andrew vacchs

Andrew Vacchs was at A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books in sf this evening, touring re his new book Two Trains Running. I.. was about to write that i'm not really a Vacchs fan, but i have read at least ten or so of his books, so i guess i defacto am. For those who don't know, Vacchs is a child-abuse activist who prosecutes child abuse cases and writes gritty, violent novels which deal with the same cause in which the child abuser always ends up horribly dead. The books are famously formulaic, but really it's hard not to get behind them, especially when bad things come to bad people.

(author, not character)

I expected him to be intense in person, and he is, but much more approachable and easy-going than uh, i expected. He did not actually read from his new book (which is Not a Burke novel) but instead pretty much just talked about whatever, which was pretty cool. He fielded questions on anything but the audience primarily asked what he thought of various current events, etc.

Yes, he talked about dogs. No, he didn't talk about cars, full-figured women or blowjobs.

Those interested in child advocacy and more will find lots of relevant stuff at vacchs.com.