"I think that all of us in publishing and bookselling realize that, like many industries, we have got to wean ourselves from ecologically unsound and unsustainable practices, and while we've made strides in that direction over the past couple of decades, there is still much to be done. This is not a defense of old ways, but a call for clarity when evaluating the new models being presented to us as something better."

 

In a front-page feature called "E-Books Rewrite Bookselling," the Wall Street Journal traced the effect of the growing popularity of e-books on traditional bookselling, focusing on how Barnes & Noble is transforming to try to remain relevant. That effort by B&N consists both of aggressively expanding and showcasing digital offerings as well as selling a range of nonbook merchandise, including, for example, "generous display space" at one of the company's New York City stores "devoted to baby blankets, Art Deco flight clocks, stationery and adult games like Risk and Stratego." Chairman Len Riggio commented: "I would say that there's nothing we wouldn't put under consideration although it's safe to say we won't have pots and pans."

The digital effort is being led by new B&N CEO William Lynch who has hired "a team of executives from e-commerce and technology companies in a new Palo Alto outpost. He is going as far as to describe Barnes & Noble as 'as much a technology company as we are a retail company.' "

A key element of B&N's digital strategy is using stores to advantage. The Journal noted: "Customers can test the Nook and get free original in-store content, such as a short story set in Italy by Alexander McCall Smith. Other in-store perks include free Wi-Fi service and free cafe offers."

The Journal recounted several missteps B&N made over the years--and even missed a few--most of which have to do with letting Amazon take the initiative selling books online and selling a viable e-reader.

Despite dire predictions about the future of bricks-and-mortar stores, Riggio remains optimistic. "I wouldn't write off retail book stores," he told the paper. "People love holding books. They want their kids to go to bookstores. Their kids want their parents to take them to bookstores."

Author James Patterson backed him up, saying, "Bookstores are still the best places to go for divergent ideas. With fewer newspapers providing reviews, where will people go to find out about new books? Barnes & Noble will do that and give you more assistance with e-books. They have a future."

 

In the first quarter ended May 1, net sales at Books-A-Million fell 1%, to $117 million, while net income fell 4.8% to $2 million. Sales at stores open at least a year fell 3.6%.

In a statement, Clyde B. Anderson, chairman, president and CEO, said, "While we continued to face a challenging sales environment during the period, I'm pleased that our ongoing discipline in cost control and inventory management delivered solid financial results."

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Mike Edwards apparently wants to make his job as interim CEO of Borders Group permanent, according to the Detroit Free Press, which interviewed him after Borders's annual meeting yesterday.

Edwards, Borders merchandising chief before being promoted to interim CEO in January after the departure of Ron Marshall, told the paper, "I am very committed and passionate about the Borders brand."

At the meeting, the Free Press wrote, "Edwards told shareholders the company is focused on raising revenue and returning to profitability. He stressed improving the company's in-store experience and growing its potential e-reader business as key parts of Borders' strategy." Edwards described reaction to the Kobo e-reader, which Borders will begin to sell in June, as "very strong."

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More on the hornet's nest in Canada over sales of Stieg Larsson's The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, the last volume in the Millennium trilogy.

Independent booksellers say that they lost sales of the book, which they are just receiving, because Indigo/Chapter began selling it a week ago, Quill & Quire reported. The book's official on-sale date is this coming Tuesday.

Penguin, the book's publisher north of the border, did not have an embargo on the book, and in communications with booksellers apologized for the situation and encouraged them to begin selling the book as soon as they received it. "Wholesalers and distribution centres are sent out early to give them time to re-ship, ensuring that everyone has it on the official on-sale date and clearly this wasn't honoured," Penguin wrote, according to Quill & Quire. "As a result of this, we are in the process of determining changes to our policies and procedures to try to ensure that this doesn;t happen again. It will most likely result in the imposition of many more strict on-sale dates going forward."

