The Kindness of Strangers
OK, here comes America Road Trip Update No. 3.
America Road Trip Update No. 3 is going to be predominantly promotional.
It’s also going to be a little sappy, probably, which I know is out of character for me, but I’m extremely grateful to all the kind readers who are organizing gatherings and dinners and BBQs and other such events for us all across the country, and who have invited us to spend the night their homes, and who in some cases are cordoning off designated smoking areas for me in their backyards.
If you look at our current work-in-progress itinerary at the end of this update, you’ll notice that most of our stops along the road involve “gatherings” or “meetings” with locals. These are not public events. These gatherings are being organized by readers. People I have never met before are bringing together friends, neighbors, and other members of their communities, often in their homes, to talk about America with us.
Basically, this was the pipe-dream version of how I imagined this project developing. And it’s actually developing that way, thanks to the generosity and engagement of so many of my readers. Which is … well, it’s quite moving, and I think it says something admirable about Americans.
So I hope you’ll forgive me for breaking character and getting a little mushy. I swear, I’ll get back to being cynical and hopelessly depressing about the state of everything soon. At the moment, I’m feeling overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers.
OK, here comes the promotional stuff.
In addition to the private gatherings, I’m also doing a few public events, readings and such, but these events are really just another opportunity to gather people together to share their stories and perspectives and talk about America, which is the main goal of this road trip. I’ll just be doing a little reading to set the scene, and selling and signing a few books, but the discussion is still the thing.
Here are some of those public events …
On Sunday, September 14, I’m doing a reading/discussion event at Levels Depot in Hillsboro, West Virginia. It’s a café, convenience, grocery store, and gas station all rolled into one, offering a variety of locally sourced products and “the best sausage gravy biscuits ever.” Hunters and non-hunters are welcome!
On September 17, I’m doing a backyard bonfire reading/discussion event in Chicago, hosted by Visceral Adventure, the nom de guerre of a local theater artist. Yes, this will literally take place in her backyard, and there will be an actual bonfire. If you’re in the Chicagoland area, come join us!
On September 21, I’ll be doing a reading/discussion event at the Carnegie Library in Council Grove, Kansas, the smallest town in the country with a daily newspaper, and the last stop on the old Santa Fe Trail.
On September 28, I’ll be doing a reading/discussion event at The Scout Wine Bar in Gresham, Oregon. Check out this video feature on The Scout and its owners, and, if you’re in the Portland area, come join us!
On September 29, I’ll be doing a reading/discussion event at the Barnes & Noble in Medford, Oregon. I don’t think I need to include a photo. It’s a Barnes & Noble. All their stores look pretty much the same.
The next day, Tuesday, September 30, I’m doing a reading/discussion event at The Noble Fox in Ashland, Oregon, which is just down the road from Medford. These events are being organized by the gracious Margaret Anna Alice, who will also be reading some of her work and moderating.
That’s it for public events so far. We’re working on scheduling a few more.
As you’ll see below, we’re pretty much booked all the way up to October 17-18 in New Orleans, so it’s really just the South that we’re still planning. If you’re one of the kind readers who have offered to put us up in the South—for example, in lovely little towns in North Carolina—hang with us for just a bit. We’ve got a few pending things that we can’t nail down until late August/early September. Once we sort those out, we’ll have a better sense of our route through the South.
And that last bullet point on our itinerary, i.e., New England in late October, is still totally theoretical, although there’s a certain permaculture farm in New Hampshire I would really like to visit, and I’ve been invited to do a thing at a church in Greenwich, Connecticut, which is kind of irresistible.
Oh, and, regarding New York City, some of you have inquired about a gathering there. I don’t have any public events lined up, and, honestly, it’s not my town anymore. I was micro-famous among the Lower East Side experimental theater community in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but that was twenty years ago. New York changes fast and hard. That theater community is gone. The storefront theaters my plays were first produced in are gone, replaced by luxury condos. My old theater colleagues have either left NYC or now regard me as a “Covid-denying, conspiracy-theorizing, far-right-extremist anti-vaxxer,” or whatever, and would rather snort crystallized Covid out of Donald Trump’s anal orifice than be seen with me in public.
Which is a long way of saying, if you live in New York, and would like to get together and take part in this project, sing out in the Comments below. If there are enough of you, I’ll try to find a place to do that, probably on September 9th or 10th.
OK, that’s it.
Here’s our complete work-in-progress itinerary …
New York City — September 11. Road trip kicks off at 9/11 Memorial.Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — September 12. Meetings with locals.Washington, DC — September 13. Drinks with a high-powered attorney.Hillsboro, West Virginia — September 14. Reading event at The Levels Depot.Kentucky or Ohio — September 16. (TBD)Chicago, Illinois — September 17. Visceral Adventure backyard bonfire event.Chicago, Illinois — September 18. Integrity Media Group event.Peoria, Illinois — September 19. Gathering at a local horse farm.Kansas City, Missouri — September 20. Joe’s BBQ with a theater impresario.Council Grove, Kansas — September 21. Reading event at Carnegie Library.Estes Park, Colorado — September 23. Meeting with locals.Pinedale, Wyoming — September 24. Gathering with locals.Missoula, Montana — September 26. Gathering with locals.Coeur d’Alene, Idaho — September 27. (TBD)Portland, Oregon — September 28. Reading event at The Scout in Gresham.Medford, Oregon — September 29. Reading event at Barnes & Noble.Ashland, Oregon — September 30. Gathering at The Noble Fox.San Francisco, California — October 1-3. Possible public event. (TBC)Monterey, California — October 4. (TBD)Los Angeles, California — October 6-8. Meetings with locals.Arizona — October 9. (TBD)Santa Fe, New Mexico — October 10. Gathering with locals.West Texas — October 11. (TBD)Austin, Texas — October 12-13. Gathering with locals.Somewhere else in Texas — October 14. (TBD)New Orleans, Louisiana — October 15-17. Meeting locals. Event at LSU. (TBC)The South — October 18-23. Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina? (TBD)Washington, DC — October 24. Storming the Capitol. (Just kidding!)New England — October 26-30. (TBC/TBD)And here’s the crowdfunding campaign …
Heartfelt thanks to all the kind strangers who are making this project a reality!
All best, as ever, from sunny Berlin,
CJ
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CJ Hopkins
August 14, 2025
Photo: Hugo Fernandez, Krome Detention Camp Protest, circa 1990
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