'Private and Pithy Lessons'

I was by accident at a book signing and lecture one evening this week. I was writing on my laptop at a Barnes & Nobel in Las Vegas when, next to the area I was sitting at, author Raymond Arroyo began speaking to a small group of people. He told them he'd done a book signing the day before in Thousand Oaks, California. "Three-hundred people were there," he told them. Amazing, considering about 25 showed up for this event. In a method that was reminiscent of stand-up comics -- but this one delivered by a religious writer who came across as a minister preaching at the pulpit -- Arroyo used a high woman's voice off and on throughout his talk, mimicking Mother Angelica, who is the subject of his new book by the same name (Mother Angelica's Private and Pithy Lessons), (Mother Angelica's Private and Pithy Lessons). The group seemed to enjoy it and laughed at the voice and his jokes. To his great credit, his book has reached the New York Times' bestseller list. He cut the evening short at just under an hour. Maybe he was disappointed at the turnout.