out of the back with a flutter of pigeons in his wake.

The readings will go like this: someone will stand up and get things started. A few folks will graze the bookshelves while listening to the words. For these the words might sink in like slow poison. There will be a few people in the audience who don’t know a crack about writing. Think of them as the patrons.

They support by clapping at the right moments. They need to be there to give roundness to the proceedings. At last there will be a few fans up close and center, listening to every word.