As someone who enjoyed Gaiman’s Sandman comics/graphic novels so much that I got a tattoo of one of his characters, I’m bummed that I’ll have to miss this. Everyone I know who has attended his talks has enjoyed them immensely.

The talk is Saturday, May 2, at 1 PM at the Great Hall at Cooper Union, 7 E. 7th Street. Tickets are available for $10, or you can get tickets for all three graphic novelist talks for a discounted rate of $25. You can’t buy them online anymore, but tickets are still available by calling 212.868.4444.

Neil Gaiman has given several other talks this week – anyone who attended, please let us know what you thought!

The store is not too big, but it’s set up in a way that captivates your attention immediately. So after 30 minutes of being there, I had yet to go over to the cafe or notice that they have a downstairs.

I left those 2 out of my experience this time around as their collection of graphic novels and books on design/architecture and various other things kept me occupied.

I was surprised I hadn’t noticed the place after being through Nolita several times. Not since Coliseum Books have I really loved a bookstore so hard in New York City.

Definitely going again and checking out the downstairs.

Norman Mailer was born and raised in Brooklyn. He studied engineering at Havard but soon decided to become a writer instead. As a notorius macho, he drank, smoked pot and liked to get into fights. He saw himself as a rather rough man of letters and enjoyed life to the fullest. He was 84 years old.

Photo of my copy!

No spoilers here.

I took part in the madness that was the release of the 7th Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I have been to every Midnight Madness Harry Potter book release since Goblet of Fire. This one by far outdid them all.

I went with my by biggest Harry Potter fan friend. We meant to the night off at a street fair In Soho, but when we arrived, there was a huge line just to get in. We decided to skip it and go right to the B & N in Union Square, where we had reserved copies. Starting from 5:00, they had events such as face-painting, wand-making, owl petting, and a rather unimpressive magic show. I was surrounded by Harrys and Dumbledores, as well as some more original costumes. After a while, we decided to head out for a quick drink and some theorizing.

Continue for costume photos and Harry Potter geek theories..

My friend tried to convince me that Harry Potter is a horcrux. Theories of other horcruxes included: the locket, briefly mentioned among the Black’s possessions in the 5th book, possibly smuggled from the house in the 6th. Something Bellatrix had, based on her conversation with Narcissa in the 6th book.

We also theorized on R.A.B. I stuck with Regulus Black. The letter was written to the “Dark Lord”, a phrase Harry specifically has said only Death Eaters use. My friend thinks this is too obvious an explanation. But I think it needs to be someone we already know and Sirius’ brother has been repeatedly mention, something Rowling usually has a reason for doing…

We went back to the bookstore at 10, where a mad line had already formed. We made our way through the crowd by holding our golden wristbands high in the air. There was a countdown in the store to midnight, as if it was New Years Eve. People loudly cheered when the time came. The store manager stood on top of a table and directed her staff like a military general, making sure people with the appropriate wristbands formed the appropriate lines. As soon as our reserved copies reached our hands, we rushed to share a cab home to Astoria.

Anyway, I won’t say anything about what I learned in my all night reading fest. And now I need to go and read my book.

So bookstores all over the country (world, probably) are doing big Harry Potter bashes when the next (and final) book comes out later this month. But it looks like the Potter fanatics here in NYC, in addition to countless midnight bookstore promotions, will have quite the chance to immerse themselves in Harry Potter mania.

On June 20, Scholastic (the US publisher of the Harry Potter books) will open “Harry Potter Place” on Mercer Street between Prince and Spring. All sorts of stuff will be going on (including a replica of the Knight Bus, which makes a number of appearances in the books) that you can read about here.

I imagine it’ll be pretty crowded, and as I’m not really a disciple I’ll probably avoid “Harry Potter Place” like the plague. However, I’ll be curious to hear all about it. Any big Potterphiles out there who plan to make the trek?

Last night Norman Mailer spoke to a packed audience at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College. In his only New York appearance to promote his new book, The Castle in the Forest, a novel that explores the childhood of the epitome of evil, Adolf Hitler, and Mailer’s first major work of fiction in 10 years, he talked about his career, his politics, and of course his writing.

Mailer was born in 1923 in Long Branch, NJ and grew up in Brooklyn. He went to Harvard, fought in World War II, and has been married six times – six! He’s written numerous books, both fiction and nonfiction, of which The Executioner’s Song is most well-known to this blogger, primarily because of the Tommy Lee Jones movie.

Interviewed by New York Times book editor, Sam Tanenhaus, Mailer talked on a range of subjects. Rather than try to summarize the whole evening, here are some highlights.

Mailer on:

His new book. It started as a work about Hitler’s mother who, through research Mailer found to be a modest, hard-working woman who adored her son. Mailer was fascinated with how even a loving household could produce a monster like Hitler.

