Author Nick Flynn reads to UCF

With a mop of tousled hair and clad in dress pants, a button-up shirt and worn sneakers, critically acclaimed author Nick Flynn stood before a classroom in UCF's Biological Sciences building at 7:33 p.m. on Tuesday. His reading was off to a late start because Flynn's driver was still searching for a parking spot.

"He's a good guy so we'll wait," Flynn joked. "You can keep talking for now."

Flynn's reading, sponsored by UCF's Creative Writing MFA Program and the Atlantic Center for the Arts, drew out a crowd of more than 100 people. With limited seats, some sat cross-legged on the floor while others stood along the walls.

"If you all weren't here, this would really be a bust," Flynn said. "It's really nice to see people sitting on the floor. I've only seen that once before. It was like a rock show."

Flynn started the evening by giving his audience an exclusive look at the trailer for "Being Flynn," the film adaptation of his memoir "Another Bullshit Night in Suck City." With a cast including Paul Dano, Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore, everyone in the room was riveted while Flynn, having worked with director and screenwriter Paul Weitz, was satisfied with the project.

"I think everyone did a really great job," he said.

That's not to say that there weren't disheartening moments on the set. With a slideshow of pictures taken during production in the background, Flynn read excerpts from his recent work, tentatively titled "Constant Resurrections," which details his experiences while working on the project.

The passages included the unnerving experience of watching Moore play Flynn's late mother in her final moments before committing suicide, which Flynn could only describe as "dreamlike." The story was intercut with talk of phantom limbs and a conversation with the actor playing an 11-year-old Flynn.

The audience was enthralled as Flynn read his recent poems and an excerpt from "Suck City," which compared his troubled father to mythical patriarchs. His father, a sometimes-homeless alcoholic with a criminal record and a knack for writing, was the subject of much of his reading.

"He's pretty confident of himself," Flynn said of his father. "[He thinks] that he's going to be a lot more famous than me."

For a memoirist, the fear of insulting people in their work often leads writers to exclude important details. Some wait for the featured individuals to pass away before having it published, but this wasn't the case for Flynn.

"I tried but my father is tough," he explained. "I couldn't wait him out."

All joking aside, Flynn did acknowledge the importance of his father.

"In the process of writing [Suck City], I developed an extreme compassion for him," Flynn said.

Before wrapping up, Flynn offered sage advice to aspiring writers in the form of what he called "a triad" – three things that all writers should do: read regularly, write daily and be part of a community of writers. Flynn also suggested that hopeful memoirists find some colorful characters in their own lives before putting pen to paper.

"If you're thinking about writing a memoir, you should have a great alcoholic to write about or a Protestant background."

The night concluded with a line out the door of people waiting for Flynn to sign one of his books for them or to take a picture with them. Among those in line were Christine Johns and Hillary Casavant.

"It was awesome," junior English literature major Johns said. "His reading had such variety, and he was very personable."

Casavant, a senior creative writing major, agreed.

"I always admire people who can write creative nonfiction," she said. "I was motivated to buy his books. I'm kind of hopping on the bandwagon, but I'm really glad I am."

Flynn's most recent memoir, "The Ticking is the Bomb," and "Suck City," can both be purchased at the UCF Bookstore.