Bill Barich's rhythmic voice filled a conference room in Bracken Library on Monday night as the audience enjoyed cookies, punch and a reading from Barich's novel "Carson Valley."
The book, published in 1998, follows the stories of workers of the Torelli vineyard. Barich's research for the book led him to rent a mobile home with his wife for $200 a month, he said, just one piece of evidence of his devotion to writing.
He ended the reading with a question and answer session, which was a highlight for those in attendance.
Freshman telecommunications major Mary Popplewell enjoyed her first book reading on Ball State University's campus, but was especially appreciative of advice Barich gave the audience.
"It was an interesting experience," she said. "I was glad to see he was helpful to me and other writers."
Barich, who lives in Dublin, Ireland, is visiting the United States on a cross-country tour doing research for his current political non-fiction project. His journey on U.S. Route 50 tracking election coverage is intended to be reminiscent of John Steinbeck's "Travels with Charlie." The trip began in Washington, D.C., and is set to finish in San Francisco, coinciding with Election Day.
The inspiration for the political piece came from a Barack Obama speech, in which Obama said "We're a better nation than that."
Barich told listeners his goal for the trip was to discover if this statement is still true in America.
"This is also a way of thinking through my own life," he said. "I want to find where mistakes were made and to hopefully find the definitive American spirit that may have been lost or obscured along the way."
While Barich is enjoying his American vacation, he said writing in Ireland has been good for his career.
"It's good to sometimes be an outsider," he said. "The literary world [in the U.S.] can be so claustrophobic and literal."
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