Archive for the 'book signing' Category

Gentle readers,

I’ve returned from a longer than anticipated blogging absence. I went on a relaxing 9 day vacation to Michigan, thinking that I would probably catch up on some book review posts there. I wound up barely touching a computer the whole time. I did finish six books while I was there, which was lovely.

So I’m back with many posts and reviews to catch up on, and I might as well start by throwing my two cents into the book blogosphere about what’s sure to be a much read & reviewed book this year, Yann Martel’s new novel Beatrice and Virgil.

A Little Backstory:

In late 2007, my friend Laura and I went to a book event for the Illustrated edition of Life of Pi. It was fantastic to meet Yann Martel, and he told us about his upcoming book. He said it was called The Twentieth Century Shirt, and it was a Holocaust book that featured a monkey and a donkey having a conversation on a shirt. It was to be a “flip-book” – a novel on one side, and then if you flipped it over, there would be an essay on the reverse side, “upside-down” and with it’s own cover. Here is my original post from 2007 about the event.

News & release date info about Yann Martel’s new book came out earlier this year, and the title was not The Twentieth Century Shirt, but Beatrice and Virgil. When I finally held it in my hands I saw that it was not a flip book. I realized he must have completely changed his mind about the title and format of the book, or this was a different book altogether.

So I began reading Beatrice and Virgil, not really knowing what to expect. A few pages in, the reader learns that the main character, Henry, is a famous Canadian author. He then begins working on a second book (this info is not really any sort of spoiler, it all occurs within the first few pages), and the book he’s writing is a flip book about the Holocaust. At this point I became incredibly curious about how the book Yann Martel told us he was writing in 2007 became what seemed to be a book inside the book I was reading. On Friday last week I went to see Yann Martel again at a book signing at Borders, and I had a chance to ask him about the writing process that changed the book he described in 2007 into Beatrice and Virgil. Notes about his reply are at the end of this post, but first I’ll post a few thoughts about the novel.

My thoughts on Beatrice & Virgil:

I really don’t want to say too much about the plot of the novel, because it’s unlike anything I’ve ever read and I think part of its power comes from going into it not knowing much about the plot.

This book is inevitably going to get compared to Life of Pi. “Is it as good as Life of Pi?!” people will prod those they know who’ve read it first. In my opinion, no, it’s not. Life of Pi is one of the best books I’ve ever read. An author would be lucky to write a book half as good as Life of Pi, and they would still have written an excellent book. So it’s unfortunate for Yann Martel that he has to be compared to himself, because Beatrice and Virgil is a great book.

I really enjoyed reading it. It’s unusual (in a good way), and opens up your mind to a new way of thinking about what a “Holocaust Book” is, and what it should or can be. The ideas presented in the novel are its most compelling atributes. Looking back on the experience of reading it, I wasn’t really reading to find out what happens next. It was a page turner because the ideas and thoughts that the characters have are so interesting. I wasn’t reading to find out what becomes of the characters, but rather to find out what they’re thinking. It’s an unusual reading experience but it’s one that works in this case.

If I had one problem with the novel, it would be the ending. It felt a little hurried to me, and it didn’t move me quite as much as I expected. (I’m talking about the ending of the prose, not the end section of “Games for Gustav,” which is incredible and kind of genius.)

Beatrice and Virgil is a thought provoking novel that is also a very enjoyable read. It would serve very well for discussions, and I’m excited that my book club has selected it for June.

Notes from the book event:

-When I asked Yann Martel about the process of turning his flip book concept into the book published today, he immediately said, with a smile but serious nonetheless, that the process was torturous. He started off with a play, the same play that’s partially featured inside Beatrice and Virgil. He wrote an essay to accompany the play, and did intend to publish them as a flip book. His publishers then advised him that the essay seemed to weigh down the play, and so he did away with it. The play eventually became part of the overall novel. The beginning of the novel and the character of Henry seem autobiographical, but he only used a few main similarities, and only so far as they suited his purpose in the novel.

-The audience also asked him more about his project called “What is Stephen Harper Reading?” This is a completely awesome project & website, where Yann (concerned about Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s disregard for the Arts) sends a book and a letter to Stephen Harper every two weeks. More (extremely interesting) backstory can be found on the About page, and the site contains all 79 books sent thus far, as well as the letters that Yann wrote to accompany each book.

-Yann Martel is awesome.

Extras:

An interview with Yann Martel that also talks a bit about the process of changing his flip book into the novel Beatrice & Virgil.

