Chang-Ray-Lee's Report

For this assignment I attended Chang-Ray-Lee’s reading. At the beginning of the event he flatly told the audience that instead of reading from one of the books that have been published, he would give us a glimpse of the novel that he was currently writing. Before he started reading, Chang-Ray-Lee gave the audience a bit of background information in regards to the story, such as the setting of the story, the characters that would be in it, and where he received his inspiration to write this story. Since I was not familiar with Chang-Ray-Lee’s works it was a bit difficult for me to go in to the event with an idea of what his writing style was like. So I honestly was not sure what to expect or to look for as I listened. Regardless, as he read I noted that I enjoyed the way he chose to tell the story.

I felt that Chang-Ray-Lee was treating Tiller like an actual living being, not just some character he conjured up in his mind from his imagination. I do not recall if he mentioned where he got his inspiration from Tiller, however, as he Chang-Ray-Lee continued reading more details about Tiller and his personality began to show. For instance, at the beginning of the story, Tiller is in the neighborhood, minding his own business when he notices an odd vehicle with a suspicious looking driver. Tiller decides to investigate the man, the man gives Tiller a made up story about why he is there, saying he is supposed to be checking in on the families of those who have gone to serve the military. However, Tiller doesn’t buy it, and when the man realizes this he decides to leave. Tiller then explains some thoughts he is having before he says that the man won’t get very far, since Tiller punctured one of the