ecisions, decisions. Here’s where I tell you about my grand and epic plans to DO ALL THE THINGS at the Brooklyn Book Festival on Sunday! (or not) Not surprisingly there are so many authors I want to see that there’s some overlap and I’ve had to make some tough decisions based on whether or not I’m able to see a particular author later on in the month/year. Please note that for each event, I’ve only named the authors I’m interested in seeing. See complete details at the website.*
10:00 AM: Laugh Your Head Off. Libba Bray.
Most likely the above event, it sounds way more fun and a good way to kick things off, but I won’t completely rule out this one: At the End of the Story [TIX REQ] w/ A.M. Homes and Nicole Krauss.
11:00 AM: Undecided/Nothing.
12:00 PM: Epic Confusion. Chuck Klosterman and Sam Lipsyte.
This one is sort of take it or leave it for me. Wish the Kate Beaton event could have been at this time.
1:00 PM: Writer as Illusionist. Steven Millhauser and Emma Straub.
I’m actually surprised to see Emma Straub on this panel… I don’t recall anything particularly fantastical in her short stories. This is during the time of the Kate Beaton even by the way. HEAVY, DRAMATIC SIGH
2:00 PM: Dangerous Laughter. Karen Russell, Elissa Schappell, Rob Spillman.
there’s an event going on with Esmeralda Santiago going on at this time that I think my mom would like to go to. Perhaps we will part ways at this time. I want her to enjoy herself too! Also I find it somewhat ironic that Dangerous Laughter is also the name of a Steven Millhauser collection, yet he’s not a part of this panel.
3:00 PM: Starring: the City
no authors listed because I’m actually more interested in the topic for this one
4:00 PM: Truth versus Memory [TIX REQ]. Myla Goldberg and Téa Obreht.
5:00 PM: Unholy Paths to Redemption. Jennifer Egan.
Though I got my copy of A Visit from the Goon Squad signed at the Brooklyn Book Festival last year I didn’t actually hear Ms Egan speak because I was in a panel about memoirs, moderated by Elizabeth Wurtzel (!!!!). So I guess it’d be nice to hear her speak this time around even though I’m still mad at Goon Squad..
In addition to the Festival itself, there are what they call “Book End Events,” which actually began yesterday. I’m hoping to go to tonight’s Brooklyn Indie Party! at Greenlight Bookstore. A Public Space, Archipelago Books, Black Balloon, BOMB Magazine, Electric Literature, Melville House, Tin House, Ugly Duckling Presse, and many others will be in attendance and there will be music, food, and drinks. After the Festival on Sunday, there is a Brooklyn Book Festival Closing Night Party at the Brooklyn Bowl which is nowhere near Borough Hall where the Festival is held! It’s actually near McCarren Park Pool where I attended my first Regina Spektor concert. I love how the public transportation directions on Google Maps involve going back into Manhattan to catch the L train.
*One thing I really don’t like about the Events Listing is that they’re only organized by location and not by time? Time would have helped in terms of deciding, I had to keep scrolling up and down. Not exactly ideal. I understand the usefulness of organizing by location (because some events are ticketed, and that is dependent on the location), but another viewing option would have been much appreciated.
here are two things I look forward to in September: Fashion’s Night Out and the Brooklyn Book Festival. Usually these two events take place within days of each other. Sadly for some idiotic reason, FNO has decided to go back to Thursday evening instead of Friday like last year (which made more sense because people don’t have work the next day, but who am I? an unfashionable, unstylish peon). Meanwhile the Brooklyn Book Festival is being held a little later this year, on Sept 18, I imagine because this time around it would have fallen on Sept 11. I’m still excited for both though even if my love of fashion has waned a bit over the years. Now the Brooklyn Book Festival lineup is looking SPIFFY TO THE MAX. Among those I want to see:
ookCourt threw a launch party this evening to celebrate the release of Siri Hustvedt’s new novel The Summer Without Men and sister Asti Hustvedt’s new book, Medical Muses: The Culture of Hysteria in Nineteenth Century Paris. Both read from their respective works (Asti went first), then they talked a bit, and finally they opened it up for questions. Both women were lovely, knowledgeable, and informative, and the overlapping themes in their books definitely allowed for a better discussion. Oh and did I mention, Paul Auster (husband of Siri Hustvedt) was in attendance? He was sitting just an arm’s length away from me.
EA was awesome! And very tiring. Surprisingly my feet didn’t hurt too much (maybe because I do a lot of walking in NYC or maybe because I worked as a bookseller and spent 7 1/2 hours standing everyday). Whatever the reason, my shoulders took the brunt of BEA madness. Luckily I took everyone’s advice and brought a suitcase to drop off my books periodically throughout the day. Only needed it on Days 1 and 2 though because Day 3 was much more low key, with much less going on. One of my favorite things about BEA was getting my hands on so many catalogs so I could see the forthcoming books. Because I don’t work at a bookstore any more, I am a bit more out of the loop than I used to be. I read enough lit blogs, sites, etc. to stay in touch but being able to see all the new releases, look up items by release date, etc. really helped me stay on top of things. That is definitely something I miss about working at B&N. It comes down to access, essentially. But I digress, below are some highlights of the past three days!
uite unexpectedly, I ended up attending the National Book Critics Circle Awards Finalist Reading yesterday evening. I heard about the event that same day, late morning. I was in bed, snuggled under the covers, scrolling through my twitter feed on my phone when I noticed there was to be a reading for the finalists of the NBCC. I thought to myself, hey isn’t Paul Murray one of the fiction nominees? That means he’ll be reading! Excited, I got out of bed, turned on LOLA (my laptop) and headed over the NBCC website to find out. Lo and behold, there was Paul Murray’s name! Rather unexpectedly, however, I noticed that he would not be reading from his novel. Instead, DONNA TARTT would be reading for him.
