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.
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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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