'Random Obsessions' author to discuss book in Merced
By ELIZABETH MCMUNN-TETANGCO - Sun-Star Correspondent
Did you know
that someone holds a patent for a canine convenience colostomy bag? Or
that Thomas Jefferson’s grandson may have been an ax murderer?
Bakersfield author Nick Belardes, who will speak about his book,
“Random Obsessions: Trivia You Can’t Live Without” at noon at Barnes
& Noble in Merced on Sept. 19, holds onto information the way other
people hold onto their valuables on a roller coaster.
“Random
Obsessions” is organized simply into nine chapters that cover such
divergent oddities as historical facts, strange illnesses and offbeat
authors and artists. Contained within are short stories (many only one
or two paragraphs long) that illuminate various ways in which the world
is a strange, beautiful, funny and heartbreaking place. It is not a
book of lists, although some lists are included, and it is not a book
that is easily forgotten.
Though the book spans the world and
beyond, Belardes identifies strongly with the often disparate culture
of the Central Valley.
Author Nick Belardes, shown here in a submitted
publicity shot, will speak about his book, “Random Obsessions: Trivia
You Can’t Live Without” at noon at Barnes & Noble in Merced on
Sept. 19.
“I’m at home in the Central Valley, whether walking along Bear Creek in
Merced, hanging out in the Tower District in Fresno, driving through
long stretches of farmland or wandering along the Kern River in
Bakersfield,” Belardes said. His writing tends, at least in part, to
reflect this kinship he feels with the place he inhabits. Still, he
also appreciates the Central Valley, and Bakersfield in particular, as
a place of surreal beauties.
READ THE FULL ARTICLEREAD: More
articles on Random Obsessions in the Examiner, Bakersfield Californian, Bakotopia, the Sacramento Review and more.