Attorney Drew Bunker was born and raised in Ohio, moved to Miami seven years ago, and now calls Miami Beach home. He became a Friend of the Fair in 2018 and hasn’t looked back since.
How did you first hear about Miami Book Fair?
Through my friends, also transplants, who had been in Miami a little bit longer than me. They were big Book Fair fans – we all love to read – and they’re the ones who told me about it. I wasn’t really sure what to expect the first time I went, but it was definitely more than I could have imagined.
When did you become a Friend?
A friend bought me a membership in 2018 and I’ve kept it up ever since. Going to the Fair as a Friend is a much better experience. [laughs] Not that being a regular guest at the Fair isn’t a good experience – it is. But being a Friend just enhances it.
What’s your coolest MBF moment?
I’ll tell you my biggest regret first.
Oh, no!
Yeah, and that’s missing Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor when she was at Book Fair in 2018. I couldn’t get tickets in time – that’s just the way it shook out. But seeing John Waters the following year was a high point. That was a great conversation. He’s very interesting and I was really glad I got to see him.
Is there an author you didn’t know before seeing them at MBF, but whose work you began reading/following afterward?
I can’t say that there’s a specific author, but there is a genre. I hadn’t paid much mind to graphic novels before Book Fair, but after going to several events where authors of graphic novels spoke, I started reading those. Without that exposure, I don’t think I would have.
I love that! You’re the first person who’s told me they discovered a whole new genre at the Fair.
[laughs]What was the last great book that you read?
I enjoy epic fantasy, and the last book I read was Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson. It’s a big, sprawling story – it’s only book four of the (Stormlight Archives) series – and it connects to other series he’s written, so it’s like this epic that spans different planets in this fantasy universe that he’s created. There’s a sci-fi element to it as well. Gosh, how do I describe it? It’s basically a conflict happening on a planet between good and evil, but this book draws attention to the gray area. We aren’t all good or all evil, are we? And I think it provides some commentary on that, where some of the heroes do some pretty bad things, and some of the characters portrayed as villains may ostensibly have motivations that one might think of as good.
Evil fueled by a noble cause.
Exactly. So is he a hero to his people but a villain to everyone else? I think the book wants you to draw the conclusion that he is a bad guy and I would agree, but it makes you ask those questions.
Hard left from good vs. evil to something much lighter – which book did you go back to again and again when you were a child?
When I was a kid I absolutely loved Bony-Legs by Joanna Cole. It’s a retelling of the Russian folktale of Baba Yaga, and it’s about a little girl who gets kidnapped by a witch and escapes with the help of the things and animals around the house. At one point while she’s running away she drops a hand mirror on the ground and it becomes this huge lake the witch can’t cross, and that saves her. I loved it and as you can see, I kept reading fantasy books after I grew up. [laughs]
Do you Book Fair solo or with a friend?
I frequently Book Fair alone but usually meet up with friends for lunch. A lot of my friends that Book Fair have kids, and I don’t, so their experience is really different from mine. Going alone is just as enjoyable, though. There are always friendly people in line that you can chat with about who you’re going to see or who you just saw.
What was your favorite program at MBF 2021?
Alan Cumming. I thought he was so interesting and it was a delightful program. What I most enjoyed about it was hearing him relay his stories in his own voice. He spoke a bit about his sexuality, and as a gay man myself, I always appreciate learning about the experiences of older members of the community – I’m in my 30s myself – because I think it’s important for minority communities in particular to hear about our shared history, or at least the firsthand experiences of people in our community who went before us or lived through a different era.
You’re stranded on a deserted island – what books would you want to have with you to keep your spirits up and save your sanity?
The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis – I love that book – Game of Thrones, I’ve read it so many times that I think it would be a comfort, and The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. I have such vivid memories of when I first read that. I was living in an attic apartment one summer in Columbus, Ohio, which is where I went to school, at Ohio State. It’s set on an ice planet, and I remember how it would cool me down just imagining being surrounded by ice, because there was no air conditioning in that apartment.
Brutal!
Yes, brutal – it was so hot! [laughs] I had fans on me at all times and I just remember lying on the couch sweating and reading that book.
Interview by Elisa Chemayne Agostinho.
