9 posts tagged “book signing”
I was thrilled to have another chance to see Junot Diaz last night. His first event was immediately after The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao was published, and I had not read it, or his very well regarded short story collection Drown, so I did not go to last year's signing. The paperback of Oscar Wao came out on Tuesday, hence yesterday's event. In the year between the two events, I read and loved Oscar Wao and Junot was busy winning the Pulitzer Prize for it.
Junot is an excellent speaker and an awesome guy. He's funny, intelligent, and humble. I've also enjoyed listening to several audio interviews with him - the always amazing KCRW Bookworm program has had him on the program twice, and you can listen to the interviews in full - here are links to the interviews for Oscar Wao and Drown. iTunes also did a recent Meet the Author interview with him, you can listen to that here. And finally, here's a great Barnes and Noble Meet the Writer audio interview.
The event was awesome - it was completely packed and Junot was awesome. He read to us from an old story called "The Sun, The Moon, The Stars" about a guy who cheats on his girlfriend and she finds out. They have a trip to the Dominican Republic planned together, and they decide to go on it anyway. The story was hilarious, and one of my favorite lines of the evening was an aside he spoke to the crowd in between sections of the story, "Having trouble with your fucking partner? Travel not."
He also read a little section of an early draft of a novel he's working on now, called Dark America. It's not set on this planet, it's set on a different planet that also has a country called America, with a different history than ours. It's about two Cyborg killers, going through a hard time in their relationship.
I haven't read Drown yet, but I own it now. I picked up a copy of both his books at Strand on Wednesday to take to the signing. I'm looking forward to reading it.
A side note - I stood in line behind a women who got two books signed and then said the words all authors probably dread hearing at a signing "I brought something for you too." Oy. Junot was incredibly nice about it, "Oh....is it a story?" Of course it was. He asked (jokingly and politely), "Is it any good?" She declared that it was "wonderful." Ok. She could have left it at that. She went on, "I'm confident that one day I'll be where you are." Wow. That's bold and ballsy to say that to a Pulitizer Prize winner! I thought she was obnoxious and blushed on her behalf. He was very humble and nice though, and said that she shouldn't shoot for that - she should aim higher, she doesn't want to be where he is. Which is sweet. Of course any unpublished writer would be happy being where he is (most would be thrilled with lower, too).
He's awesome and unusual in the way he signs. He doesn't sit up at the big podium and have people climb a few stairs to get to him and stand on the other side of the table while he signs your books. He walked over to the front of the line and introduced himself to the first person there and signed books standing up while talking to them. Each person got an introduction and a handshake. It was very cool. I got there really early and was toward the front, so I don't know if he ever went to sit down out of exhaustion (there were hundreds of people), but it didn't seem like he would.
My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead: Great Love Stories, from Chekhov to Munro, edited by Jeffrey Eugenides, benefits 826 Chicago.
Here are the authors you'll find in the collection: Stuart Dybek, Denis Johnson, William Trevor, Eileen Chang, Anton Chekhov, George Saunders, Richard Ford, Isaac Babel, Gilbert Sorrentino, Lorrie Moore, Alice Munro, William Faulkner, Harold Brodkey, Milan Kundera, Miranda July, Bernard Malamud, Deborah Eisenberg, Raymond Carver, David Gates, Mary Robison, James Joyce, Guy de Maupassant, Grace Paley, David Bezmozgis, Robert Musil, and Vladimir Nabokov. Plus an introduction by the editor, Jeffrey Eugenides.
What a powerhouse of incredible authors, both classic and contemporary.
I was lusting about the book as soon as I heard rumblings about it last year, and in love with the book as soon as I held it in my hands. Like everything that has anything to do with Dave Eggers and McSweeney's, its design is impeccable and striking.
While the book's theme is Love, Eugenides warns that not all of the stories are about traditional love, nor will they all have a happy, mushy ending. Eugenides, and the authors he's selected, are more interested in Love as a powerful human emotion that arrives in many different ways and often has many unusual stories to tell.
I've read a few of the stories so far, and was familiar with a few before buying. It's an incredible collection, and worth owning.
They both took questions from the audience, which were mostly great except for the first question from a woman who anxiously asked why Jeffrey decided to kill all five sisters in The Virgin Suicides. He politely answered that five suicide attempts would not make a very interesting book, which cracked us all up. (If you haven't read the book yet, I promise that wasn't a spoiler, he tells you they are all going to do it on page 1.)
It was amazing to meet Jeffrey Eugenides and hear him read and speak. People from Michigan take a lot of pride in him, and love that he's set his first two novels in our great mitten state. He also doesn't tour very much, and generally shys away from public appearances.