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The Oprah Effect strikes again. USA Today reported that there "are books that Oprah Winfrey likes. Then there are books she loves. If you watched Geneen Roth's appearance on Winfrey's show May 12, you could have predicted that Roth's Women Food and God would rocket from Number 80 to Number 1 on USA Today's Best-Selling Books list this week."

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In Bookselling This Week, the ABA lists 10 member stores that opened in the first third of this year.

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Books@BEA, Above the Treeline's online product catalogue for BookExpo America, has gone live and can be found at booksatbea.com. Books@BEA offers information about more than 10,000 titles featured at the show by more than 300 exhibitors and is powered by Edelweiss, Above the Treeline's digital catalogue service. Versions of Books@BEA for iPhones, Androids and Blackberrys will be available in the next few days.

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Obituary Note: Robert Laffont, "the grandfather of French publishing," died on Wednesday at age 93.

"He created his own publishing house, Editions Robert Laffont, in 1941, and was responsible for more than 10,000 titles, including a number of bestsellers, such as Henri Charrière's Papillon," the Bookseller wrote.

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Obituary note: Maxwell J. Lillienstein, longtime general counsel of the American Booksellers Association, died May 13 at his home in Boynton Beach, Fla. He was 82.

As noted in Bookselling This Week, "Lillienstein submitted briefs as amicus curiae in several important First Amendment cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. He was an active member of the Freedom to Read Committee and the author of many articles on the First Amendment and antitrust issues affecting the bookselling industry."

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George Washington's overdue book (Shelf Awareness, April 20, 2010) has been returned after more than two centuries--sort of. The Daily News reported that the New York Society Library "happily accepted a replica copy of The Law of Nations from members of the first U.S. President's Mount Vernon estate yesterday after they discovered he removed it from their collection on October 5, 1789, but never brought it back."

"I hereby absolve George Washington and his representatives for any overdue library fees incurred," said Charles Berry, NYSL's chairman of the board of trustees. "The library was not about to pursue a fine, but we were delighted to learn that a copy of this book was coming back to us."

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Book trailer of the day: Entertainment Weekly's Shelf Life blog featured a trailer for Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham (Dutton Children's Books, May 25 release).

 

 

Author Steve Chbosky was at the press in West Virginia for the printing of the millionth copy of his The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Simon & Schuster). The 1999 YA novel is No. 3 on the list of the American Library Association's most frequently challenged books.

 

This summer, motorists will be sharing the roads with an eye-catching vehicle: an orange Mini Cooper adorned with the Penguin Books logo. The car was commissioned for the 75th anniversary of Penguin Books, the flagship imprint of Penguin Group (USA). The celebration kicked off on May 17--some 75 days before the official July 30 anniversary date--with the launch of a dedicated website, www.PenguinBooks75.com. Festivities take place through the summer and culminate with a gala at the New York Public Library in September.

Penguin Books sales reps and other employees--including marketing director John Fagan, who came up with the idea for the customized car--will take turns behind the wheel. They'll be driving it to various anniversary parties at bookstores across the country. "It seems fun to bring our authors to the events in a wonderfully branded car like this," Fagan said. "It's a more visual experience." (The car will be on display in the Javits Center lobby during BookExpo America.)

Among the authors riding shotgun is Garrison Keillor, who kicks off the anniversary soirees at Barnes & Noble in Edina, Minn., on June 13. Also helping mark the milestone are Sue Monk Kidd in Charleston, S.C. (Blue Bicycle Books, June 22), Kim Edwards in Lexington, Ky. (Joseph-Beth Booksellers, June 24), Geraldine Brooks on Martha's Vineyard (Bunch of Grapes, August 2) and several other writers. Authors are signing the car, which will be auctioned off and proceeds donated to a literary nonprofit.

Associate publisher and editor-in-chief Stephen Morrison plans to take the "anniversary-mobile" for a spin down the Pacific Coast Highway, in between joining The Omnivore's Dilemma author Michael Pollan at Books Inc. in Berkeley, Calif., on June 28 and attending an event at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena on June 30. "It's a great excuse to get out and see booksellers and ask them to help celebrate with us," Morrison said.

