Comments (15)

1. I can’t believe I missed seeing David Sedaris so close to home! I had no idea the community theatre in Morristown actually had cool things to do.

   posted by Evan on 10-5-2007 at 9:05 am

2. I saw David Sedaris too! He was great! He signed my copy of Barrel Fever, and I was so star-struck that I couldn’t come up with anything to say to him. Kind of silly, because he’s not at all intimidating.

   posted by Lebetho on 10-5-2007 at 9:10 am

3. I’ve seen Mr. Sedaris read several times, and have never been disappointed. I also had the pleasure of seeing his sister Amy and her cohorts Steve Colbert and Paul Dinello read from Wigfield in a very small, very packed (and now very closed) bookstore in Chicago- also a treat.

   My biggest disappointment in the readings realm, however, was Toni Morrison. I’m a big fan of her writing, but when I saw her read from Paradise (about 9 years ago, in Oxford, UK), she had about as much enthusiasm as your average 2×4. Disappointing that such a passionate writer is not an equally passionate reader.

   posted by jbd on 10-5-2007 at 9:10 am

4. Strange – the only two book readings I’ve been to were by authors mentioned on mental_floss this week: David Sedaris and Chuck Klosterman. Both were fantastic.

   posted by Molly on 10-5-2007 at 9:25 am

5. I have a vague recollection of seeing Truman Capote once way back when. As I recall, he didn’t say much of anything to the audience but only read from something. He was hard to understand, and I was sure he drunk. Plus, not being of the tall persuasion, you could barely see him behind the podium.

   posted by Mac on 10-5-2007 at 9:54 am

6. Lewis Black and Alton Brown…both entertaining, funny and approachable.

   posted by Lizard Breath on 10-5-2007 at 9:54 am

7. Last year in lovely Saint Paul, I attended a reading with John Hodgman, a.k.a. “the PC” from those Mac commercials and the Resident Expert on the Daily Show. He appeared with one of the writers he used to represent, Neal Pollack, as well as a musician whose virtues were extolled on this blog sometime back, Jonathan Coulton.

   Mr. Hodgman provided a hilarious rendering of one of the sections on hobo culture from his book “The Areas of My Expertise”, and they finished with a song by Mr. Coulton about outdoor coital pursuits. I very highly recommend seeing either one if you get the chance.

   And Neal Pollack was pretty good, too.

   posted by Ed on 10-5-2007 at 11:00 am

8. Years ago, caught up in the star-struck moment, my friend Colleen and I both purchased Chuck Norris’ autobiography, just so we could meet him. After he signed both our books, Colleen (jokingly) said “Look, he signed my book Love, Chuck Norris!” I replied, “Oh yeah, he wrote in mine, Love you more than Colleen.” She replied “he wrote a PS in mine, don’t believe Audrey, I love you more Colleen…” This went on for a bit until we both felt an arm placed around our shoulders and looked up to see the smiling face of Chuck Norris. He squeezed us both to him and said “Ladies, no need to argue, I love you both just the same!”

   posted by Audrey on 10-5-2007 at 11:07 am

9. I find that many of the really good authors aren’t performers and are best when they leave the reading of their stories to others. There are a few mentioned above that have been good, but fr the most part, I’m never excited to go to an author-read reading.

   posted by Aubrey on 10-5-2007 at 11:28 am

10. David Sedaris came to my small college town of Laramie, Wyoming and was amazing. The even-cooler part about it is that I managed a small independent bookstore at the time, and his manager called US to sell books at the reading, not either of the large chain stores in town. Mr. Sedaris was incredibly gracious and funny – and I had a great week at the store!

    posted by Laura on 10-5-2007 at 11:56 am

11. I saw Spaulding Gray several years ago as part of a series where, instead of answering questions about himself, he called up members of the audience and interviewed them. It was quite boring– he apologized several times, saying he was depressed and not in the mood to be on stage. Eventually some people in the audience became disgruntled, yelling that he should be putting on a better show, and he first became enraged and then calmed down and gave a passionate defense of his right to be depressed over his circumstances in life. It was a strange evening at the time, and weirder still looking back after his suicide a few years ago

    posted by Hazel Shade on 10-5-2007 at 12:22 pm

12. The only author I ever had the opportunity to see in person was Douglas Adams. He was incredibly entertaining, and I still remember the talk with glee and amusement. I’m still mourning his loss to the world of literature and the world in general.

    posted by Sage on 10-5-2007 at 3:02 pm

13. I saw Katherine Tucker Windham last year. She is so precious, and a great southern belle!

    posted by Kelli K. on 10-6-2007 at 2:32 pm

14. i’m from vancouver, canada, and decided to see one of my countrymen, author douglas coupland, speak @ SXSW about his new movie everything’s gone green. though i appreciate his writing style and loved the movie, his personal presentation is extremely unbearable. i appreciate his dry humour and contemplative pauses, but only for so long: the silent response from the crowd made all the things more awkward. guh.

    posted by connie on 10-7-2007 at 12:54 am

15. I saw Frank Warren of Post Secret fame. He gave a great talk and had a display of hundreds of postcards that hadn’t made it into the book. It was a moving experience. He even shared some of his secrets.

    posted by itsabecky on 10-8-2007 at 1:49 pm

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