Last night Pulitzer-Prize winner Jane Smiley read from her newest novel Golden Age to a packed room at the Iowa City Public Library.

Smiley didn’t give a reading like most authors do. Instead of reading from one section of the novel followed by questions, Smiley chose to have it be more audience driven. But, be warned:

“If no one raises their hand, I’ll call on you anyways,” Smiley joked. Having taught English at Iowa State University for over a decade, she knows how to get an audience asking questions.

Above all, Smiley was obviously interested in what her audience had to say. One audience member said Smiley clearly wasn’t from Iowa because she wasn’t out to destroy it in her novels. Being from Missouri, Smiley laughed.

Golden Age follows the story of the next generation of Langdons, a family Smiley has been following since Some Luck in Oct. 2014, and around whom the Last Hundred Years trilogy revolves.

While Smiley had good intentions with audience participation, the passages she read did not engage the entire audience. The first passage was based on a farm, which seemed to lose some members. However, the later passages reengaged the audience as she spoke about travels in Greece and horseback riding.