Published to coincide with the anniversary is Penguin 75: Designers, Authors, Commentary (The Good, The Bad), edited by art director Paul Buckley. The book showcases 75 covers produced over the last decade and includes commentary from authors, agents, editors, designers and artists. "We decided to go to people and ask what they really thought of the covers we did," said Kathryn Court, president and publisher of Penguin Books. "We had some hilarious and wonderful responses. It's very funny and very honest."

Being published in conjunction with the anniversary is a new series, Penguin Ink, featuring six novels repackaged with covers designed by tattoo artists: Money by Martin Amis, Waiting for the Barbarians by J. M. Coetzee, Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding, From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming, The Bone People by Keri Hulme and The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace. The striking illustrated covers are "a good way to introduce our books to a new generation of readers," Morrison said.

The Penguin 75 backlist promotion highlights a selection of 75 Penguin Books and Penguin Classics titles. "We've picked books that we consider in many ways the most important ones we've published in our history," said Court. They range from The Short Novels of John Steinbeck and Wallace Stegner's Angle of Repose to Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club and Tana French's In the Woods. Bookstores that do an anniversary backlist display will receive a kit with signage, balloons, stickers for the books and additional materials (while supplies last). Other anniversary-themed items include "The Evolution of the Penguin" posters and vintage-inspired postcards.

At each anniversary event, a set of the Penguin 75 titles will be given to a local library or literacy group. Collections are also being donated to U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Another philanthropic aspect of the celebration is Penguin's support of the Nature Conservancy and its "Plant a Billion Trees Campaign," an initiative to revitalize Brazil's Atlantic Forest.

At www.PenguinBooks75.com, bibliophiles can follow the anniversary-mobile on its cross-country trek, download a countdown widget, enter a contest to win a set of books, watch a video of Penguin executives and other staffers talking about the company and view a timeline with highlights in Penguin Books history. (E.g., in 1960 Penguin was charged under the Obscene Publications Act for publishing Lady Chatterley's Lover; the publisher was acquitted and the book sold two million copies in six weeks.)

Penguin Books was founded in the U.K. in 1935 by Allen Lane, who initially produced 10 titles as part of his mission to make affordable, high-quality paperbacks readily available. Today they're published globally, with thousands of books in print--a great reason for making merry. Said Morrison, "To collectively come together and celebrate the books and reading is a lot of fun."--Shannon McKenna Schmidt

Among several library-oriented panels that we haven't mentioned yet are these highlights:

On Thursday, 10-11 a.m., Tomorrow's Library in a World of Digits: Publishers and Librarians Share Concerns, Ideas and Opinions for New Mutually Beneficial Models is moderated by Nora Rawlinson, co-founder and editor of EarlyWord.com. Panelists are Steve Potash of OverDrive, Stephen Rhind-Tutt of Alexander Street Press, Michael Santangelo of the Brooklyn Public Library and Bob Weil of Sony. The panel is co-sponsored by EarlyWord.com and Library Journal. (Room 1E15.)

On Thursday, 2-3 p.m., at Nancy Pearl Unshelved, Unshelved creators Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes will interview Nancy Pearl, the world-famous librarian, author and action-figure model.

On Thursday, 2:30-3:30 p.m., a group of librarians discuss Hot Fall Graphic Novels for Libraries. Moderator is John Hogan, editor for GraphicNovelReporter.com. Panelists are Eva Volin of the Alameda Free Library, Jesse Karp, a librarian at the Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School, Barbara Moon, a consultant to the Suffolk Cooperative Library System, and Christian Zabriskie of the Queens Library. (Room 1E14.)

And from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., eight once or current collection development librarians share their top picks from the show at the second annual Librarians' Book Shout and Share. Hosted by Barbara A. Genco, editor at Library Journal. Panelists include Barbara Hoffert of Library Journal, Jason Honig of the San Francisco Public Library, Douglas Lord, Library Journal columnist, Robin Nesbitt of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Nora Rawlinson of EarlyWord.com, Miriam Tuliao of the New York Public Library, Neal Wyatt, Library Journal. (Room 1E16.)

