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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2004)
Condon hits bullseye with debut novel Latecomer Phil Condon, whose novel, ‘Clay Center,' has found literary success, will give a reading Monday By Ryan Nyburg Senior Pulse Reporter Author Phil Condon got started late on the road to becoming a writer and has taken a number of divergent paths along the way. With the publi cation of his first novel, "Clay Center," last year, Condon is being noticed in the literary world, winning a number of awards and receiving a starred re view in Booklist. And all of this is from a man who claims to have waited until his mid-30s to write seriously, although he doesn't consider this late start a detriment. "Since I didn't start writing until much later than most people, I had al ready gone through many phases," Condon said. "They all sort of blend ed together, so no single style or per son really influenced me." Though Condon doesn't point to any particular influence on his writ ing, he named a few influences that led to him writing. "I think Henry Thoreau with 'Walden,' and also a lot of Russian writers, like Fyodor Dostoyevsky with 'Crime and Punishment,' kind of brought me toward writing," Condon said. "I have always enjoyed writers who are very serious about life and death matters, who write seriously about big ideas." Condon said he tried to deal with these kinds of ideas in "Clay Center." The novel, which takes place in the last few months of 1969, deals with mem bers of the anti-war movement and the destruction of youthful idealism. For Condon, it was a topic he had been try ing to grasp for some time. "I was trying to get a feel for the end of the 1960s and trying to make sense and meaning out of that period," Con don said. "Looking back on it, I began to see shapes and patterns that I didn't see at the time. I began to feel that this was the book that I had to write before I could start a larger project." The public would not be adverse to Courtesy Phil Condon, author of “Clay Center," will give a free reading at the University J Bookstore Monday at 7 p.m. another project from Condon, according to Condon's literary publi cist Judy Mcllale. "The book has gotten a lot of good reviews and good feedback," McHale said. "We've gotten requests from var ious media sources for copies of the book because they are interested in re viewing it, which is a pretty rare re sponse for someone's first novel." Condon 's renown doesn't only stem from his literary accomplishments. A professor of environmental studies at the Univer sity of Montana, he directs the school's Environmental Writing pro gram, which is part of the reason he was chosen by the IJO Bookstore to give a reading at the University. "Writers who have come through his program are well respected and do well when they come through here," UO Bookstore Author Events Coordi nator Brian Juenemann said. "We think we can transcend that pattern by bringing him here." Phil Condon will be appearing at the Knight Ubrary Browsing Room on Monday at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Contact the senior Pulse reporter at ryannyburg@dailyemerald.com. WE BUY YOUR COMPUTERS, , DESKTOPS OR LAPTOPS (WORKING OR NOT, PARTS ALSO) FURNITURE, TV, DVD, VHS FOR TOP DOLLAR! We will pick it up! Call us. Make some money now! Jackpot 688-8569 or 543-3055 2699 Roosevelt Blvd. Ecstasy act pits Congress against club ravers, music Throughout history, youth have re belled against the tyranny of a govern ment out to deny them their right to dance. In fact, right now, a battle is be ing fought between club kids and Congress that is worthy of the film "Footloose." Just two weeks ago, Protect Live Mu sic, which is a division of the Drug Poli cy Alliance, rallied people for their "Day of Outrage" protesting the Ecstasy Awareness Act and the CLEAN-UP Act. The Drug Policy Alliance is an or ganization devoted to reforming the United States' drug policies to be, what they would call, more fair and compassionate. They are currently or ganizing support against legislation that could be used to end live music. If made law, the Ecstasy Awareness Art (H.R. 2969) would "prohibit prof iting monetarily from a rave or simi lar electronic dance event, knowing or having reason to know that the Helen Schumacher Notes from the underground unlawful use or distribution of a con trolled substance occurs at the event." Likewise, the CLEAN-UP Act (H.R. 834) makes it illegal to promote "any rave, dance, music, or other entertain ment event that takes place under cir cumstances where the promoter knows or reasonably ought to know that a controlled substance will be used or distributed." The problem with this vaguely writ ten legislation is that it is impossible for venues or promoters to stop all drug use that takes place at music events. I've been to concerts where se curity guards check all bags and pat down attendees, but still fail to pre vent drugs from entering the show. And, according to the Drug Policy Al liance, "promoters and property own ers can still be prosecuted even if they have good security and a strict zero tolerance policy." It is doubtful that, if passed, either one of these acts will be taken to such an extreme as to ban dancing and mu sic to the extent that Kevin Bacon's char acter faced. But the possibility would exist and that's frightening enough. For more information visit http://www.protectlivemusic.org. . Contact the Pulse columnist at helenschumacher@dailyemerald.com. Her opinions do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald. 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