The best of book festivals
Going to a book festival means you might get to see one of your favorite authors. It was a thrill to just be in the same room with Joan Didion — albeit way up in the balcony — at the Festival of Books in 2006. But when interviewer David Ulin got her to discuss, out of all her decades of work, one of my all-time favorite essays, I couldn't imagine anyplace I'd rather be. The essay? "Goodbye to All That" — which is about, in part, wanting to be somewhere else.
Sometimes it's not an interviewer but the questions from the audience that bring the best out of an author. At the National Book Festival on Saturday in Washington, D.C., for example, author Richard Price ("Lush Life") was asked a simple question about writing for the TV series "The Wire." His response, captured on video (scroll down), is less tough guy than kinda cute.
Other times, there are surprises. Walking between events at a big festival one year, I had an extra 20 minutes. A guy was reading in a tent, and I ducked in for a shady place to spend the time. The reader was funny. His delivery was amazing. When I had to leave, I walked around to see the sign and figure out who the hysterical stand-up comedian was. Not a comedian: Sherman Alexie. At a book festival, you might accidentally discover an incredibly funny National Book award winner-to-be.
I'm heading out to the West Hollywood Book Fair, which will, I hope, be full of surprises.
— Carolyn Kellogg
Photo of Joan Didion and David L. Ulin at the 2006 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books by Carolyn Kellogg