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From 4-5:30 p.m. at the C-Span bus in the Crystal Palace/Main Lobby of the Javits Center, PublicAffairs and C-Span are sponsoring a conversation with C-Span's Susan Swain and Mark Farkas and PublicAffairs founder Peter Osnos on the occasion of PublicAffairs's recent publication of The Supreme Court: A C-Span Book, Featuring the Justices in Their Own Words edited by Swain, Farkas and Brian Lamb.

 

If you think you won't have time to see the city given your hectic schedule of BEA meetings and other work obligations, think again. Frommer's has chosen the best sights and put them in an easy-to-follow itinerary so you can see the best of the best in just one day.

To explore the city's beginnings, head first to Lower Manhattan, with its Dutch roots and cobblestone streets. But this area of New York is not limited to centuries-old structures frozen in time; it's also the dynamic center of city government and world finance.

Brooklyn Bridge. For a glorious view of New York City, you can't beat the 30-minute walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. The celebrated suspension bridge is a wonder in itself, with its Gothic-inspired towers, Maine granite and intricate web of steel cables.

City Hall Park. Between Broadway and Park Row, City Hall has been the seat of the government since 1812. Security concerns prevent visitors from touring inside, but you can get close enough to appreciate the handsome French Renaissance exterior, built from 1803 to 1811. Abraham Lincoln was laid in state in the soaring rotunda. Equally grand is the colossal Municipal Building (1 Centre St. at Chambers), built on the other side of Centre Street in 1915 by McKim, Mead, and White; it was the celebrated firm's first "skyscraper." Across Broadway at no. 233 is that temple of commerce known as the Woolworth Building. Built from the proceeds of a nickel-and-dime empire in 1913, this neo-Gothic masterpiece is the work of Cass Gilbert.

World Trade Center site. The Twin Towers once dominated the city's skyline, and visitors from around the world have made pilgrimages to the gaping hole left after their destruction September 11, 2001. Today it's a bustling construction site with a small area devoted to the attacks and their aftermath. A Wall of Heroes lists the names of those who died that day. Daniel Libeskind's proposed 1,776-ft.-tall (533m) Freedom Tower will eventually stand here, along with a permanent memorial entitled Reflecting Absence. A birdwing-like steel-and-glass canopy, designed by Catalan architect Santiago Calatrava, will shelter the nearby World Trade Center transportation hub and PATH station. Construction work is expected to last until 2015. The Tribute WTC Visitor Center, at 120 Liberty St. (at the site's south border), was created by the nonprofit September 11th Families' Association; it offers daily walking tours ($10), led by people whose lives were affected by the disaster. Bounded by Church, Barclay, Liberty & West Sts. 212-484-1222.

St. Paul's Chapel. This is Manhattan's only surviving pre-Revolutionary church. Built to resemble London's St. Martin-in-the-Fields, with an elegant Georgian interior, the chapel was a refuge for rescue workers after September 11 and is home to the "Unwavering Spirit" exhibition, which chronicles 9/11 with artifacts and donations from around the world. The churchyard in back is filled with 18th- and 19th-century tombstones. 209 Broadway (at Fulton St.). 212-233-4164. Open Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sat., 8 a.m.-3 p.m.; Sun., 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Free concerts Mondays 1-2 p.m.

Trinity Church. This lovely neo-Gothic marvel was consecrated in 1846 and is still active today. The main doors, modeled on the doors in Florence's Baptistery, are decorated with biblical scenes; inside are splendid stained-glass windows. Among those buried in the pretty churchyard are Alexander Hamilton and Robert Fulton. Broadway (at Wall St.). 212-602-0800. Open Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sat., 8 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sun., 7 a.m.-4 p.m.

