Rambles from a rambler

Rambles from

a rambler

With his chiseled jaw, bulky physique and daring exploits -- dropping into war zones to interview warlords, hanging with firefighters -- Sebastian Junger can seem at a distance like a slim, literary Schwarzenegger. But at a reading and signing at the Central Library last Thursday night, the “Perfect Storm” author seemed somewhere between a big, innocent kid and what one observer called “a really smart bartender” with a knack for war stories.

With occasional ramblings -- he apologized for “a huge tangent” about the time he almost sliced his Achilles tendon -- Junger spoke about his itinerant 20s, time spent “fishing around for a career” and the pieces that make up “Fire” (paperback, Harper Collins; hardback, W.W. Norton & Co.), a collection of Hemingwayesque articles from dangerous places. The book, which includes sections on the Taliban and the Northern Alliance, has taken on new urgency with the war in Afghanistan. Many of the questions that followed a brief reading came back to the war on terror and the possibility of a U.S. attack on Iraq. Junger traveled to Sarajevo “after spending my 20s doing things that felt irrelevant.” He intended to profile peril-seeking war correspondents. “I just fell completely in love with war reporting.” While he was there, a publisher bought the idea that became “The Perfect Storm,” and he returned to his home on the New England coast to write it. But immediately after turning in the manuscript, danger called again: Afghanistan just seemed like too wild a place not to see, with pickup trucks full of guys with machine guns and a warlord living in a mud palace

Junger ended up writing two pieces on guerrilla leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, who beat the Soviets back 10 times during the 1980s -- even shooting down a Soviet helicopter and converting it to a tour bus -- and later led the Northern Alliance against the Taliban.

The author talked about riding in rickety aircraft, bombs so powerful you could feel their impact 20 miles away, the Afghan invasion and the need for more U.S. aid to keep terrorists from retaking the war-torn country. “I think it’s really dangerous and outrageous that we’re dropping that country, like we did in the early ‘90s,” he said.

Thursday’s crowd ranged widely in age and style, including some attractive young women who may be Junger groupies. One evoked from him the admission that all the trips to war zones made it hard to keep a girlfriend. As the crowd moved to the lobby to get books signed, somebody said you can ask him about his relationships there too.

For more about Sebastian Junger: literati.net/Junger/

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On the circuit

Thursday

Michael Connelly, “Chasing the Dime.” Barnes & Noble, 16461 Ventura Blvd., Encino. 7:30 p.m. (818) 380-1636.

Friday

Anne Lamott, “Blue Shoe.” Beverly Hills Library, 444 Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills. 7 p.m. (310) 288-2220.

Karen Palmer, “Border Dogs.” Dutton’s Brentwood Bookstore, 11975 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles. 7 p.m. (310) 476-6263.

Saturday

Jorge Ramos, “No Borders” and “Atravesando Fronteras.” Martinez Books & Art Gallery, 1110 N. Main St., Santa Ana. “Borders”: 1 p.m.; “Fronteras”: 2 p.m. (714) 973-7900.

Tuesday

Larry Elder, “Showdown: Confronting Bias, Lies and the Special Interests That Divide America.” Barnes & Noble, 6326 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach. 8 p.m. (562) 431-2253.