At the end of this post check for details about how to win an autographed copy of We Eat Our Own. Update: Monday, 9 p.m.: There is a winner for the book giveaway.
It may not surprise readers to learn that many of the staff at Left Bank Books are authors, which is true of the staff in many bookstores across the country. Events coordinator Kea Wilson, above, whose first novel, We Eat Our Own, was published in late August, wrote an article for Lit Hub titled “How Being a Bookseller Made Me a Better Writer.” You will enjoy reading her reflections on her experience in her “first bookselling job six months out of college (St. John’s University in Santa Fe & Annapolis), in a strip mall near the railyard in Santa Fe.”
” I know dozens of bookseller-writers like me,” Wilson said, “many of whom are releasing their own books by night as they shelve new releases by day.”
Upon publication, We Eat Our Own garnered notice and a very favorable review in the September 21 issue of the New York Times Book Review. (Read Columbia U. professor Jonathan Dee’s review, Schlock and Awe, here).
I was introduced to it serendipitously when I learned that, unbeknownst to me, I have a personal shopper at the neighborhood bookstore. My husband was roaming among the shelves at Left Bank Books when bookseller Shane Mullen presented him Wilson’s book and instructed, “Take this home to Nicki, she’ll love it.” Were it not for Shane’s intervention, it is unlikely I would found this book on my own. I must say, when I first saw the cover and read the blurbs on the back, I certainly had my doubts.
In spite of my misgivings, I was hooked in the first paragraph. As I raced along I started to wonder who in the world could have imagined such a wild and complex story, one involving a sadistic director shooting a documentary about a movie in which nothing is as it seems. That’s when I finally looked at the author’s photograph on the cover and realized that I recognized her from Left Bank Books. I immediately set up an interview.
It seems that Kea Wilson has been a fan of horror movies from a young age, starting with Alfred Hitchcock’s work. She and her friends were particularly intrigued by a bootleg video called Cannibal Holocaust, a controversial 1980s Italian horror movie about a documentary film crew that went missing while filming cannibal tribes in the Amazon. The movie continued to marinate in her mind and eventually became the basis for her first novel.
She began work on We Eat Our Own while a graduate student in the MFA Program at Washington University, which Wilson describes as the “best program for writers—there isn’t a better faculty anywhere.” Since only 5 writers and 5 poets are accepted into the 2-year graduate program at a time, Wilson felt incredibly lucky to be there. She said she got so much out of the program’s novel-writing workshop that she took it 3 times.
Wilson also found a part-time job at Left Bank Books where she felt privileged to be able to immerse herself in books. She credits that job as the reason she fell in love with St. Louis and decided to put down roots here. She and her partner Chris Bowman (the Darkroom/Photo Lab coordinator at Webster U.) own a home in Fox Park. St. Louis is also a favorite spot for the 200 to 250 authors that Left Bank Books brings to town each year for readings. Wilson has learned that St. Louis is considered by authors to be a major hub for publishers.
The young author is working on her next novel in whatever spare time she can find, while also teaching fiction writing at Washington University’s University College.
Finally, I am pleased to offer readers an opportunity to win an autographed copy of We Eat Our Own, thanks to author Kea Wilson. The winner will be the first person to answer this easy question: What is the name of Left Bank Books’ resident kitty.
Update: There is a winner. M Brown correctly identified Spike the cat.
Thanks so much to Kea for your time and to Shane for suggesting this book, which I loved. Choose We Eat Our Own as your next read, or ask any of the informed booksellers at Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid, for help in choosing a good book.
P.S. – Did you know that Left Bank Books staffer Wintaye Gebru was a finalist for Publishers’ Weekly Star Watch Award? Read about it here.