But the real treat (probably a surprise for many there who had never heard of Saunders before) was listening to George Saunders read from "Jon." First of all, the story is great, and he explained how he came up with its tone (basically the beginning of a paper one of his students wrote that used a lot of important/big words to say something not very intelligent). And his reading voice for the story was hilarious and perfect. My sides hurt from laughing. The friend I went with hadn't heard of him before that event, but is now a big fan, plans on reading much more of his work, and wants to go to more of his events.
The concept of this collection is interesting. According to Zadie Smith in the introduction, "The instruction was simple: make somebody up." The cool thing about this one is that all of the contributions are original, done especially for this collection. It includes many of my favorite authors: Dave Eggers, Vendela Vida, George Saunders, Nick Hornby, and Jonathan Lethem. And many more that I can't list because I don't have the book in front of me.
Just like My Mistress's Sparrow is Dead, The Book of Other People has a great cover, with art similar to covers from The Believer, by Charles Burns.
Once in a while I come across a request to think about my top five favorite books, and the list I decide on is always different. That's because, as most true book lovers know, it's impossible to pick only five favorites. However, one book that always seems to be on the list is Life of Pi by Yann Martel. And if you asked me to pick my favorite book of all time, this is the book that would come to mind first, before I started remembering other books and getting worried about how to ever pick a favorite favorite. The reason this book soars higher than all others to me is simple: no book has ever moved me as much as this one.
Thursday night I went to an event at the Barnes & Noble on 82nd and Broadway for the new edition of Life of Pi. The new special edition is a hardcover illustrated by Tomislav Torjanac. Both Tomislav and Yann were at the event, and it was an incredible evening. The new edition is spectacular; it includes over 30 full color, full page illustrations, and many additional smaller ones.
Yann
spoke for a bit on how the illustrated edition came to be. His American
publisher approached him about coming out with a new illustrated
edition, because he remembered reading and loving illustrated editions
of Robert Louis Stevenson when he was a boy. Yann had similar fond
memories of illustrated editions of Jules Vern's books. Yann mentioned how rare it is to see illustrated books for adults, and what a shame that is. It's especially strange since we live in such a visual world - TV, internet, movies, etc.
Tomislav won the contest held to find an illustrator for Life of Pi,
out of over 1000 entries. Each entrant had to send one full color
illustration that showed their interpretation and vision for how the
book should be illustrated. Yann told us that one of the reasons
Tomislav stood out to him and the selection jury because he was the
only one who chose to send in the scene at the end of the book, with
the two Japanese men. As you might imagine, they received an enormous
amount of entries that were pictures of a boy and a tiger in a
lifeboat.
I
liked the illustrations before the event, and now I love them. They
talked about many of the paintings in the book and displayed them on a
large projector screen. They also showed us Yann's own drawings of the
life raft he made while he was writing the book. Tomislav talked about
his own creative process, and showed us several examples of his three
steps: sketch, painting, and digital retouching/detailing.
During the Q&A, someone asked "Why a tiger?" Yann said he was first planning on having Pi stuck in a lifeboat with an infant Indian elephant. He eventually nixed this idea because it seemed too funny, and not as troublesome of a situation. He then considered a rhino. But rhinos are herbavores, and Yann decided a constant search for algae was not as interesting.
Yann also talked about life after Pi. He's finished a new book called The Twentieth Century Shirt. It's a flip book - a two covered book with a novel on one side, and an essay on the other side. He said the novel features a monkey and a donkey having a conversation on the front of a shirt. It's a book about the Holocaust. I think only Yann could make this work. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until at least fall 2008 (but most likely 2009) to read it.
In honor of the theme of the book, Paul Binder (founder of The Big Apple Circus) wrote the afterword to the book, and also talked at the event. Hilary also asked the kids in attendance to name their favorite animals that they would want to see in a circus, and then mashed them all together into one new super animal, which he drew for us:
The Eloise books, like most of the children's books that have become classics, are brilliant because the pictures and text work equally to make it a masterpiece. They are both extraordinary, but each would not work without the other. Some books may have wonderful pictures, or wonderful text, but in order to become timeless they have to have both. And Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight had an incredibly rare work relationship...they actually worked together on each book, and the books were an outcome of their teamwork. Most children's book authors and illustrators never meet.
Yesterday I went to see Garrison Keillor at the Union Square Barnes and Noble, for his new novel Pontoon. It made me pleasantly nostalgic because the first book signing I went to after moving to New York was a Garrison Keillor book signing, for the script of A Prairie Home Companion. That was a little over a year ago.
