Book Expo 2007 - It's like Deja Vu or something

Book Expo seems to have settled down to a pattern lately - every other year it is at the Javits Center in New York. It is so regular that we have set up a regular routine about it. On Friday we wake up early, drive to the city, and park near the Javits. This year we were lucky enough to get a spot directly across the street. That way, when Donna and her colleagues pick up more books than they can carry, they just go across and fill the trunk and do it again. The initial stampede did not disappoint. Many free books and other goodies. I went to the Google Books booth but did not find the people I know. I did chat with a very personable young Googler who admitted that this was her first big event. The next day I talked to one of her colleagues who had been pictured in my Seattle ALA blog. She admitted that she had seen the picture. The aisles are sometimes so crowded that it is nearly impossible to walk, and sometime even to breathe. Among the publicity gimmicks I saw this year were Elvis, Elton John, a beared man in a gray robe claiming to be God and bemoaning the fact that he is out of work, the Michilen Man, a giant parrot, huggable dogs and cats, and various people with really weird hats. In other words, your basic mass insanity. At every hour of the day there are at least 25 simultaneous book signings - the books are always free except for a one dollar donation. On the first day, I got books signed by Sherman Alexie and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. While I got a good line position for Kennedy, I noticed that the current signed in that line was Ron Powers whose books about Hannibal Missouri are favorites of mine, but I had to keep my position in line. Also at that time period I could have got an autographed book by Dave Barry if I didn't mind getting in a line that stretched halfway to the East River. After that, I was done with autographs for the day. The restaurant situation near the center is amazing. You have to walk many blocks for any alternative to the food court at Javits which is to be avoided at all costs. The place we'd tried two years ago has since been bulldozed, but we found a pretty good Irish pub at 33rd and 10th. Afterwards, we went to a program about the making of the upcoming film "A mighty heart," about the wife of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan. We were convinced that they have made a movie about a real person that is acceptable to the one person who matters. I went off on my own for a time and ran into my friend Paul from New York Law School in lower Manhattan. I checked that off the list since Paul is the person I always run into at any conference. Also heard my name being called in the lower level - it was Les Witter who is one of the survivors of my Spring library science class. At one point we walked up to the main floor, and chatted with Formey Mayor Ed Koch who was sitting outside the CSPAN bus. At 5 we lined up to hear the main event of the first day - a keynote presentation by Alan Greenspan and his wife Andrea Mitchell. Instead of a standard speech, the two sat down and the reporter interviewed her husband. He talked about his impressions of the many presidents he had served, and talked about the thinking that led him to write his first book - coming out this fall. She asked him how he avoided talking about things from the office to his reporter wife. He answered that many things were going on that he would have loved talking about, but it would have been a federal crime to do so. It reminded me of jury duty - there is a line you can't cross over and so you just don't.
One of the most vivid stories was his account of his first days as Federal Reserve Chairman - while he was on his way to Texas to make a speech the stock market crashed. He said that for weeks after, the economy was teetering on the brink but finally pulled back to stability. We went back to the car, bracing for a Friday night nightmare drive to the Midtown Tunnel. Surprise! We went crosstown in 5 minutes. The Long Island Espressway was busy but we expected that.

The next day also began about 5AM. This time we met at Merrick station and took the train in to Penn Station. I was headed for the taxis, but Donna's boss Marcia pointed out that we could catch a conference bus around the corner. It was nearly empty, and we had to wait about 10 minutes for a few others to arrive. Things were already pretty much in a buzz because the first event was the authors' breakfast hosted by Steven Colbert. Massive lines had already formed in the special event area. Somebody from the conference went by shouting the unwelcome news that we could not take any pictures, or even aim our cell phones at the panel. There is a great Book Expo tradition out the window. I've watched Colbert's show many times and, frankly, don't find him all that funny, but at this event he had me laughing from start to finish. He introduced Ken Burns, who bantered with the host nicely, and then showed a clip from his World War Two spectacular coming to PBS in late September. I guarantee you that this will cause an absolute sensation in the Fall. He was followed by Lisa See (the only one who didn't join in the fun), who had written a novel about 17th century China that sounded fascinating. Finally, Khaled Hosseini, author of the Kite Runner, mixed it up with Colbert after the host made fun of the author's fabulously successful book. We had seen Hosseini 3 years ago at ALA when he was an up-and-coming author at the FALUSA breakfast. Unlike the breakfast 2 years ago, the panel immediately left the stage after the performance.


I decided to make up for the camera ban by finding the table where Colbert was to be autographing and got his picture. Even though there was a big line behind the table, I was able to get within 3 feet of the star beyond the table. Worked like a charm. Then I found Donna and we wandered to the far end of the room to the media area. Somebody held up a package and invited us to get an autographed ebook by Dave Barry. Sure thing! After being mobbed yesterday at the book signing, anyone could walk right up and talk to Dave. I tried to go to the trends in science fiction panel, but the room was mobbed. The conference center in general was undercooled, and this room was 15 degrees warmer than anywhere else. I slipped right back out and spent more time on the floor. My back was starting to go, and I found that I was spending more and more time at the Librarians' Lounge, generously supplied by Library Journal. Donna introduced me to one of the editors, and we talked about an article that I had in mind for the Journal. The editor told me to be sure to mention that I'm Donna's husband when I send in my query.

Eventually I hit that moment when you know that you can't take another minute of this craziness, so I headed to the #4 bus back to Penn, and the train home. We'll likely miss next year at L.A., but they're back to Javits for 2009, so if my health holds up, I will be too.