Cathy Rentzenbrink

But what I once witnessed was, and sometimes, again, I really did try to only go to events of books that I was actually interested in.

But not everybody had that responsible approach.

Lots of booksellers would just go anywhere for the free drink and would actually be quite rude about trying to work out how they could go to the bog during the speeches.

Yeah.

So they didn't have to give any mental time to what we were supposed to be celebrating.

And we're just hoovering up the free food and drink.

And what I witnessed, this was truly awful.

There was a book.

It had a very bright, upbeat, lovely cover.

It looked like a nice social comedy.

It was a memoir.

It was about someone who unexpectedly found themselves in the position of having to look after a family member.

And then how funny and wonderful that was.

I had read this book to the end.

About seven-eighths of the way through this book, it takes an incredibly different, darker turn.

At the launch for this book, I watched someone who clearly hadn't read this book, but who just looked at the cover and thought they knew what this book was, talking to the author, and the author becoming gradually aware that the person talking to them didn't know that in the end of this book, the author reveals his sudden and surprising HIV diagnosis.

And realizing that the two people having this conversation, the author not knowing that booksellers regularly don't read the books of the parties that they go to.

And the bookseller just thinking it's a book with a turquoise and pink cover.

What bad things can happen in it?

And just seeing this terrible situation.