Today I went to the Boston Book Festival in Copley Square. I've been looking forward to this event for a while now and has been in my mind one of the best things about living in the Boston area. When I walk the dog pulling her off of all the trash that's covering our street I remind myself that living this close to the BBF is worth dealing with a more than moderate amount of filthy streets. So I got up early, hopped on the T and began my day of literature. I went to 3 events, got a book signed by two of my favorite authors and had fun walking around all the vendors booths.
CRIME FICTION
The first event I went to was Crime Fiction held at the Old South Church Sanctuary and included Joseph Finder, Chuck Hogen & George Pelecanos. I wish I knew who the moderator was as she was great, funny and kept things moving along nicely. The program says Hank Phillipi Ryan but if so she's the pertiest Hank I ever done see. I haven't read anything by the following presenters but I'm still glad I went, they were an entertaining bunch.
Joseph Finder is the author of multiple crime books the latest is Buried Secrets. He was funny & charming. At one point the moderator put him on the spot asking him to sign after he told a story about singing with Ella Fitzgerald back in the day and he took it really well. He would often ask the other 2 presenters questions that you could tell he was curious about rather than setting them up for something good to say for the performance.
Chuck Hogan is best known for Prince of Thieves: A Novel that was turned into the movie The Town, a Ben Affleck movie with bank robberies. He came across as a genuinely nice guy who seemed down to earth and humble about his success. There were quite a few moments where I would have liked more as I think he was trying to be diplomatic. The process of taking his book to the screen would have been fascinating to hear more about too as it seems to me that Ben must have done a lot of reshaping to fit what he wanted. There were some really funny moments when the moderator and he were discussing how people associate his book with Dennis Lehane.
George Pelecanos is the author of multiple crime novels based out of DC the most recent is The Cut. He's best known for being a writer then producer on The Wire. I can't tell if The Wire was based off one of his books or not. He was also funny, seemed tough and valued hard work. He talked about coming from a rough background in the DC area and getting to where his is based on a strong work ethic. Interesting person.
FICTION: TIME IS...
The second event I went to was called Fiction: Time is... The presenters were Jennifer Egan, Peter Mountford & Lawrence Douglas. The overall theme was how to deal with time in Fiction. I've read quite a bit by Jennifer Egan and love her work. She along with Karen Russell were the two authors I was most excited about going into today. I feel bad for the other 2 performers, standing outside everyone kept asking if I was in line for Jennifer Egan, not one person mentioned the other presenters. On a side note, I seem to be the type of person who is always singed out of a group when someone needs some information or help. Just a thought.
Jennifer Egan is amazing. Her book A Visit From The Goon Squad was the first book I purchased on my kindle and well deserving of the Pulitzer. I was extremely excited to see her and she didn't disappoint. She was also aware that she was a much larger star than her panel mates showing a lot of class. When I met her to have her sign my copy of Best American Short Stories 2010 where her story Safari was included she was really nice we had a brief conversation which I appreciated as she had already signed a lot of books. So excited I got to say hi and that I loved her work. I know she gets it all the time but it feels nice to say thank you for putting out such amazing stories.
Peter Mountford published his first novel A Young Man's Guide To Late Capitalism this year and had his short story Horizon was included in Best New American Voices 2008. I was impressed by Peter. He was extremely well spoken, smart and insightful. After hearing him I'd like to read his novel. I kind of feel like an idiot though because when I said hi during after getting my book signed by Jennifer I said that I had the best american 2008 which the program said he was in and would have loved to have him sign it but the program messed up and he was only listed in the back as having a notable story.
Lawrence Douglas is a law professor at Amherst College and has published 2 novels The Catastrophist and The Vices. He was also really smart and insightful. I enjoyed his comments and you could tell he was thinking about what he wanted to say before speaking.
FAR OUT FICTION
The last event I went to was Far Out Fiction who included Gregory Maguire, Karen Russell, Chuck Klosterman & Kate Beaton. This was the big event for me as I didn't go to the keynote speaker as it wasn't an author I'm particularly interesting in reading despite being extremely talented. This event was great, they each did a short reading and spoke a little about their work. They had the entire audience laughing throughout and left the event ecstatic.
Gregory Maguire is best known as the author of Wicked with 2 soon to be 3 sequels. If you've read my blog you'll know I wasn't a big fan of What The Dickens but not everything can resonate with everyone. His reading was great, you could tell he genuinely liked the performance aspect of the event.
OMG I can't believe I got to meet Karen Russell! She is amazing! Not only is she in my opinion one of the best fiction authors I've ever read but she's insanely nice. I was so nervous when I actually met her that I was awkward and she was patient while I bumbled a little trying to get out what I wanted to say. I said that I loved her reading on the New Yorker Fiction podcast where she picked a story out of the New Yorker archive to read. She laughed and we talked about how she had a hard time with it and was even told to stop doing one of the characters voices haha! On stage she was hilarious and she seemed to be having a genuinely fun time. I can't say enough good things and feel so lucky to have her sign by book! I decided to ask her to sign the Best American Short Stories as well that way I'll have the copy signed by both her and Jennifer. It's instantly one of my favorite possessions!
Chuck Klosterman was far and away one of 2 authors who was so awesome that I'm absolutely going to have to read his new book The Visible Man. He's someone I've always said I should read but have never gotten around to it. Good god is he hilarious, if anyone was going to be an eclectic mad professor/scientist it would be him. The combo of hair, glasses, beard, orange ringer t-shirt & unzipped hoodie ensemble were a nice touch to class up a literary event.
Kate Beaton is a cartoonist who takes historical figures or events and fictionalizes them. Her book is called Hark! a Vagrant and looks amazing. I feel like a complete idiot for not knowing about her before coming into the event and I'm definitely adding her book to my list of must gets. She is the other author along with Klosterman who was too good not to have read. She was possibly the funniest person at the event and had the entire audience losing it almost every time she spoke. She compared the great Canadian novel as being about cold Saskatchewan winters with nothing going on with the great American novel The Great Gatsby as being about getting drunk & running someone over with a car. Brilliant!
To sum up my day, HOLY CRAP IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!
PS. Did I mention how excited I am to have met and have a book signed by Jennifer Egan & Karen Russell? Yes? ok good, I felt like I was kind of glazing over it.
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