Why we're still talking about Iraq

At "Contentious Ground: The Middle East" -- which promised to be one of the more volatile discussions at the Festival of Books this weekend -- the panelists seemed to want to talk about something else. Moderator Zachary Karabell introduced the session Sunday saying: "With so much going on in South America, Africa and all around the world, it’s funny that we still believe the Middle East is the only problem."

And with that, they were off and running.

Amy Wilentz, former Jerusalem correspondent for "The New Yorker," agreed that five years in Iraq has inflated Americans' perception of the entire region. "I can't believe I'm back at this panel, five years later," she replied. But aside from slight tangents veering off to the religious right, activism and the current presidential elections, the panelists resisted temptation and focused on the core subject.

How could Upton Sinclair let me down?

Was it the heat or was it the subject at the "Literary California" panel on Sunday?

The scene was reminiscent of a sweltering Alabama courthouse in summer. I began to stick to the seat, and the audience members were making fans out of newspaper pullouts. I looked up to make sure the panel had water; lukewarm water, check.

Richard Rayner moderated a panel with Anthony Arthur, Philip Fradkin and Judith Freeman--authors who talked about the subjects of the biographies they had written. The stories hearkened back to a golden era of L.A.'s history, a time when the city was growing--thanks in large part to the siphoning of water from the Owens Valley. Is that why the subject may have felt a bit dry?

Freeman spoke about Raymond Chandler, the subject of her  biography "The Long Embrace"; Fradkin about "Wallace Stegner and the American West" and Arthur about Upton Sinclair, the subject of his book "Radical Innocent."

Somehow the subject didn't really seem to connect with me--does it connect with the Internet generation?--and sweat began to bead on my eyelids. I struggled to keep my neck from snapping.

I packed up early and opted to watch the remainder of this panel’s discussion from the air-conditioned media center. Viva La C-Span2!

--Brad Wilcox

(Photo: Upton Sinclar, circa 1937, by the Associated Press)

The books, the hat and the political vibe of Walter Mosley

Walter Mosley came onstage with KCRW’s Bookworm host Michael Silverblatt, but Mosley was missing his trademark fedora. Silverblatt assured the crowd: "The hat is here." And that it was, safely on the table between them.

The literary pair were at the Festival of Books on Sunday afternoon to discuss not one, not two, but three new books this year from Mosley. "Blonde Faith" is said to be the last of the much-loved Easy Rawlins mystery series, the most famous of which is "Devil in a Blue Dress."

The series spans from 1939 to 1967, a time in which Mosley feels the life of a black man, such as Easy, changed a lot each year. Unlike other characters, Easy seems different every time, Mosley said. And though the books are set in the past, "I'm really writing about today," he said.

Mosley spoke too about a general sense of melancholy he senses in the American people today, a weariness from promises not being delivered, promises from politicians. He blamed capitalism for the situation -- "capitalism has enslaved everybody" -- and shared that he left his Manhattan apartment when the rent was raised to $6,600 a month.

With a new president imminent, he feels confident that things will change. Mosley admits that he would like Barack Obama, a (fellow) black man, to be president, but adds a white woman wouldn't be bad either.

In response to a question, Mosley said that he's never felt threatened by being outspoken about his views. "I try very hard to be sensible in my arguments." A practice to take to heart.

--Leslie Anne Wiggins

(Photo: Walter Mosley in Brooklyn, N.Y., by Robert Caplin )

'Unconventional visions,' Part 2

If there was a literary equivalent of the youth vote, it was on hand in the basement of the Fowler Auditorium on Sunday at the festival's "Unconventional Voices" panel.

Authors Lydia Millet, Ben Ehrenreich, Yannick Murphy and Keith Gessen joined Jacket Copy blogger Carolyn Kellogg for a discussion that involved various topics such as sex, violence and Googling oneself.

"We all do it," confessed Lydia Millet, author of (most recently) "How the Dead Dream." "It's like masturbation."

Responding to a question from Kellogg,  Ben Ehrenreich mentioned how he chose to play with words and language as a way of getting through the often tedious process of writing. Fittingly, his novel "The Suitors" proves itself trippingly difficult to define; it mixes Homeric themes with modern warfare, and includes a cast of characters nearly equal to Donald Antrim's "The Hundred Brothers."

