The West Hollywood Book Fair this Sunday: From Brady to zombies
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The West Hollywood Book Fair is a little bit literary, a little bit sequins, spangles and celebrity. This year, Carol Channing will appear -- in the That’s Entertainment Pavilion, where she’ll be followed by Bob Barker. Susan Olsen, a onetime reluctant post-Brady Brady (she played Cindy) will be signing her new book, ‘Love to Love You Bradys: The Bizarre Story of the Brady Bunch Variety Hour.’
But it’s not all screaming fans and campy musical numbers. For serious fiction, there’s a long lineup, including Rachel Kushner, whose debut novel ‘Telex from Cuba’ was a National Book Award nominee; Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, who was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, and Lydia Millet, a PEN USA award winner.
Serious politics will be discussed by Reza Aslan ‘How to Win a Cosmic War,’ the L.A. Times’ Dean Kuipers, whose book about eco-saboteur Rod Coronado, ‘Operation Bite Back,’ came out in June, and others.
Other notable authors scheduled to appear include Carol Leifer, Jerry Stahl, Francesca Lia Block and mystery writers Gary Phillips and Charlie Huston.
Eric Nakamura and Martin Wong, the men behind the Giant Robot mini-empire -- which includes the magazine, retail stores and a restaurant -- will be on hand to celebrate the magazine’s 15th anniversary. They were among the early popularizers of comics culture, and a comics pavilion will feature artists and writers all day.
There is also an area for kids and, in addition to the readings and panels, a series of booths from local bookstores and publishers.
And if all that makes you feel a bit zombielike, be sure to catch local author Seth Grahame-Smith. He’ll be on hand to answer questions about what it’s like to be the guy who wrote the brain-chewing classic mash-up ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.’
-- Carolyn Kellogg
