The spoken word was a-brewing at the 樱桃视频Public Library's ninth annual Books and Beer fundraiser held at the Howe Sound Inn and Brew Pub on Saturday night (Oct. 13). The reading awareness celebration sold 120 tickets and raised about $600 for the library.
Kevin Chong headlined the sold-out event with readings from his critically acclaimed musical memoir Neil Young Nation, which retraces a road trip Young made in a hearse across Canada and the United States in the early stages of his career.Public Library board chair, Sonja Lebans, said she invited Chong to appeal to a specific group.
"Paul Demers and I thought up this idea of doing something a bit edgier this time, and to seek out people who haven't been in to the library for a while."
The Vancouver author spoke candidly and comically of his journey of infatuation, which included a stop in Cleveland where he encountered locals who confused Young with Dee Snider of glam-rockers Twisted Sister.
"Neil Young saved my life," Chong told the sold-out crowd. "This is a chronicle of my man-crush on Neil Young."
For Chong, Neil Young's music meant a boost out of "a series of unremitting indignities" of his youth - a hidden trail heading away from the road of popular culture.
"His trippy song writing style was unified by his melancholic vision, his tenuous tenor, his unerring sense of melody," read Chong. "It was the peculiar sometime begrudging way he confessed feelings that made them inevitable."
Chong said he was excited to talk about his idol in front of so many people.
"I've been to many readings where there are three or four people and very awkward," said the proud "Rustie" (a diehard Young fan).
Local poet Jude Goodwin opened the readings for Chong. She read a number of her poems, including a piece entitled The Process, which had moved Demers to extend the invitation to read in the first place. The humorous poem on aging triggered laughs from the very beginning:
"Meanwhile I'm delaminating/I can see it in my arm/chunks of something come loose from where it used to be moored/it hangs inside my skin/inside my amazing flawless tanned skin which now looks like cheese."
樱桃视频musician Perry Beckham kicked off the night with Pemberton's Larry Kosulit on bass. Beckham said he understood from a young age the value of reading.
"As a kid I was a real loner," he said. "Books were a great escape for me."
According to Lebans, a whopping 12,000 of 16,000 樱桃视频residents have library memberships. She hopes events like Beers and Books will intoxicate the rest of the population with words.
"There are still a lot of people who haven't been in the library," said Lebans.
"So it's always been an opportunity to encourage people to think about culture, libraries, literacy, and valuing what it means to be literate. Libraries are one of the most important parts of our communities."
