Days of Books & Authors
April 27, 2008

Every year I get there early to ensure a prime parking prime in one of UCLA’s multi-story lots that stay cool and comfortable regardless of the weather. It was a good thing too because the temperature for the 13th annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books was unusually hot, around 95 degrees. But that didn’t dampen my enthusiasm for the fair (though it did temper my book buying), nor did it seem to discourage many others. Nearly 140,000 booklovers swarmed the fairgrounds that cover a good-size portion of the campus, wandering among booths of booksellers, publishers, writers and makers of reading gadgets.

This festival, which takes places during the last weekend in April, is likely the largest in the United States—with good reason. There are more than 450 authors and 300 exhibitors, 100 indoor author panels and conversations, six outdoor stages (two of them for children) with continual entertainment plus two specific children’s areas), three food areas, and plenty trees and grass upon which one can rest weary feet and browse newly purchased books—and it’s all free. I recommend it so highly that I think anyone within a couple of hours’ driving distance should attend. If you are not that close, then consider planning a vacation around it next year. It is that incredible.

I drove down Saturday morning, leaving my house at 7:15 a.m. and arriving there at 8:45. The parking lot entrance was already bustling. Around the parked cars, children danced impatiently in their excitement to get going while their parents rigorously applied sunscreen to the older ones and packed baby strollers with bottled water and other necessities.

After obtaining my press badge, I headed over to the main entrance where one of the children’s areas was already lively. The festival wasn’t officially opened, yet several thousand people were strolling, looking and buying. By the time it officially opened at 10:00, it was already crowded.

My favorite part is the vendors so I spent most of the day wandering from booth to booth, with a short lunch break. After lunch, I headed over to the panel, “Biography: The Explorers.” The three panelists included Tim Jeal, author of Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa’s Greatest Explorer; Robert Morgan, author of Boone: A Biography; and Richard Reeves, author of A Force of Nature: The Frontier Genius of Ernest Rutherford. Today’s authors are under pressure to help market themselves and their books, a process I find fascinating because it offers great rewards—and even greater dangers. That double-edge sword showed itself here. The one book was I was most enthusiastic about is the author I enjoyed the least; in fact, I grew in that hour to dislike him intensely, and I felt others around me squirm with similar feelings when he talked. The author I found the most interesting was the one whose book interested me not at all because his subject holds no appeal for me. However, because he does I have marked his name as an author I will watch for future books. 

The second panel I attended was titled “The Critics Voices.” Among the panelists were Nicholas Basbanes, author of the bestselling A Gentle Madness, and Albert Mobilio, editor of the respected journal, BookForum. Questions about the influence of critics and criticism—How is criticism defined? Is it a dying art? Is it best found in the printed medium? What differentiates it from reviewing? How do blogging and Amazon “reviews” fit into the changing field of criticism or more accurately, reviewing?—were thrown out and debated, and the large audience seemed to appreciate the spirited discussion.

I also bought books. While I didn’t make it to all the booths, I did get to perhaps three-quarters of them. Because one of the categories of books I have in my collection is American Culture & History and because those books range from pop culture to serious nonfiction, I picked up Paradise Promoted and Americana the Beautiful: Mid-Century Culture in Kodachrome from Los Angeles-based publisher, Angel City Press.

A third book in the same category, though this one came from Getty Publications, is Close to Home: An American Album, a book originally released with their 2004-05 exhibition of the same name. As the Introduction notes, the images, homemade, many of them amateurish, most unknown, nevertheless tell an intriguing story of time and place. Also from the Getty (I have a nice-sized collection from them since they put out gorgeous books) is Ashen Sky: The Letters of Pliny the Younger on the Eruption of Vesuvius. I have to give the Getty credit for making an entire book, admittedly one totaling only 39 pages, out of two short letters. It has lovely illustrations, though.

Other books included A Force of Nature: The Frontier Genius of Ernest Rutherford, a  bargain copy of Carry Me Home: The Climatic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution, Editions & Impressions, a beautifully-designed collection of Nick Basbanes’ columns, and Tales of the Fish Patrol, a re-issue from Heyday, another California publisher, of the Jack London book.

My favorite vendor turned out to be one new to me—the Center for the Art of Translation. I had never heard of them before, but was so impressed that I intend to do an extensive interview with them soon. They promote international literature and translation, and I was given, for review, their latest collection, Two Lines XIV: World Writing in Translation with various pieces—poetry, short stories, essays, excerpts—from more than 50 languages and 50 countries. The original language lies across the page from the English translation. It is a brilliant idea carried out in an exquisite way. 

If there’s any caveat I would give about this festival, it’s this: bring your own food and water because the prices are horrendous. Four dollars for a single Dove ice cream bar? Three dollars and fifty cents for a bottle of water? (Just try and find a water fountain.) Yes, I know why they cost what they do at a festival, but it grates on me when a $7.50 plate of two soft chicken tacos (with chips) contains very little meat.  

Still, that’s a minor quibble. This is a fabulous book fair for anyone lucky enough to attend. Maybe next year I will meet some of you there. And we can hope the temperatures are more in the normal range.

This week . . .
Bookride is a somewhat unusual blog in that it is a guide to “the most wanted and collected books” by a London-based bookseller. All kinds of books interest this particular seller, and she (he?) is not hesitant to share strongly held opinions. “There is some evaluation of why the book is wanted,” notes the description of he blog, “what it is worth—with a range of selling prices, some trivia, apercus and bon mots, a few anecdotes, so called jokes and occasional rants.” For those interested in acquiring books, this blog is a good place to check. Even if you aren’t interested in collecting, the commentary here and the images can be intriguing.

Until next week, read well, read often and read on!

Lauren

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