Book touring

Here's a video of a recent talk I gave at the Akron Main Library.

This was a notable event for several reasons. First off, the small town where My Friend Dahmer is set, is a rural suburb of Akron. Bath, Ohio, in the 1970s was a bedroom community for Akron professionals: doctors, lawyers, executives, etc. Most of our major media– tv and radio– all came from big-city Cleveland, twenty miles to the north. But Akronites clung stubbornly to their identity and those of us in my hometown always turned our eyes to the Rubber City. That's where we shopped and went for entertainment. And our library system was centered in downtown Akron. This is where I spoke.

So of all the appearances I've made so far and will make in the future this one had the potential to be the strangest. And indeed it was. Several hundred filled the auditorium. Dozens from my hometown: schoolmates and neighbors and townspeople. Dozens of people who knew Jeff and the Dahmer family. And many who are characters in the book!

Several members of the Dahmer Fan Club were there. And one of the neighbor kids in the creepy opening scene. And, oddest of all, one of the cops from the scene at the end of the story (I won't give it away for any who haven't read it yet) stood at the back of the auditorium! A couple of my friends recognized him. He left after my presentation, without speaking to me.