Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Ladies of the books

I must confess an act of betrayal. On the very day DGF was hawking This Republic of Suffering at the Coop, Geraldine Brooks spoke to budding journalists at Boston Latin Academy about People of the Book. I caught Geraldine and came home so exhausted with happiness I couldn't muster the strength to attend DGF's signing. I know I know I betrayed not only DGF but all the many many loyal members of the DGF fan club. But as I told my DH when I got home from communing with GB, "I can handle only one peak author experience per day!"

I bought a copy of P of the B and watched GB autograph it. Oh what grandeur in that fabulous swirl of ink with which she inscribed my book!

Another confession. I haven't been able to read P of the B because I always eat or drink when I read and I'm afraid to sully it. I've never felt this way about books before. Pasta sauce! Wine! Tuna drool! Who cares? It's the words that are important. (To Drew's many fans in the library community: Just Kidding!)

Passover is coming, and the Book of the book is a Haggadah, for reading at the Seder. It is timely that I should now read People of the Book, perhaps with a small glass of wine set carefully to the side.

Meanwhile I've ordered This Republic of Suffering from the BPL. I'm number 33 in the queue. In contrast, were I to order PoftheB from the BPL I'd be number 80.

I wonder does DGF have on the back burner a piece of literary fiction she will share with us someday? I'll ask her next time I run into her, if she will ever speak to me again.

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