A video introduction to the book, from Yann Martel:

Garrison Keillor

Last night I saw Garrison Keillor for the fifth time at his book event for Pilgrims at the Lincoln Center Barnes and Noble. He’s an incredible speaker and storyteller, and it’s such a privilege to listen to him in person.

This was a particularly special night, since it was his first book signing post-stroke. He’s doing incredibly well, thank goodness.

He started off the evening by reciting three of his sonnets. (His sonnets, which I love, are collected in 77 Love Sonnets.) Then he talked for a while and told us the story of his stroke. He introduced his book – it sounded like he was doing a monologue about the plot of the book – telling the story of the beginning of the book, without actually reading word for word. It was fantastic. Then he took questions and signed books. I always laugh so much at his events, and love his stories, so I attempted to take notes and translate them after the event.

I’ve come up with a system for noting how well I think I did sharing his stories:
Regular font means I’m just paraphrasing what he said.
Italic means I think I got it down as he said it, might big a bit off.
“Quotation Marks” mean I know I got the quote spot on.

Here we go:

On the pleasures of singing in choir in high school:
Choir is as close as you can stand to girls and not be weird.

His Stroke Story:
He was at a coffee shop ordering a Venti Latte when all of a sudden he started feeling odd. His speech was slurred. The barista noticed, and asked if he was ok. He said he was fine and left and went to his car. (Men are capable of incredible feats when in the presence of women.) He drove from Minneapolis to St. Paul, and when he got to St. Paul he just kept going to the emergency room. He parked in a no parking spot and went to check in.

The woman who checked him in wrote this about him on his admission report (it was sent to him later in the mail, with his paperwork:
“A nice, 67 year old man, awake, alert, and appropriate.”

“I cherish this.”

He’s felt enormously lucky ever since his stroke.

On NYC:
“NYC is a place I would rather be than just about anywhere else, although you shouldn’t tell that to anyone back where I’m from.”

On who will win the Tigers-Twins series:
The city of Detroit is in such dire straits that we Minnesotans, being Christians, cannot hope to beat them.

On recording an audio book (he said it would have to be his memoirs):
I really can’t write my memoirs until my mother dies, and she’s 94 and still hanging in there.

Someone asked what amount of the Prairie Home Companion show is scripted and what amount is ad-lib:
The skits are scripted, because actors like scripts. He likes to throw in lines during the skits.
His monologue is not scripted. “If you’ve lived a long enough life, you’ll have plenty to talk about.”

That’s about all I got that can be somewhat easily explained here. As with most things in life, it’s not a substitute for being there, but hopefully an enjoyable snapshot nonetheless.

I’m excited to read his new book. It’s about a group of Minnesotans from, of course, Lake Wobegon, who travel to Rome, along with Gary Keillor (sort of an alter-ego to Garrison).

Signed copy of “Pilgrims”

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Lisa See

The Lisa See event last night was excellent. It’s wonderful to hear her speak about her books and the research that goes into them, and her family.

I tried to scribble down notes to share with all of you, and sort of succeeded. I definitely don’t have anywhere close to everything that she spoke about, nor are my notes nearly as eloquent as her storytelling was. Here are my notes, and apologies that they are sort of a hodge-podge.

When she began to think about writing this book, she knew she was interested in writing about three things:
1. Her Great-Grandfather brought a lot of “paper” merchants into the country, and his wife was a paper wife.
2. After the second major fire in China City, only one building remained intact. Her family moved their store into this building, and she spent a lot of time there as a child.
3. The confession program in the late 1950s that targeted the Chinese in America. People were asked to confess that they were here illegally, and by doing so were promised citizenship. The catch was that you were expected to rat out your neighbors and even your family members. You hit the jackpot if you could identify someone else as being a “communist.” This program destroyed communities and families.

-Many people who lived through the Confession Program don’t like to talk about it (understandably). However, some people were willing to talk about it, and Lisa See heard many of their stories. One man who now lives in Washington DC had a family – 5 kids (all born in the US) and his wife. He confessed to try to gain citizenship for his family, but his wife was deported. They fought in court for 8 years before they won. Another example was a man now in his 80s – he and his brother went together to confess to get their citizenship. 52 years later – they have never told their children or their grandchildren that they came here illegally before eventually confessing for their citizenship. The reason? They feel that since they aren’t dead yet, it’s still not safe for them to tell.

-The deepest part of Shanghai Girls is about the sense of loss that we feel for people we no longer have in our lives. People who are gone, who we’ve lost; places that we can never go back to and wouldn’t recognize even if we could.