Good and evil. He likens devils to a sly group interested in obtaining clients (hmm, sounds corporately familiar) while angels are like marines who when they find devils, simply “beat the crap out of them.”

Hitler. “The Devil’s answer to Jesus Christ.”

Writing novels. Unlike nonfiction, which to Mailer is more straightforward, writing a novel is like falling in love. You don’t choose to do it; it just happens to you and you’ve no choice but to follow through.

Playing up one’s virtues. Mailer’s is, like Picasso, doing something different every time and part of the reason he chose a subject like Hitler’s childhood, feeling as of now he’s said all he has to say about America. Plus Mailer really likes Picasso.

Sudden fame. At 25, Mailer published his first novel, The Naked and the Dead, which almost immediately landed on the bestseller’s list. While he enjoyed the ride, afterwards he found the shot to fame and fortune debilitating, and as a result had an “identity crisis.” He admired writers like Kurt Vonnegut and William Kennedy who achieved success at a later age, when they were “ready for it.”

Narcissists. Because narcissists find it so difficult to move beyond themselves, they have a hard time falling in love. (Hmm, think I’ve dated one or two). They usually have the most intense relationships with othes like them because for two narcissists to be able to move out of the confines of themselves and connect with each other creates an intense yet short-lived energy.

Bush. President, that is. While a “leftist conservative,” Mailer was against Dubya from the beginning, even before 9/11. “A good democracy equals good language in its leaders,” he remarked. ‘Nuff said.

New York City. In 1969, Mailer ran for mayor of New York, and as part of his platform, proposed making the city the 51st state. “New York City has nothing to do with New York State,” he said. “We’re like Hong Kong.”

The Castle in the Forest is available from Random House now.

Sometimes I can’t stop seeing graffiti, and I mean the good kind, not just tags over and over, but something that looked like it took effort and had some vision. Some see graffiti as defacement. I see it as enhancement, if done in the right way.

On my train ride from the city to my homestead in New Jersey, we pass under a bridge outside of Newark. The abutment is alternatively covered in elaborate graffiti and painted over in plain white. A battle of the spray and paint can wills. Why not leave the graffiti? It’s more interesting to look at, especially on a long and boring ride through the swamps of Secaucus.

If you’re like me – and you’re still strapped for a gift – you might like this book, Burning New York, Graffiti NYC. To tell the truth, I haven’t had a chance to look at it since it’s been sold out in every book store I’ve looked in so far. But I attended a panel discussion earlier this month during which the authors and a few of the featured artists talked about graffiti, how they got started, how it’s evolved over the years, and how any street art, even licensed murals, is still seen as criminal.

Criminal? Nah. Free? Definitely, and in more than one way.

[Photo courtesy of me. Mosaic made with fd's flickr toys.]

Marisha’s publicists and publishers both say that they would have promoted her best selling book The Calamity of Physics even if the author wasn’t gorgeous.

Pff.

Event info:
Strand Books
828 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
at 12th St.
212-473-1452

7 pm

Photo Courtesy: edgymama.com

This weekend is the Small Press Center’s 19th Annual Independent and Small Press Book Fair. The event is free though a $1 donation is suggested.

More than 100 indie presses will be on hand displaying their wares. As well, there will be events throughout each day, 11 to 5 on Saturday, and 12 to 5 on Sunday, including:

readings from small press authors

interviews with authors Michael Cunningham (The Hours) and Amira Baraka, among others

panel discussions on such topics as Chick Lit: More than just Bridget and Blahniks; The Rise of the Progressive Blogosphere; Stealing the Vote: Was the 2004 Election Stolen?; and Burning New York: Exposing the Subculture of Graffiti, among many others

Click here for more details.

To kick things off, tonight there’ll be a “pre-book fair fiesta” from 8 to 11, at KGB Bar on 85 E. 4th Street and 2nd Ave. Before the party, authors Joe Meno and Peter Plate will be reading at the Barnes & Noble at Astor Place at 7.

Yours truly will be on hand as a volunteer, though what sort of volunteer work I’ll be doing I’m not quite sure. Hopefully I’ll be allowed to yank the mike out of the hands of audience members asking dumb ass questions. One can dream.

Joe Meno/Peter Plate reading || Tonight, 7 PM || B&N Astor Place || FREE
Pre-Book Fair Fiesta || Tonight, 8 PM to 11 PM || KGB Bar, 85 E. 4th St., @ 2nd Ave || FREE
Book Fair || Sat 12/2, 11 AM to 6 PM & Sun 12/3, 12 PM to 5 PM || Small Press Center, 20 W. 44th St. (betw’n 5th & 6th) || FREE ($1 suggested donation)