L.A. Times Festival of Books

So, while my mom and all my siblings were dancing in 130 degree weather at Coachella, I ventured to the book fair at UCLA with my student Anne, who also happens to be my dad's girlfriend (woh). I don't know if you guys have ever been to a large-scale book festival, but it's actually fun. (I'd worked in the Book Soup tent before, but this was my first time as one of the masses). We went to two panels, the first, "Fiction: Delving Within" included Sherman Alexie, Danzy Senna, Michael Datcher and Judith Freeman, and was facilitated by Lisa See. Sherman Alexie took the role of class clown, and talked a little about his new novel, Flight, a Slaughterhouse 5 story about a fifteen-year-old time traveler. He's also coming out with a YA novel in the fall, called The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Danzy Senna, (who is very beautiful, by the way), said at one point, "If you're ever going to write fiction you have to kick bell hooks out of the room," and Judith Freeman, whose book Red Water follows the 1847 Mt. Meadows Massacre by the Mormons in Utah, said her answer to the question, How do you get really good people to commit evil?, was: 1. Make them afraid, 2. Give them cause for obedience (usually through religion), and, 3. Make people believe they're right. The second panel was called, Faultlines: L.A. on the Page. I won't bore you with that one, since only a couple of us ought-sixers are out here anyway. It, too, was good, however, and I even asked a question in a warbling voice...you might hear me on BookTV, yo!

To my surprise, I found Class of '05 alumnus Tim O'Sullivan manning the Book Forum booth, which he shared with the A Public Space. Tim's living in New York (Red Hook), writing short stories, and working full time. In the booth with him was Antoine Wilson, a workshopper from the class of 2000, whose new novel The Interloper comes out this month. He was a very friendly guy, so you should check him out if his book tour comes through your city.