David Sedaris and the conundrum of popularity

The good thing about living in a big, wonderful city like Los Angeles is that you can be sure that big, wonderful writers like David Sedaris will come through town. The bad thing is that there's no guarantee you'll get to see them.

Sedaris is visiting Vroman's Bookstore this Sunday at 5 p.m. on his book tour to promote "When You Are Engulfed in Flames." I'd be tempted to whine about all the restrictions placed on attending — if I'd gotten one of the free tickets, that is. But what's the use? The Sedaris reading is "sold out."

How do bookstore appearances sell out? Do guys in yellow security jackets guard the door? (They just might.)

Vroman's, a big wonderful bookstore, has tried to make it up to the ticketless masses by allowing anybody who can't get into the reading to join the signing line (also ticketed) and by posting a podcast interview with the author. It's a bit salt-in-the-wound, but still, it's there and it's free.

There is another way to see David Sedaris ... after the jump.

Young poets and book prizes -- tonight!

This evening, we'll be toasting the winners of the 2008 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes at UCLA (yes, you can still get tickets to attend).

But across town at USC, elementary school students at the 32nd Street/USC Performing Arts Magnet school (perhaps winners in waiting?) will gather to read some of their original poetry.

OK, so they had some help from writers Cecilia Woloch and Aimee Bender; it's still a great opportunity to hear what's on the minds of L.A.'s fourth-graders.

Mary Forgione

Saturday Salon at Skylight

It probably comes as no surprise that the staff of Skylight Books likes to read. As booksellers, they get to read lots of stuff that comes from all quarters.

And the folks who run this Los Feliz neighborhood haunt want to call your attention to some smaller presses, many of which operate as nonprofits and have limited advertising budgets.

The idea is to share their small-press passion with you, salon-style, over wine and hors d'oeuvres. The debut salon will be at the Vermont Avenue bookstore this Saturday, April 19, at 4 p.m. (For you Map-Questers, the address is 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027. Finger-walkers should try [323] 660-1175.) Vont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90027
: (323) 660-1175
Up for discussion are the literary fiction press Dzanc, out of Michigan, which is publishing work by Roy Kesey and Yannick Murphy; Santa Monica's Red Hen Press, which publishes lots of poetry, some fiction and nonfiction, and is home to Eloise Klein Healy's Arktoi imprint; and Archipelago Books, which focuses on fiction and poetry in translation -- much from Eastern Europe -- and counts among its titles Elias Khoury's "Gate of the Sun" and "Sarajevo Marlboro" by Miljenko Jergovic.

Monica Carter, who came up with the idea for the salon series, says that since the staff has wide-ranging tastes, there are many more areas to explore, including nonfiction and graphic novels. Next month's salon is already planned -- but I don't want to spoil the surprise. They'll tell you all about it on Saturday.

Carolyn Kellogg