-She and Amy Tan recently went to China together to do some research in some of the smaller villages. They lived in the same house and traveled together. In a few years when the books that each of them were researching come out it will be interesting to see what the books are like and how they each used the same experience in different ways.

And – perhaps the most important thing I learned last night (and important to others who have already read Shanghai Girls) – her next book is in fact a sequel.

Shanghai Girls – Signed by Lisa See

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On Saturday, Ryan and I went to a Neil Gaiman event that was part of the Pen World Voices Festival. The event was fantastic; Neil is an excellent speaker and very funny.

Neil Gaiman

My favorite part of the discussion was his thoughts about the creative process. He said that any creative person (writer, designer, artist, etc.) often works better when working within certain parameters. If an editor says to a writer, “I want you to write something for me, it can be absolutely anything you’d like,” and you’ll observe how absolutely nothing comes out. However, when you give people creative guidelines, they thrive. You can tell them you’re collecting pieces for an anthology about cats who think they’re Shakespeare, or Shakespeare thinking he’s a cat, and you’ll be flooded with submissions. (He explained this thinking much more eloquently than I just did.) I really like this example, and I’m going to try to keep it in mind when I’m trying to work on a creative project. I often give myself wide open parameters as well, and I bet I would come up with more ideas if I set some guidelines for myself to stick to.

Neil Gaiman

There’s a picture of him signing books. I got my copy of The Graveyard Book signed:

Signed “The Graveyard Book”

Also, I just found a great, detailed description of the event and what Neil spoke about on this blog, if you’re interested in reading more about the event. You can also actually listen to the entire event on the Pen World Voices website if you’d like.

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Junot Diaz

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.

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Books Purchased:

Books Purchased – March 2008

I found some awesome books and book deals this month. I picked up Clemetine’s Letter, Armageddon in Retrospect, and Unaccustomed Earth at Strand before they were released for 50% off, and Unaccustomed Earth was signed by Jhumpa. I picked up the Neal Pollack Anthonogy of American Literature at the Harvard Book Store in Cambridge. It was only $7 and was also signed. I got a cute kid’s book I’d never heard of before, Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters, at the Concord Bookshop. The 2004 Best American Non-required Reading was only $3 at the Border’s by Emma’s town. The remaining book, The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million, I got at the Chelsea BN before it closed. I’ve been eying this book since it came out and could not resist it anymore now that it’s in paperback.

Books Read:

Books Read – March 2008

Peony in Love by Lisa See
Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut
The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Clementine’s Letter by Sara Pennypacker

In my post about Boston, I did not go into much detail about what I purchased at the wonderful bookstores I visited, or the things I collected in general. In the comments I promised to show what books I purchased in my March Polysyllabic Spree post, but just showing the books was a bit underwhelming. So here’s a photo of some of the other great things I collected while I was there:

Boston Loot

And here are close ups of some of my favorite things. If you like them too you can click to make them bigger.

Book events in March:

This month I went to two book events. The first was for Lisa See, the author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Peony in Love (and many other books). I loved both of these books, and I was thrilled that she talked about the books and how she researched them, rather than just reading. So much more fascinating, especially since the books are such rich examples of historical fiction, and required extensive background to write.

Signed copy of Peony in Love

Signed copy of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

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I also went to an event for the humor book Things I’ve Learned from Women Who’ve Dumped Me, an anthology published by Ben Karlin. Also at the event were contributers Andy Selsberg and Adam Schlesinger (also the songwriter and bassist for Fountains of Wayne). That event was a lot of fun, and the book seems hilarious too (from the small sections I’ve read or heard so far).

Signed copy of Things I’ve Learned from Women Who’ve Dumped Me

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My Mistress’s Sparrow Is Dead: Great Love Stories, from Chekhov to Munro

Jeffrey Eugenides

This month two new books came out that benefit two branches of 826 National, a non-profit organization that helps school age children develop expository and creative writing skills.

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.

Jeffrey Eugenides

A few weeks ago I was able to attend an awesome event for the book, that featured Jeffrey Eugenides and George Saunders. Eugenides read from the introduction and one of the stories, and George Saunders read from his story, “Jon.”

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.

George Saunders

The Book of Other People

As I mentioned above, two books came out this month that benefit 826. The second is The Book of Other People, edited by Zadie Smith. I want to buy this book, but am waiting until my days off next week when I’m planning on visiting some independent bookstores in the city that I haven’t been to yet. I figured this will be a good purchase to make there to support an indie store, since the book itself supports 826 NYC.

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.

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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 Martel

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 Torjanac

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.

First Sketch by Tomislav Torjanac

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.

Signed Copy of Illustrated Life of Pi

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