National Museum of the American Indian. This Smithsonian Institution museum is a little-known New York treasure. The collection spans more than 10,000 years of Native heritage, housed in a glorious 1907 Beaux Arts building designed by Cass Gilbert. 1 Bowling Green. 212-514-3700.  Free. Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (Thurs. until 8 p.m.).

Stone Street. This historic cobblestone street is lined with restaurants. You might try Adrienne's Pizzabar, a new spot (with alfresco seating) that has gotten raves for its thin-crust square pizza. 54 Stone St. (btwn. William & Pearl sts.). 212-248-3838.

The Statue of Liberty. For the millions who arrived in New York by ship, Lady Liberty was their first glimpse of America. A gift from France to the U.S., the statue was designed by sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi and unveiled on October 28, 1886. The crown and torch are not accessible, but visitors can explore the Statue of Liberty Museum, peer into the inner structure through a glass ceiling near the base of the statue and enjoy views from the observation deck. (Tip: The Staten Island Ferry provides spectacular skyline views of Manhattan and is a wonderful way to see the harbor. You'll pass by, but not stop at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.) Buy tickets online or in Castle Clinton National Monument. 212-363-3200. Ferry info: 877-523-9849. Open daily 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (last ferry departs around 3 p.m.).

Ellis Island. For 62 years, until 1954, this was the main point of entry for newcomers to the U.S. Today it's one of New York's most moving attractions--particularly for the 40% of Americans whose ancestors passed through the immigration center here. Among the points of interest: the Immigration Museum, which skillfully describes coming to America through the eyes of the immigrants; the American Immigrant Wall of Honor, which commemorates more than 500,000 immigrants and their families; and the American Family Immigration Center, where interactive exhibits can help you research your own family history. 212-363-3200.

Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. Dedicated to teaching people of all backgrounds about 20th-century Jewish life, this award-winning museum was designed in a six-sided shape to symbolize the Star of David and to honor the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust. Inside are photos, artifacts and moving accounts from survivors. A second-story stone garden--where each of the hollowed-out boulders has a tree growing out of it--overlooks New York Harbor. 36 Battery Place. 646-437-4200. Admission: $10 adults, $7 seniors, $5 students, free for children 12 and under. Open Sun.-Tues. and Thurs., 10 a.m.-5:45 p.m; Wed., 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Fri. & eves of Jewish holidays 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

From Frommer's New York City Day by Day. Pick up a free copy at the BEA registration desk, while supplies last. For more information about Frommer's, visit booth #4141, where Arthur and Pauline Frommer will sign guides on Thursday, May 27, 10–11 a.m.

 

 

Walden Media will adapt Cottrell Boyce's children's book Cosmic, "a comedy described as Apollo 13 meets Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," for the big screen, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The screenplay will be written by Boyce, who is also a screenwriter. The book was published by Walden Pond Press, a joint venture between Walden Media and HarperCollins.

"The hero of Cosmic is a boy who goes further away from Earth than any human being has ever been, but his big discoveries are all about family and home," Boyce said.

"Frank has created one of the most original characters in recent memory with the book's hero, Liam," said Michael Bostick, CEO of Walden Media. "In order to preserve his wildly funny and unique voice, we're thrilled to be working with Frank to develop the film adaptation that will appeal to the whole family."

 

House Justice: A Joe DeMarco Thriller by Mike Lawson (Atlantic Monthly Press, $24, 9780802119377/0802119379, June 1, 2010)

Opening lines of a book we want to read:

The battery was dead.

For six years she had evaded discovery. For six years she had lived in their midst and endured everything she had to endure but now, after all her sacrifices--now, when it was time to go home and accept the medals no one would ever see--now, when she would be given a job where she wouldn't wake up shaking every night, terrified that the next day would be the day she'd be caught--now she was going to die because a car wouldn't start.--Selected by Marilyn Dahl

 

Miami resident Dave Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning humor writer and sometime columnist for the Miami Herald. He has written many books and plays lead guitar in the Rock Bottom Remainders, whose other members include Stephen King, Amy Tan, Ridley Pearson and Mitch Albom. They are not musically skilled, but they are extremely loud. His latest collection of essays is I'll Mature When I'm Dead: Dave Barry's Amazing Tales of Adulthood (Putnam, May 2010).