Here's a secret: I don't really like book readings. Might sound strange for someone who goes to so many, but I often get a little bored if an author is just reading a piece of their work. I'd usually rather read it myself. There are exceptions. Garrison Keillor is an exception, because his voice is more soothing than butter. Chuck Palahniuk is another example, because he's a great reader and his stories lend well to vocal performances. But most of the time, I really enjoy hearing the writer talk about the book, writing, and other things, rather than read aloud. And Garrison did just that yesterday. He entertained us with many great ideas, including how he's decided that now, having reached age 65, it's time for cheerfulness.
He read a small (1 or 2 pages) excerpt from the book, but mainly just talked to us and answered questions. That's just the way I like it. It was also fun to get to talk to him for a minute while he was signing my book; after I told him I lived in Hoboken he was interested in hearing all about the Hoboken Ferry.
I've started to notice something about large book signings, especially the ones for authors who are quite famous. In any large group of author fans, there is one person who feels compelled to stand up during the Q&A and pronounce a fact or a personal opinion, rather than ask a question. Often times the person wants to state an opinion about the book or tell how they related to a certain part or character. Then, at the end of their own speech, they somehow work in a pointless question that loosely relates to the opinion they wanted to share. Last night, it was a man who enthusiastically stood up to ask his "question" and said that he first met Garrison Keillor at the corner of 57th and 5th and that he (the "question" asker) asked Garrison if he could yell out "Garrison Keillor!!" and point at him. He then repeated what Garrison said to him at the time, which was "It would be good if you didn't." Glad we all gathered there to hear that. Fortunately, we all moved on from that and all the other questions were intelligent, and Garrison's answers were graceful and witty.
The entire event was filmed and is going to be featured on www.bn.com in October. Garrison was at his best and I highly recommend it to any other GK admirers. I wonder if they'll cut out the part with the 57th and 5th man.
"The Future you have, tomorrow, won't be the same future you had, yesterday."
-Rant
Today's Chuck Palahniuk event was incredible. The best book event I've been to so far. Strand and Palahniuk agreed to ticket the event and limit it to 150 people (Strand's first ticketed book signing ever) so that it could be a more comfortable and intimate setting for his fans. His last event at Strand had 750 people - a bit crazy.
He read an unpublished short story to us, "Cold Calling," read from his upcoming 2008 novel (Snuff), did a Q&A, asked trivia questions from his books and gave out prizes, read fan mail, told true stories, took a photo with all who desired one, and gave everyone a stuffed monkey. Entirely too much fun.
I got Choke, Rant, Fight Club, and Stranger Than Fiction signed. I also got my "wedding picture" taken with him. I look strange in the picture (and not just because of the wedding veil) but I'll post anyway, because it's hilarious.
I hope Strand does more ticketed events. Very affordable too - $35 per ticket, which got you a seat, a signed copy of Rant, and a Strand tote bag.
In 2004, I read a collection of autobiographical essays called Why I'm Like This by Cynthia Kaplan. I enjoyed the collection very much, and was delighted to hear that she had another collection coming out called Leave the Building Quickly and that she would be holding a reading and signing in New York. Her essays are often humorous, and always relatable.
It was a rather small and intimate event, with a lot of her friends and family showing up to support her. She's not the most well-known author around, so her event was not as "large scale" as others I've been to - which was an extremely nice change. It's nice to not have to show up an hour and 30 minutes early to get a seat, and wait an hour in line after the reading to get your copies signed. Another plus - she is incredibly nice. Sincere, friendly, and appreciative.
If personal essays are your cup of joe, especially humorous ones (she's been likened to David Sedaris), then I recommend checking out the lovely Mrs. Kaplan's books. (And I think you should start with her first, Why I'm Like This.)
She also has a website, where you can listen to free audio files of some of her essays: http://www.cynthiakaplan.com/
She told us the reader's digest version of how she became a writer, and then read 4 passages from the novel. The passages were: the first part of the introduction, the part where we're introduced to Blue's father, the first time we meet Hannah in the grocery store, and the scene in the woods with Hannah - after they wander off from the group.
Marisha told us about how she grew up in a book friendly home; she was always reading. She grew up with Dracula and Catcher in the Rye, among many others. In college she wrote two failed novels. The first was a Who Dun It murder mystery, that she says was way too obvious - it was very clear from the beginning "who dun it." The second was a southern novel that had no plot. It wasn't even a stream of consciousness, it was more like a "stream of unconsciousness."
She graduated from college and took an entry level job at Price Waterhouse Coopers. It was there, under the florescent lights, in her tiny cubicle her co-workers called "veal fattening pens" she thought of the idea of a novel about a father-daughter relationship.
Marisha was extremely warm and friendly to the crowd, and talked to each of us as she signed our books. Along with personalizing it and signing, she wrote a quote from Blue's Father: "Always live your life with your biography in mind." I love it! Here is my book:
