Reading habits examined during C-SPAN book bus visit

It wasn't carrying rock stars, it wasn't even carrying Dave Price and the CBS' "Early Show," but the big orange tour bus that rolled into Cape Girardeau Thursday still got people excited -- excited about reading.

The C-Span2 book bus is a promotional vehicle that travels the nation with television cameras equipped to interview local authors about writing projects and local readers about their favorite nonfiction books.

Since September, the bus has made 244 stops nationwide and more than 47,134 people have climbed aboard.

The bus spent two hours at the Cape Girardeau Public Library Thursday and later visited Barnes & Noble at 3035 William St. Representatives said interviews will air during weekend programming sometime in the next month.

Many locals jumped at the opportunity to share thoughts on a book that changed their lives.

Mitch Gerber, a professor of political science at Southeast Missouri State University, chose "The Federalist Papers," as his book. It's not exactly light reading, he admitted, but Gerber said it has had a profound impact on him.

"When I was a freshman at Brooklyn College I read this in one of my first political science classes and it provoked me to think in a critical way about our intellectual life and our political culture as Americans," he said. "With any of the great books of political theory, they're fun. This is fun. That's why I like to teach it to my students."

Anne Haller, a representative of C-SPAN, said she can't pin down one book or even one genre that is a consistent favorite across the country.

Varying interests

"Every town is different. People like books about historical events, biographies. Everyone has their own interests. We've got some people reading about the Iraq war and some people reading about the Civil War."

Haller said C-SPAN uses the information gathered about reading habits to alter its programming accordingly. "We take all the information with us back to our headquarters in Washington, D.C.," she said.

Cape Girardeau City Councilwoman Debra Tracy said her favorite book, "Life Together" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, has influenced all facets of her life, from her spirituality to her decisions as an elected official.

"It's about challenges to people of faith in terms of individual responsibility," she said. "As Americans we believe very strongly in the rights of the individual, but as Thomas Merton said, 'no man is an island.' This book shows that life is about community."

Bonhoeffer was hanged in 1943 for his alleged participation in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

Cape Girardeau County prosecutor and author Morley Swingle was also interviewed for the event. But this time the book he talked about was his own. His latest book, "Scoundrels of the Hoosegow," to be published next spring recounts some of the most entertaining cases he's seen during 19 years on the job.

"I found out very few prosecutors have written about what it's like to do our job," he said.

During his C-SPAN interview, Swingle recounted one case he calls "The Camera-Shy Car Thief." In this 2004 case a man stole a vehicle not realizing it was equipped with the OnStar tracking device. He was quickly apprehended by police who used the technology to pinpoint his location.

In court the suspect waived is preliminary hearing -- doing so, he said, to spare his grandmother the shock of seeing him on television. But as the criminal left court he looked straight into a KFVS television camera and said the words "don't mess with OnStar."

"That made sure he was the lead story on the evening news," Swingle said.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245