William Gibson in Portland

Out of sheer luck I happened on a Barnes & Noble ad in the Oregonian a couple days ago. I didn’t realize Spook Country has been released in paperback, but apparently a jetlagged William Gibson is just back from a literary conference in Italy and is transitioning to a road show for the book. And Portland’s the start. So I zipped over to Clackamas on my Vespa (first time riding it on the 205…not bad).
The poor author only had an hour before hopping on his next plane so no reading or anything. Just a cookie, coffee, a few signatures/photos and chit chat.
The threatening clouds in the sky were only that and were offering a great sunset so I toodled back home on surface streets through Milwaukie and Lake Oswego via the Sellwood Bridge. It made for a nice ride and beat doing homework (ie: turning myself into a cabbage head by trying writing about quantum mechanics and adiabatic quantum computers).