What I did end up doing was visiting the Small Beer Press table and having a great chat with author and publisher Kelly Link and a newbie New Yorker who will hopefully leave a comment here and tell me his name. I picked up Endless Things (which sadly is the last of a series. Looks like I'll have some catch up to do before I can dive into this pretty volume) and Link offered me Carmen Dog, the book that inspired the James Triptree Jr. award.
Right next to the Small Beer table was Two Dollar Radio. I had never heard of them until I was googling around last night and a few of the books on their site sounded really good. I talked with the table guy there and bought two books (The Drop Edge of Yonder, which I think I'll either really like or absolutely hate, and 1940, a book to continue my recent interest in historical fiction).
Next over was a table with beautiful, but expensive books. A quarter of the table was taken by a letterpress stationary creator who made beautiful cards. I bought some with a simple, elegant design. Get ready, penpals!
At this point, it's getting very close to five, the close of the fair. Even so, I got to see my buddy Goodloe Byron who was surprisingly ebullient on three hours' sleep.
Talking with Kelly Link made me realize how many of the books I read this year are still unreviewed. Only a few more weeks to go before the year is out. How did that happen?
(Please excuse the crappy photo quality. You can see exactly what these books look like if you click on the links, know what I'm saying?)
6 comments:
Hey that sounds great! Another fair to got to... I couldn't go to.
Do you know there was a exhibition of Italian comic artists in Brooklyn? And while I was THERE!
The cover of endless things is very pleasing, that stationary paper is good looking too.
I had an incredibly vivid dream this past weekend, that I was on my way to visit you in NYC, but realised I had forgotten to call you and let you know...and hadn't brought my address book, and didn't have your phone number programmed into my cellphone...it was a total anxiety dream, the sort where you are trying to triumph over some grand obstacle but feel like you are swimming in pudding.
I think it's a sign, I was meant to come see you and attend this publishing/ press fair. Drats! Next year...
: )
Sim- guess what? you had a quintessential New York experience: missing something amazing and only finding out about it later because you had a million other things to do.
Amanda- Don't worry, I am easy to find if you know where to look, and I think you do. You could come next year for this, or for the Brooklyn Book Fest in the summer...
Ach, I sort of wanted to come to this. But I already have a huge stack of books waiting to read, and I didn't want to miss my yoga class. How freaking lame is that.
I'm halfway through the Maureen McHugh stories, and they're wonderful Carrie. I'm reminded of two other things I've read over the last few years that have haunted me like these stories: Marina Carr's play 'By the Bog of Cats' and Marilynne Robinson's 'Housekeeping'. I'm not sure why, maybe all the M's. Talking to you and Kelly Link last Sunday totally made my day. Enjoying your blog too.
Thanks Michael! I am really glad that you are enjoying them. If you like audio fiction (and I remember that you might) here is a link to the first story in the book read aloud at Podcastle:
http://podcastle.org/2008/12/10/pc036-ancestor-money/
Also, email me!
Post a Comment