Christopher Boucher will promote his debut novel, How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive, which Melville House will publish in August, by driving a 1972 VW Beetle from Los Angeles to Boston, an estimated 4,318 miles, making stops at bookstores and anywhere else he can meet booklovers--"bars, bowling alleys, basements and BBQs." He is taking requests and suggestions for stops during his August trek. "What's the best breakfast in Winnemucca, Nev.?" he asked. "Want Boucher to visit your book club in Manhattan, Kans.? Should he take a detour to Kokomo, Ind.?"
Check out his blog, VWALIVE.com, or e-mail him at Christopher@vwalive.com. A map with his tour stops so far, including the King's English, Tattered Cover, Prairie Lights, Subterranean Books, Joseph-Beth and WORD, is available here. Boucher will send dispatches from the road to Shelf Awareness.
"I see this tour as a natural extension of the book," Boucher said. "The novel was written in a whimsical, playful style, but it was inspired by my own experiences--namely, my close relationship with my father, and the sense of wonder that he instilled in me. That sense of wonder propelled every sentence in the book, and I want it to fuel the tour as well."