On your nightstand now:

King Dork by Frank Portman.

Favorite book when you were a child:

Any of the great Tom Swift books, such as Tom Swift and His Electric Saxophone.

Your top five authors:

Robert Benchley, P.G. Wodehouse, Patrick O'Brian, Shakespeare (we were in college together), Marcel Proust (I am lying about this one).

Book you've faked reading:

The Brothers Karamazov, which I wrote several lengthy papers about in college despite never having gotten past approximately page 11.

Book you're an evangelist for:

Currently mine. I am actually beyond evangelist and into the realm of prostitute.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Thin Thighs in Thirty Days.

Book that changed your life:

The Brothers Karamazov.

Favorite line from a book:

"If only you knew how much I smell you."--Roy Blount Jr. from the book of the same name he did with Valerie Shaff about dogs.
 
Book you most want to read again for the first time:

The Brothers Karamazov.

What will happen if people fail to buy your new book, I'll Mature When I'm Dead?

Very bad things.

Purple is the new black--at least in Wimpy Kid country. Here's the only hint that Wimpy Kid creator Jeff Kinney is giving fans: "I feel like everything in the series has been leading up to the fifth book, which is about change and the different ways Greg and his best friend, Rowley, deal with it," said the author, who calls this book "the linchpin in the series."

The title and cover of Diary of a Wimpy Kid #5 (Abrams/Amulet, $13.95, 9780810984912/0810984911, 224 pp., ages 8-12, November 9, 2010) will be revealed in July; a 16-month wall calendar with photographs and dialogue from Twentieth Century Fox's live-action movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid (which debuted in theaters on March 19 and generated more than $61 million in ticket sales) will also be available this summer. In the meantime, you can collect custom-designed water bottles and bookmarks, and get them signed by Jeff Kinney at the Abrams booth (#4640) at BookExpo at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 27.

 

 

Mohamed used to be the perfect Muslim. He came from a conservative, fanatical small town in Algeria. He led the prayers and recited sermons. Now he's living in Paris and using skin-whitening cream. He's straightened his hair. He's turned his back on his Arabic past. He works at a bank, like a good capitalist. He's had his name Frenchified: he's now Basile Tocquard. Unfortunately, he's just turned 40 and he's still a virgin. That's Mohamed's problem. Instead of savoring all the sensual joys and pleasures of living in Paris, he has always lived at home with his mother and younger brother.

Until now. For 15 years, he's held positions of importance in banks of renown. He has savings. He is about to rent secretly his dream apartment in Paris. He doesn't care how expensive it is, he'll sign. He is going to attempt to liberate himself from a mother he loves with all his heart. This is no ordinary mother--this is a "she-wolf who eats her young alive," who forbids her son to go out even on Saturday night. But before he moves out, more than anything, Mohamed wants his mother's blessing. There's only one way to get it. Mohamed has to promise his mother he'll marry before Ramadan. That's only two months away.

Author Leila Marouane crosses the gender line effortlessly. Here's a character created by a woman, but entrenched in his male point of view. Mohamed Ben Mokhtar is a comic, complex, believable guy who doesn't know himself all that well because he's never dared to be himself; who's still tormented by profound guilt at not appreciating his uneducated father's sacrifices; who is frantically trying to get up the courage to tell his dominating mother he's moving out. Sexually immature, socially blundering, Mohamed has all the tact of a horny teenager, filled with enthusiasm and spinning his wheels in excited confusion. Marouane adds a delicious touch of satire to all of his sexist dreams of conquest--they ring completely honest and true for our thick-headed, inexperienced hero, but they're lightened by a distant sparkle of female laughter.