Although Murphy and Millet agreed that playfulness with language was necessary, Keith Gessen stressed that he didn't play with his writing—that he was more concerned that "there's so much to tell already about the world as it is." An editor of the New York City-based critical journal "n+1" and a freelance book critic, Gessen leaned forward and continued, "It is my hope that what I write remains factual sociologically."

"What do you mean you 'don't play?'" asked Millet.

Gessen evaded any personal answer to the question, offering instead examples from Millet's novel that he'd found to be affecting.

"I'm not sure what 'the world as it is' means," Ehrenreich responded, perhaps thinking out loud. "And I'm not sure what that has to do with writing fiction."

Earlier, Gessen had read a passage from his first novel, "All the Sad Young Literary Men" in which the bookish character of Mark spends days looking at amateur porn on the college library's computers.

"This passage isn't going to be appropriate for children," Gessen warned before he began. There were no children in the audience.

-- George Ducker

(Illustration for Ben Ehrenreich's "The Suitors" by Beppe Giacobbe)

Q&A with Eli Horowitz of McSweeney's

Eli Horowitz, managing editor and publisher of the Dave Eggers'-founded publishing concern McSweeney's, came down from San Francisco to participate in Saturday's panel "West Coast Publishing: Rethinking The Model."

Known for the Rectangulars Series of books, along with their eponymous, richly packaged literary magazine and monthly culture mag The Believer, McSweeney's has helped put L.A.'s northern cousin at the forefront of independent book publishing and also lavished much attention on the Garamond 3 font.

We caught up with Horowitz, the enthusiastic, inconceivably young man who's edited Salvador Plascencia's  "The People of Paper," Yannick Murphy's "Here They Come" and 90-year-old first-time novelist Millard Kaufman's "Bowl Of Cherries"—to name a few.

Jacket Copy: So we missed yesterday's panel. Fill us in. Is West Coast publishing a specific force unto itself or is it simply one aspect of the larger world of indie publishing? Is it just New York publishing versus non-New York publishing? Or is there some specific West Coast sensibility?

Eli Horowitz: (Laughs) There was no real conclusion or answer to the question.

JC: But doesn't existing on the West coast imply the act of cutting yourself off from the heart of media that exists in New York?

EH: Right. I think that part is definitely true. But, what if your company is set up in Pittsburgh? You're still not going to the cocktail parties, even if you are physically closer to them.

JC: But once you publish a book, it becomes a hard and fast fact. It's out there to be bought and read. But I guess that's where the publishing "push" comes in.

EH: Yeah, but there is certainly a cocktail party thing that happens. When a book gets on the cover of the New York Times Book Review, especially when it's a debut novel … how does that process happen? I mean, I have no idea how that happens (laughs), but I know it's not going to happen to us.  Editors don't just happen to read a book. They hear a book from one person and then they hear about it from two more and the book starts to take on it's own life. It's not a random. I don't mean to make it sound like a big conspiracy.

Read on....

'Birds of Paradise' and Lopez, live at the festival

Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez reads the novel "Birds of Paradise" that he "wrote" with readers. The author of Chapter 7, Renee Holland Davidson, above, reads her portion of the book during the 2008 L.A. Times Festival of Books. Click here to check out the whole book, in which Lopez wrote the first and final chapters.

-- Mary Forgione

(Photo by Meredith Artley / Los Angeles Times)

New-wave surfer stereotypes?

There weren't too many rooms at the Festival of Books where tank-tops and flip-flops were deemed proper attire for the discussions. But with "word up" being tossed around at the "Surf Culture" panel, the attire really did fit the topic.

Steve Hawk, Steven Kotler, Kem Nunn and David Rensin addressed the topic of surf culture to an audience half-filled with readers and half-filled with surfers.

Jokes were made about what exactly surf culture is. Rensin, for example, compared surf culture to the musical styling of Yanni. He took a pause for laughter and then said both have mystical viewing powers. Moderator Antoine Wilson then jumped in and said both can also be embarrassing.

All four addressed the issue of the "Spicoli effect," named after the Sean Penn character in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"--which refers to the tendency to portray surfers as unintelligent slackers. All four are breathing examples of how unfair that is.

