Thread by @dandrezner

Oh dear. But this reminds me of my own Hanover Inn story, which involves the zombie book and is awesome. A thread: (1/8)

https://twitter.com/radiofreetom/status/1326620012665319430

This was a decade ago, at the end of an all-day U.S. foreign policy conference at Dartmouth. A few of us headed over to the Hanover Inn for a beer. Some colleagues asked me what else I was working on. I started telling them about the written-but-not-published zombie book... (2/8)

At that particular moment, Theories of International Politics and Zombies had passed peer review at @PrincetonUPress but still needed approval from the board. Ordinarily, that’s pro forma, but for the zombie book I was a touch nervous about its... unorthodox nature. (3/8)

Anyway, I’m explaining the concept of the book to my colleagues when I have a realization: one of these people is on the board at Princeton University Press. So what had started as a casual conversation suddenly becomes something closer to a job talk. (4/8)

So I’m talking up the zombie book and I can feel a bit of flopsweat because now I’m giving the hard sell. Most of my colleagues thought it was a hoot, but the Princeton board member wasn’t having it and gave me a skeptical look. And then the Hanover Inn saves me... (5/8)

As I’m talking about the book, we realize that our server — a Dartmouth undergrad — is loitering at our table. We look at him and he says, “Can I just stand here for a bit? Because this is the most interesting discussion about international relations I’ve ever heard.” (6/8)

The reaction from my colleague on the Princeton board was almost cartoon-like, with his eyebrows shooting up over his head. That moment converted him to the zombie book. (7/8)

I will always be grateful to that kid (now in his thirties) working at the Hanover Inn for making a better case for my book than I could. #fin (8/8)