Reading Exiles at the West Orange Public Library

What's Elliot reading? - Today, reading from his novel, Exiles, at the West Orange Public Library - a real kick, kind of a homecoming for me as this was the library in my home town, the library I grew up with, and as I noted to the (small) crowd (gathering), I did my senior hours in the library basement, straightening the 800s, which no doubt helped set me on a course toward my lifelong devotion to literature. Some very intelligent questions posed about Exiles and the world it depicts (or tries to). One man asked why the resisters all had high and noble reasons why they would not fight in Vietnam and none said they were scared and just did not want to fight - and the answer is because none did say that, there was pretty much a universal sense that this group did not oppose war or even fear war (many had willingly entered the service) but opposed this pointless, criminal war. Could Spiegel really look so much like Aaronson that he could pass for him? I think yes, definitely over a short time, especially after Aaronson was out of the country for a few months - he wasn't intimately friendly with the other resisters and he could probably pass if just running a meeting. If any were close friends then, no - but they did tell the truth to his few close friends. Why was Kent State never mentioned? Exiles does mention the Cambodia bombing, which precipitated Kent State, but I did not want the novel to be "about" external political events, even though they were contemporaneous, but rather I wanted it to be about these people and their struggles and the relationships - also, I wanted to maintain the sense of isolation from America, so Cambodia would feel more like something Swedes would discuss, but Swedes would be less likely to be moved and troubled by Kent State. A good reading, and I wish there had been more.