Kotler, for example, spoke about the neurological effects of surfing, noting that more endorphins are released during surfing than in any other sport. Hawk touched heavily on ecological problems that affect oceans and how those factors can be mitigated. Nunn and Rensin used their experiences growing up in the 1960s and 1970s to discuss the transition of how surf culture changed from the ranks of jobless young-adult wave searchers to mainstream, employed surfers ranging in age from 7 to 85.

They all agreed that surf culture is distinct from anything else in the world, and the language and behavior pushes to be unique.

When a member of the audience asked how surf culture can get past negative stereotypes, the four frustrated the questioner when they jokingly responded that they do drugs. But the four are clearly living testaments to the enigmatic surf culture that wants to get past stereotypes--but still wants to be rebellious.

--Joshua Sandoval

(Photo of Kem Nunn by Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

And boy are my dogs tired

The L.A. Times Festival of Books is for adult readers and young adult readers and children who read and like picture books -- and also for our best friends.

Meet Sophie! More dog pics after the jump.

As always, Andrews channels her inner Mary Poppins

Julie Andrews took to the Target Children's stage on Sunday and fielded the inevitable umbrella question from the underage crowd.

Can she still fly?

"As I get older it gets harder … but sure I can!"

Andrews appeared to promote her latest children’s book, "Simeon's Gift" (written with her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton with illustrations by Gennady Spirin), and took written questions from the audience ... some of whom perhaps couldn't write yet, some of whom let their parents do the honors.

After an energetic performance by the children’s music group Doodlebops, whispers of excitement rippled through the crowd, with the names "Julie Andrews" and "Mary Poppins" used interchangeably.

With the sun beating down, sunscreen applications were of utmost importance. Andrews, herself the mother of five, spoke on endearing subjects perfect for her kiddle audience: how to walk like a princess, a nod to the famous scene in "The Princess Diaries," in which she attempts to teach a gawky Anne Hathaway how to walk. She gave a demonstration, waving included, and a humorous "how not to," slumping across the stage.

During the noonish event, Andrews impressed all by saying supercalafragalisticexplialadocious backwards. She went on to answer that yes, she does keep in touch with the "Sound of Music" children. She answered everything positively and got cheers of approval, especially from a crowd of little boys who squealed with the mention of her possible involvement in a rumored "Shrek 4" film.

Then when Deedee Doodlebop thanked Andrews for coming out, rather than quickly rushing backstage, Andrews took about 10 more questions from a row of adorable children in the very front of the stage, repeatedly saying "two more," but unable to resist responding to the polite raised hands and young inquiring minds.

Andrews was asked the definition of supercalafragalisticexplialadocious. She thought a moment, then said: "Superb, smashing, terrific …" Today's classy performance confirmed that Andrews is in fact all of that too.

Leslie Wiggins

(Photo: Children pepper Julie Andrews with questions at the Festival of Books, by Tom Politeo)

Keith Gessen imparts an 'unconventional vision'

Taking my seat at the "Unconventional Visions" panel on Sunday, I listened intently as the guy on my right discussed his "man crush" on Ben Ehrenreich, author of "The Suitors." Supposedly he was getting over his crush, but he still spoke with favorable fervor about a particular short story Ehrenreich wrote about a squid.

"It’s about this man who keeps going down to this aquarium to meet up with this squid, but also this woman he’s been seeing; it's a love story," the man said.

I was half-intrigued by what he was telling me and half-desperate to ingest as much information as possible from the panel that included Ehrenreich, Keith Gessen, Lydia Millet, Yannick Murphy and moderated by Jacket Copy blogger Carolyn Kellogg.

As the panel got underway, I found myself immediately drawn to Keith Gessen ("All the Sad Young Literary Men"), who looked like Billy Zane -- as he looked in "Titanic," not "Sniper" -- but with a gentler, self-deprecating demeanor.

Gessen started by taking the audience on a virtual journey through his evolution as a writer, which correlated directly with the book. While he worked on the book, he supported himself as a freelance book critic and lived frugally.

During this time, his vision began to change, and then so did his approach to his writing. The passage he read aloud was sexually explicit, but emphasized his perception of how perverse simple life can become when infused with modern technology.

He also admitted that he took some heat from fans who said the ending of the book was too sentimental, saying, "and I don’t care." OK, that's in keeping with "Unconventional Visions"...

Brad Wilcox

(Photo by Carolyn Cole, Los Angeles Times)