Kyle Kerr

Michael Cunningham

03/27/08 | Awesome, General | 0 Comments

I had one of the most amazing nights of my life last night.  For about two hours, I was in the presence of one of the most critically acclaimed authors in the country: Michael Cunningham.

Michael has written some truly amazing books, two of which I have read, including The Hours, which was made into an Academy Award-winning movie starring Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep, Specimen Days, Flesh and Blood, and At Home at the End of the World, which was also made into a movie, this one starring Colin Farrell.

We started planning for this event about six months ago, originally intending to bring in either Alice Sebold (The Lovely Bones, The Almost Moon) or Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club), but both of them had to decline because of conflicts with their touring… which actually turned out to be a blessing.

How is one supposed to act around someone like that?  I mean, here I am, 22, working on finishing my first novel, pretty much trying to stay sane in my last few weeks of college, and I’m supposed to interview a PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING NOVELIST?!  How cruel is fate?  But he was more than generous, and it was an immense pleasure to even be in his presence.  He was kind, he was surprisingly humble, and he was an all around nice person.  Never before have I seen an author take so much time to talk to his fans during a signing.

Probably the most amazing part of the night was when, right after Michael and I had left the stage, he asked me how my novel was going.  Like, he was genuinely interested!  And there’s me, and the first word out of my mouth sounded something like, flablneble.  What could I POSSIBLY have said to him?!  It was all I could do to, you know, not pass out.

Definitely something I will remember for the rest of my life.

Until next…

Kyle W. Kerr