Rippling with crosscultural wit, warm-hearted with family love, the story zips along nicely, with a couple of recurring teases perpetually toying with the reader's mind: Who exactly is telling the story? And who is the narrator talking to?--Nick DiMartino

Shelf Starter: A witty story about Mohamed, a 40-year-old Muslim in France, who is trying to leave his mother and live the life he has only been able to dream of.

BEA isn't a carnival because it doesn't travel the New York to L.A. to Chicago to D.C. circuit anymore. It's not an amusement park because it has a theme. Maybe it could be considered a theme park, but its credentials there are questionable given that the book show spreads its biblio-wings over a city that will barely know it's in town, what with General David Petraeus visiting the USS Intrepid museum just up the street during Fleet Week and the zillion other sideshows that make New York itself the theme park that never sleeps.

BEA does offer some carnival diversions for our bookish crowd, however, though while social media and digital publishing may be speeding up some of the industry's rides, the book world still feels a bit closer in velocity to Carsten Höller's unsettling "Amusement Park," which I saw at MassMoca four years ago.

Describing an art installation in which refurbished classic rides moved at barely discernible speed, museum director Joseph Thompson said the "amusement park--already a site of physiological and psychological confusion, unease, and ineffable strangeness--gets further refracted and warped in Carsten's hands. Although this work is experienced through sight and sound, our staff has been surprised how visceral and physical the effect can be. Your body enters a space of shifting times and places, and your mind follows. Amusement parks have a dark underbelly, which this work embraces. Though foreboding for some, the experience is otherwordly, pleasantly disorienting, and profoundly theatrical."

Sounds like a trade show to me. So welcome in advance to BEA 2010, which will have its own unique brand of attractions and distractions as you move at speeds as fast or as slow as you can handle. What's in store for you?

Don't miss the greatest of all book-themed thrill rides, one that catapults you at unnerving velocity through dark, haunted, rat-infested tunnels. Step onto almost any subway car and you will see more readers than at your average author reading. John Wray even used this ride as a venue for promoting his novel Lowboy. For the less adventurous, official trade show shuttle buses proceed crosstown at the genteel pace of a kiddie ride.

On the midway at the Javits Center, you will see:

Clowns dressed as your favorite children's book characters. They pose for photo ops with adults the way Mickey Mouse stands with kids at Disney World. Well, to be honest, you also see clowns dressed as all manner of unrecognizable book characters, but you'll have to sort them out for yourself.

At BEA, fortune tellers unceasingly predict the future during education panels, in casual conversations on the midway and over drinks late into the evening. Scratch the surface of any of us and you will uncover a literary soothsayer.

Barkers and pitchmen (pitchpersons?) call for your attention as you slalom through the crowded aisles. They want you to meet authors who are signing new books in their booths "right now!" Step right up. Everybody's a winner. You, sir; you look like a man who loves books about (fill in the blank).

Food queues. You wait in long lines for coffee in the morning, vacuum-sealed sandwiches at lunch and more coffee during the long afternoon. But where's the fried bread dough and cotton candy?

In addition to the hundreds of authors at Javits, you never know whom you'll run into on the streets of New York. Even dead writers can have their day, as Improv Everywhere proved with their "Meet Anton Chekov" event a couple of years ago.

Unfortunately, you won't see the Hudson River water slide any longer. It's been closed down for safety reasons since US Airways Captain Sully Sullenberger gave it one hell of a run in 2009. He did get a sweet book deal as a prize, though.

You say you want magic? It's everywhere in New York and you are the magician. You can even make a yellow cab appear out of thin air just by waving your raised hand over empty pavement.

I promised myself that I would not invoke P.T Barnum's "There's a sucker born every minute," which he never said anyway. And I have resisted the temptation to compare the hundreds of thousands of books published every year to a midway sucker's bet on rigged games like balloon darts, break-a-plate or bottleneck ring toss.

Guess a number from one to a million titles and win a stuffed children's book character?
   
Instead, I'm just happy that the show will go on next week once again, and I can't wait to be there. So step right up, folks, safe travels and see you on the BEA midway.--Robert Gray (column archives available at Fresh Eyes Now)