

Listening to him, I got the impression that to some degree, writing this book, and saying in it the things that he does, was an act of contrition.

Clearly, the man likes to make people laugh, and I’m looking forward to seeing how this comes across in his book. I was struck at his lighthearted presentation of the whole affair. Last Friday, I had the opportunity to see Mr. This book is about unexpected ways in which an absence of food can affect a life. This book is about a man’s brush with death and the difficult recovery therefrom. Relationships with his wife, his family, his own body, his health. Not surprisingly, this had far-reaching impacts not only on his daily activities, but also on his relationships. It trickled a steady stream of nutrients into an IV, directly into his bloodstream. All his nutritional needs were provided a by a food pump, to which he was tethered for 18 hours a day. For 3 months during this recovery, he was to take nothing by mouth. It tells the story of his experience recovering from a particularly vicious Crohn’s flare. Jon Reiner’s latest book, The Man Who Couldn’t Eat, is of particular interest to folks of a Crohn’s persuasion. So I was thrilled but not surprised when I heard that Jon Reiner would be in town.

Having Powell’s here means that it’s pretty much guaranteed that if an author is on tour and they are coming to the West Coast, they will have a reading here. All I know is that it’s a treasure, and that I’m happy to live near it. Few bookstores in the world can match the depth, breadth, and sheer volume of this place! They claim to be the largest bookstore in the world, though who knows if that’s true. One of the things I love most about this town is Powell’s Books. I wouldn’t say that I’m particularly well-traveled, but of the places I’ve seen or heard about, there’s no place I’d rather be living right now.
