Chris Nicholson's Writing Weblog
March 16, 2005 • Wednesday
One of my favorite books is Tony Horwitz' Confederates in the Attic, which, to be brief, chronicles Horwitz driving around the American south asking people why they're still mad about the Civil War. But I didn't even own a copy of the book until this week.
Not being a Civil War buff, I probably never would have thought to read Confederates .... That I did read it was happenstance.
Upon returning from a two-month trip to Australia in 2001, a friend of mine, Long Island wedding photographer J.P. Vellotti, gave me the Horwitz book One for the Road as a welcome-home gift. (The text is about Horwitz' adventure of circumnavigating Australia by hitch-hiking.)
I read and enjoyed One for the Road, and mentioned as much to Peter Francesconi (who doesn't have a website I can link to), my editor (at the time) at USTA Magazine. Pete then suggested I read Confederates in the Attic. I didn't ask to borrow the book, but he brought it to the office anyway. So I read it. And loved it.
And then I had to give the book back.
Last weekend I related this story to my friend Deb Ferreira (who also doesn't have a website). Tuesday I received a package from Amazon.com containing a copy of Confederates in the Attic. A note on the delivery memo read:
"Chris, you really should own a copy of your favorite book. ... Deb."
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