The Blue Banner I 2.9^011
Arts & Features
GILBERT
continued from page 7
way that we decided to get mar
ried”
She said the book is based on
the time they spent in Southeast
Asia after he was deported.
“This book takes place over
the 10 months that I spent in
immigration exile trying to get
back into the country,” Gilbert
said. “That was before the big
‘Eat Pray Love’ money started
rolling in, so we were living
in $10 hotel rooms for three
months. During that time, I was
trying to figure out what mar
riage is, and what it isn’t, and
what it has been, and what it
can’t be, and what it was nev
er intended to be and what my
place in it might possibly be.
This book is all about those
subjects.”
During the event at Lipinsky
Hall auditorium, Gilbert read
an excerpt from her most recent
novel, discussing the difference
between infatuation and love.
After reading the passage,
Gilbert allowed audience
members to ask questions.
Of course, most of the ques
tions had to do with her novel-
tumed-movie, “Eat Pray Love.”
“I love the movie, but when
people ask me if it was good,
I tell them that they should
probably ask somebody who it
wasn’t about. They might have
a more objective opinion than I
would have. I personally loved
it, and that was a relief because
I was ready for it to be any
thing,” she said.
Gilbert, 41, maintained au
thors should not expect to have
a big role in the production and
direction of a film. She said
while it is a hard thing to accept
for some authors, it was easy
for her.
“I always felt that the book had
outgrown me and taken on its
own life,” Gilbert said. “It was
like ‘If you want to be a mov
Katie Saylors - Photography Editor
Crystal Setzer and Shaina Livermore, both 27, of Hickory, show
off their autographed books at the event.
ie, go be a movie,’ you know?
‘You’re old enough to drive.’ I
just kind of sent it on its way.”
Now, after all the success of
“Eat Pray Love” and the publi
cation of its follow up, Gilbert
said she is working on a new
and completely different proj
ect.
“I’m working on fiction
again, and that’s the thing I’m
most excited about right now in
the world. It’s been a long time
since I wrote fiction. It’s where
I got my start as a writer, and
I’ve missed it,” Gilbert said. “I
can’t say anything about it now
because it’s too soon and too
nascent, but all I can tell you is
it’s about botany. I’m very ex
cited about it.”
In the question-and-answer
portion of her speech, Gilbert
gave advice to aspiring writers.
“Unconditional self-friend
ship is what you have to work
on because you will disappoint
yourself again and again and
again with your work,” she
said. “The work that you come
out with is a reflection of what
you anticipated, but it will nev
er be quite what you dreamed it
to be.”
Gilbert said success came at a
good time for her, but that it did
not come easily or quickly.
“The only reason I got here is
because for a good solid decade
of my life, I worked without
any sense of a reward. I did it
out of love,” she said. “Love
your work and then let it go,
and whatever comes of it in the
world is none of your business.”
VENUE
continued from page 9
which means you can bring that
hot chick or guy out on a date
here, get them hammered and
it’s not stupid expensive.”
Gray said he is proud to have
the only theater in the Southeast
that’s doing all original work.
“We’re not doing ‘Annie’ or
Shakespeare. We’re doing all
new plays. Everything we do
hasn’t been done before,” Gray
said. “We are in the process of
rolling out all of our program
ming, but within the next two
months we will have events
every night. Mondays will be
story-telling and literary events,
Tuesdays comedy, Wednesdays
music and Thursday through
Sunday will be theater.”
Samuels said one of the ways
people can become involved
right away is through a monthly
forum they have called Magnetic
Midnight.
“It’s the first Friday of each
month, 10 p.m. to play, 11 p.m.
to watch, and its $5 either way.
The first dozen or so folks who
come in with a script, or a song,
or a dance or what have you
will go on that night. It must be
original. That’s the overriding
rubric of the whole operation,
and it can’t be longer than five
minutes,” Samuels said. “That’s
the way I like to meet and inter
act with new performers. It’s a
development, I want to cultivate
people. I want to meet them, I
want to work with them and I
want them to come play with us.”
Samuels and Gray agreed
there is some kind of force draw
ing people into The Magnetic
Field, both on the stage and in
the audience.
“There’s an energy in the cafe,
bar and theater that strikes me as
being very different from every
other place I’ve been in Ashe
ville, and I can’t tell you that I
understand it entirely. It just has
energy, and it seems to be jazz
ing up the audiences,” Samuels
said.
BROOKS
continued from page 8
like to believe they’re the kind
of individual who would sur
vive in a crisis when everyone
else wouldn’t,” Carden said. “I
enjoy the fantasy of it and the
whole genre and Max Brooks
in particular does realistic and
believable writing on the sub
ject.”
According to Rebecca Levy,
vice president of Underdog
Productions, Hillel, the litera
ture club and UP spent $10,000
to bring Brooks to campus to
teach a creative writing work
shop, give a talk in Lipin
sky Hall auditorium and sign
books.
“Basically how the school
allocates its money to student
organizations is you type up a
budget proposal, propose it to
the board and say everything
you have to say about it. I fig
ured if I could get another orga
nization to help me with Hillel
bringing him and not Underdog
Productions, just because UP
already has a lot of money to
bring a lot of people, then we
might be able to get a little
bit more money with the two
groups combined,” Levy said.
Brooks, the son of Mel
Brooks and Anne Bancroft,
said he did not expect a large
attendance, and was pleased
with the response from Ashe
ville. He also said he would be
happy to return if he was asked.
“It’s a great little town, I love
it. It’s not on my usual beaten
path,” Brooks said. “I found out
that Asheville was woefully un
prepared for a zombie plague,
way too many hippies. Whieh
is wonderful, I think peace and
love is great, unless you’re try
ing not to be eaten. Somebody
had to do something, that’s
why I showed up.”
GARAGE
continued from page 7
“(The Garage show) was a
smaller show but really fun,
because everyone was super
excited to be there. I felt a lot
of love throughout the night,”
he said.
Another stage participant,
Asheville-based artist Andy
Reed said the Garage gives
him a unique place to practice
his art, live painting.
“What stands out to me about
this venue is the cooperation
of the employees and owner.
They allow the artistic process
to occur and provide positive
structure,” he said.
Hart said part of that vibe
comes from the Garage being
a more underground venue,
which means traditional meth
ods of advertising are less
commonly used.
“We advertise and compete
for the limited Asheville music
scene through mostly word-
of-mouth, social media and
good old-fashioned posters
and handbills. It seems to work
pretty good for us,” Hart said.
Morgan Splawn, a 19-year-
old music business major at
Belmont University, Tenn.,
said Wang’s show was unique
ly impressive.
“I’ve been to a lot of shows
in the past couple of years, but
nothing like ‘Mochipet’ at the
Garage. It was such an intimate
show, lots of smiling faces and
room to dance. The live paint
ing and graphic design made it
more than just a DJ set. It was
like a growing, living organ
ism of co-creation,” Splawn
said.