WILL DRINK FOR NON-FICTION

Event organisers, take note: spacious pubs make much better places than bookstores and university halls for book readings. At a pub, audiences avoid the problem of sitting in rows of chairs—an arrangement that evokes elementary school and puts a damper on proceedings before they begin. Also there is the beer, along with plenty of room to slouch or laze in whatever position best suits a person's absorption of information. A pub turns a reading into a social event, or at least a sociable one. We could use more of this.

Last week found Joe Flood and Nick McDonell reading from their respective new books, "The Fires" and "The End of Major Combat Operations", at the Half King, a pub tucked into a western nook of lower Manhattan. About 40 people had gathered to hear the two young authors speak about their work. Flood went first, excerpting his account of New York City's comprehensive implosion in the 1970s (plot lines include failures in systems analysis, the work of the Lindsay-appointed fire commissioner, John O'Hagan, and the RAND Corporation). Ed Koch called "The Fires" a "spectacular and insightful account"—a blurb coup—and Flood's reading justified the praise.

McDonell, a Time correspondent and young writer best known for his novels (most recently "An Expensive Education"), followed with a reading from several chapters of "The End of Major Combat Operations", an account of the Iraq war based on a month spent embedded with the 3rd Brigade of the United States Army's 1st Cavalry Division in 2009. "It's hard to have a remotely pleasant experience when you try to think about these things on a nice spring evening," McDonell noted before speaking candidly about his experiences in Baghdad and Mosul.

Afterward the authors answered questions about their reporting and writing strategies. "The beauty is in getting out of the way, and in conveying a lot of information without the reader really noticing," Flood offered. "I write about what's in front of me—what I see," McDonell explained. "And I try to tell stories the way you might hear them told in a bar." We'll raise a glass to that.

~ MOLLY YOUNG

Picture credit: Craig Anderson (via Flickr)