The New York Times Notable Books 2008

Looking at the 100 Notable Books of 2008 as compiled by the New York Times, I was struck by several key omissions (of course), but also by how several of the books' authors had visited our store in the past year. Going down the list, which is presented alphabetically by author name and divided into fiction and non-fiction:

• Charles Bock, Beautiful Children, February 20
  
• Joseph O'Neill, Netherland, June 25
• Leonard Mlodinow, The Drunkard's Walk, June 11
• Helene Cooper, The House at Sugar Beach, September 22
• David Carr, The Night of the Gun, August 19
• Germain Greer, Shakespeare's Wife, April 16 (event was canceled)

In case you're wondering, I haven't read many of the books on the list (and one of those that I did, I didn't really care for). But I think that's encouraging, to know that there are still so many great books yet to be read. I'm a glass-half-full-type when it comes to that.

A Breakfast of Links

It was a busy weekend in the cyberworld, and Vroman's got a decent share of the attention. Interesting hypertext links follow:

• Martha Stewart was here yesterday. It was a packed event, full of enthusiastic fans. I spotted Martha as she walked into the store, and then again as she walked out. In between, I was outside with the folks waiting to get in. The event has been written up a few places, including here and here.

• Speaking of Vroman's events, here's a thoughtful post about our recent panel on independent bookselling. The panel turned into a forum on bookstores, e-books, and new media, all subjects of interest to me.

• Speaking of digital books and whatnot, much is happening on that front the past few weeks. Google has jumped into the fray, and now the New York Times is taking note. In today's LA Times, Beau Friedlander asks if we can all just get along? And this guy wouldn't have bought a Kindle if he'd already had his iPhone.

• Stuart Evers has an excellent piece on the Guardian blog called "You Don't Get to Choose Your Literary Heroes." He describes his affection for George Orwell's character Gordon Comstock: "It was enervating, and nasty and that was good. I saw nothing of Comstock's borderline monomania, but instead saw a rage and a bitterness that I wanted to share."
  

Rushdie is Best of the Bookers

It's been reported elsewhere, but Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children has been named the greatest book of all friggin time, er Best of the Bookers. When Rushdie read at Vroman's, someone asked him to comment on winning the Booker for Midnight's Children. He quoted Kingsley Amis, who, upon winning the award late in his career for his (in my opinion) superb The Old Devils, commented "I've always hated this award, but I've just changed my mind."

Salman Rushdie at Vroman's

Salman Rushdie was at Vroman's on Saturday. I was surprised by how many people saw him on stage, then said, in hushed tones, "I'm surprised he's just out in the open like that, with those people after him." This is a big misconception about Salman Rushdie, that he's an endangered species and very serious guy, hidden away behind tinted glass and whisked off to do the occasional Charlie Rose appearance. Nothing could be further from the truth. He's a very easy-going guy, and really, really funny.

After reading from his new book The Enchantress of Florence (signed copies available at Vroman's!), he told several amusing anecdotes, but I like this one about how he first became a writer (unfortunately, a young audience member sang a little ditty right behind the camera for almost all of Rushdie's answer, so you'll have to be diligent if you want to hear the story, which includes a little jab at V.S. Naipaul). Again, I apologize for the Blair Witch-ness of the video clip. Consider it an indictment of the USC Graduate School of Cinema and Television (or just chalk it up to my ineptitude on a camera meant primarily to take still photographs).

While we're on the subject, if anyone went to the Town Hall event which featured Rushdie in conversation with Carrie Fisher, could you explain to me why Carrie Fisher? I'm not trying to be a smart-ass (no, really), but what's the connection?