t.c. boyle has just published his 15th novel.he harder they come" he explores the violence and darker corners of the american dream. recently, he sat down with jeffrey brown at "busboys and poets," a restaurant and bookstore chain in the washington, d.c. area. >> hi, jeffery. glad to be here. >> brown: this novel i've read is based on real events. what pulled you in? what has to happen for you to say, i'm going to write this story? >> it's a story about american violence, particularly american gun violence, the lone shooter. so like everybody else in the country, i'm disturbed by why this happens, where it's happening. so i found a news store out of northern california in which a lone shooter who happened to be schizophrenic and supplied with automatic weapons by a generous society killed two people in the woods. >> brown: so there's the story that you have and you build up that, but then there's a quote at the beginning by d.h. lawrence, the essential american soul is hard, isolat stoic and a killer. it has never melted. the ame

we have candice bergen, t.c. boyle, roy choi, your favorite billy idol, joyce carol oates jason segel. polly perretti. octavia spencer. there is someone for everyone. families foodies, hipsters students. more than 100 conversations on everything from california crime noir to digital privacy rights to the future of american identity. host: what kind of reaction do you get? guest: it has been an immediate success. when we started, he became a cornerstone event in los angeles' culture. people market it all year long. it has been a signature events. the "los angeles times" invites everyone to celebrate this great city. it has grown to one of the largest festivals of its kind. there's nothing like it anywhere in the u.s. it started simply. it was about bringing together people who create books and people who love to read them. it has grown into a much daughter celebration. we have a big book award we give out every year. we are adding something new called an idea exchange. malcolm gladwell will be in conversation with the "

candice bergen can t.c. boyle, brian grazer, your favorite, billy idol joyce carol oates patton oswald jason segal, john scohazzi o.k. they've ya spencer, there's something for everyone. students, hipper ises, spanish -- hipsters, spanish-language programming. more than a hundred considerations on everything from digital privacy rights to the future of the american identity. >> host: what kind of reaction do you get from the community to a book fest? >> guest: you know it's been an immediate success. when it was started to 20 years ago, it right away became a cornerstone event in los angeles culture. people mark it out all year long. it's been a signature event. it's been kind of a way the los angeles times invites all kinds of folks around the community come celebrate this great city. it's grown to one of the largest festivals of its kind. there's really nothing like it anywhere in the united states. you know, it started very simply as brupging together -- bringing together people who create books and people who

some notable names candice bergen, t.c. boyle roy choy the chef. brian grazer. your favorite billy idol. joyce carole oates. patton oswalt. giants segel, paula peretti. john scelasi the science fiction writer. tavis smiley. octavia spencer. there's something for everyone. families foodies, hipsters, students spanish language programming. more than 100 conversations on everything from california, crime noir to digital privacy rights to the future of the american identity. >> what kind of reaction do you get from the community to a bookfest? >> you know, it's been an immediate success. when it was started 20 years ago it right away became a cornerstone event in los angeles culture. people market out all year long. it's been a signature event. it's been kind of a way the "los angeles times" invites folks from all around the community to come celebrate this great city. it's grown to one of the largest festivals of its kind. there's really nothing like it anywhere in the united states. it start the very simply bringing together people who create books and people who

we have candice bergen, t.c. boyleroy choi, your favorite billy idol, joyce carol oates jason segel. polly perretti. octavia spencer. there is someone for everyone. families foodies, hipsters students. more than 100 conversations on everything from california crime noir to digital privacy rights to the future of american identity. host: what kind of reaction do you get? guest: it has been an immediate success. when we started, he became a cornerstone event in los angeles' culture. people market it all year long. it has been a signature events. the "los angeles times" invites everyone to celebrate this great city. it has grown to one of the largest festivals of its kind. there's nothing like it anywhere in the u.s. it started simply. it was about bringing together people who create books and people who love to read them. it has grown into a much daughter celebration. we have a big book award we give out every year. we are adding something new called an idea exchange. malcolm gladwell will be in conversation with the "lo