In the Company of Greatness

Last week I met up with Weezermonkey for one of the lectures presented as part of the L.A. Library's ALOUD program. The evening was described as a conversation between actor Hector Elizondo and author Abraham Verghese. In addition to being an author, a physician and a professor, Abraham is also my sister-in-law's cousin. And his older brother is married to the daughter of a long-time family friend. Due to the broad, unique way that Indians define family, my parents and brother fully expected me to turn out for this event despite the fact I had never met Abraham before.

The lecture's topics were centered around the themes and concepts contained within Abraham's most recent release, Cutting for Stone. This is his third book, but first novel, which was eight years in the making. Abraham really amazes me with his intelligence, creativity and compassion. Not to mention that I think he is a total rock star for being able to balance medicine, writing and family life. Having read Cutting for Stone, as well as My Own Country, I feel like these personal qualities are carried over into his characters and descriptions. With regard to Cutting for Stone, I easily got swept away into the story and its characters. It is really a wonderful novel and I'm not just saying that because he is "family"!

After the lecture there was an opportunity to have books signed.

Dorkiness personifed: Here I am introducing myself and explaining to Abraham how I know him. I'm really not good at stuff like this.
After the event, Weezermonkey and I headed to the The Restaurant at The Standard. It was a dim for picture taking, although Weezermonkey did teach me how to change my ISO settings. It was a great evening all around, with great company!

More pictures and thoughts available here.