BookExpo America on the East Coast...

Anyone interested in (but unable to attend) BookExpo America, which concludes this weekend at Manhattan’s Jacob Javits Convention Center, can find extensive coverage on the Web. The best of this comes from the folks at Galley Cat. There’s also traditional coverage supplied by Publishers Weekly and of course the official BookExpo America website.

Along with the more highly publicized events--a tribute to David Halberstam, for instance, and Alan Greenspan’s keynote speech--attendees can see an "Espresso Book Machine," which is being likened to an ATM vending machine for books. The machine is aimed at supplying a reader with a specific title in the same way that you order a can of soda. It was designed by On Demand Books, a company founded by publishing executive Jason Epstein and his business partner Dane Neller. Balzac, anyone? Coming right up! A little Dostoevsky, please? Sure, no problem! According to advance press information, the first commercial model of the Espresso Book Machine will be installed this month at the New York Public Library. On Demand Books is also in talks with national book retailers and hotel chains.

A company called Long Pen-Unotchit is demonstrating a "long-distance pen and ink autographing device" that allows authors to sign legal signatures for fans who are thousands of miles away. The company description credits the invention as "the brainchild of Margaret Atwood." With her sci-fi track record, why is this not surprising?

Ian McEwan and his editor Nan Talese will attend a screening tomorrow of "Ian McEwan: On Chesil Beach," a 27-minute film about McEwan’s new novel that includes interviews and commentary from McEwan and various critics, as well as footage of the novel’s primary settings. The film is described as the first in the series "Out of the Book," a new venture of Powell’s Books in Portland, Ore. A panel discussion follows the screening, and on McEwan’s website you can find more information about when that film might be coming to a bookseller--in place of a live author tour, maybe?--near you.

Nick Owchar