I’m in Madison, Wisconsin, for an A.D. book event. Chadbourne Residential College (CRC), a program residence hall, part of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has chosen A.D. as a "Common Read" book. What this means is that the whole CRC community — some 700 students and staff — has read the book over the summer, and invited me to town to talk about it with them.

The main events are tomorrow, where I’ll meet and mingle with students, share some meals, present my work in a slideshow, and then take part in some discussion groups. CRC has even put together a little website about the book and my visit, with discussion questions and everything: http://www.housing.wisc.edu/crc/commRead.php

Since the book came out last summer, I’ve been doing things like this in little bits, but this is the first time I’ll be representing A.D. in such an intensive way. I’m thrilled and a bit intimidated.

I’ve only been to Madison once before, when some good friends got married here, but ever since my own college days I’ve had an affinity for the school because it has a similar profile and reputation: politically active, Mid-Western, with a proud hippie past. And I’ve met many Madison grads over the years who always seem like decent, interesting folks. I look forward to meeting the current crop of students —  if they’re anything like Oberlin students, they’ll be highly motivated learners and have some good questions. Fingers crossed!