Last evening, noted nonfiction writer Bill Bryson came to the Barnes & Noble at Union Square to give a talk, and a small reading, followed by a booksigning where fans not only got to get their books signed, but also got to meet one of their favorite authors.
He was in town to talk about and promote his latest book, "One Summer: America, 1927", which was just released this past Tuesday, October 1st.
Running a little late because of a prior interview obligation, and then get caught in traffic on his way to the store, he apologized for his tardiness, then thanked the audience for being so patient.
"Thank you all for being so patient....except for these...pricks! Who couldn't wait and left!", he said, pointing out a few empty chairs right up in the front rows.
The audience laughed, and the event was clearly on.
Bryson spoke of the tremendous turnout. Almost every chair was filled (save for those few chairs in front), and there were a few people standing on the periphery of the seating area. He pointed out that it had not always been that way, recalling a similarly planned event that turned out entirely differently. It was in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and five people showed up. They had only set up six chairs, and so the store thought it was a very good turnout. He got to know each person that was there, for that event. I cannot remember the story behind the first two people. But the third one was the store manager, and so it was obvious that she was not about to buy one of his books. The fourth was a man who himself was named Bill Bryson, and he had driven a preposterously long distance (he guessed it had been either from Delaware, or perhaps Wheeling, West Virginia), just to point out that his legal name, too, was Bill Bryson. He showed off his licence, and the two Bill Brysons had their picture taken.
The fifth person was the wife of this other Bill Bryson and, he pointed out, it was obvious that her desired plans for the evening would clearly have nothing to do with anyone named Bill Bryson, one way or the other. This story, Bryson pointed out, was "absolutely true".
He also talked about the first time that he had been stopped on the streets by someone who recognized him. This happens every now and then in Britain, where he has a slightly higher profile, he said. But it had not yet happened in the United States yet, and he had been waiting a long time for it to happen. He pointed out that, with very few exceptions, authors are almost never recognized on the streets.
So, he was overjoyed when someone called out to him "Mr. Bryson!" Bill!"
It was a young man, and he stopped Bryson on the streets, then extended his hand for a shake. Bill Bryson was excited, and betrayed his joy at finally being recognized. But the young man looked at him a bit strangely, and then told him that he was his son's roommate.
"We had dinner two nights ago."
Bryson felt quite deflated after that.
He then began talking about his book, which focuses in on one particularly eventful summer in American history - the summer of 1927. It was the year that Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic, and became an instant celebrity. It was the year that Babe Ruth ("You've never seen someone less athletic looking", quipped Bryson), managed to establish one of the most lasting and famed records of all time - the home run record of 60 in one season. It was the year Sacco and Vanzetti were executed. A man sat on top of a flagpole for twelve days, thus establishing a new record. And much more happened that summer, and all of it was centered in the United States.
"No other country had such an eventful summer during peacetime," Bryson said.
It was a book that began to grab him the more he learned about that famous summer, although it was not without some measure of trepidation. One worry that he had was that the book would not be culturally translatable to an English audience.
Baseball is not very big at all in Britain. People do not understand it and, even worse, people do not much care to understand it there.
This led him to digress considerably, as he recounted an offer that he got in 2003, when it appeared for a while that the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs, at that time two of the most cursed franchises in baseball, seemed almost destined to make it to the World Series together. He was given an offer to cover the Series for English television, because they felt that the British audience needed an American, someone with an understanding of the game, to commentate. In the end, neither team made it that year. The Cubs lost to the Florida Marlins, who eventually would go on to win the World Series. The Bosox, in the meanwhile, lost, once again, to their then long-time tormentors from the Bronx. Mr. Bryson did not go to the World Series that year, either.
But, he said, he did go the following year, and was able to see the Boston Red Sox finally end their 86-year "curse of the Bambino". During that process, they had overcome a 3-0 series lead by the Yankees, to eventually take the series 4 games to 3, the only team in baseball history to have achieved this feat. They then swept the St. Louis Cardinals, and Bryson was there, in St. Louis, to watch them finally do it!
He also spoke about how baseball seems to be losing popularity over time, and how, whenever football season begins, it seems to overshadow baseball precisely at that moment when baseball is really reaching it's most intense period - the push for the playoffs, and then the playoffs themselves.
Mr. Bryson gave a short reading from his books, although it was slightly edited version of a short piece from the book. It was about Charles Lindbergh, and his unexpected, literally overnight world fame, as he made his way across the Atlantic. Nobody knew what had happened to him once he disappeared from sight as he left America over the Atlantic, until people saw him flying over Ireland. By the time that he reached Paris, he was all the rage. The entire world seemed to know about him, and there was a line of traffic from every direction to be there when he touched down on French soil. People mobbed him, and one poor man, who bore a passing resemblance to Lindbergh, found himself having his clothes torn from him, as people wanted small souvenirs to remember the occasion. It was the beginning of modern celebrity. Bryson also pointed out how Lindbergh actually hated his celebrity status.
During the question and answer session, he was asked a few questions that I can specifically recall. One was why he picked that particular summer as the focus of a book, and he answered that it was just such an extraordinary summer, that he was taken enough by this fascination of it to write the book on.
He was also asked by a fan of his, who particularly likes his travel books, when he might return to books on travel. Bryson responded that he was interested in getting back to writing about travel books, and there was one book in particular that he already had in mind. It would be about Canada, a country that he finds fascinating, particularly since nobody seems to pay attention to it. But his publishers are admittedly leery of the idea.
Then, there was the booksigning. It was actually a fairly long wait, as my son and I arrived a bit later then expected. The traffic had been terrible coming in, and then we found out that yesterday was not the best day to take the PATH, as they were having all sorts of problems that led to delays.
Luckily, we had left in plenty of time, so we arrived still nonetheless maybe twenty minutes before the event was slated to start. I wanted to buy a copy of the book, but found out that I had to go all the way downstairs to the lowest level in order to actually purchase it. The organizers of the event had told me that I could purchase it on the third floor, but that proved not to be an option. So, not feeling comfortable with leaving my not quite eight year old son unattended for such a long duration, I went back upstairs and took him with me for the purchase. By the time we got back, our seats were long gone.
One surprise was that my son was so well behaved. He was looking at his Spongebob book, and I had brought his Leapster, although he seemed almost embarrassed when I brought it out for him to play silently. Go figure.
Still, his behavior was actually rather exemplary, and he even received a compliment for it - a rarity, believe me!
After the event, I could not resist to get a couple of Shish Kebobs. I know, not exactly health food. But I only go into the city these days rarely, and usually, allow myself to be spoiled by this privileged. Also, I took my son to a nearby comic/toy store, which he especially enjoyed.
Three years ago, also in October, I had gone to see Bill Bryson for pretty much the same thing; a talk, a reading, and then a booksigning. Back then, I was pretty much on a Bryson rush, reading almost all of his books on traveling, and other nonfiction works. This time, it came rather unexpectedly -I only found out about this a week before. But I was glad to go, especially happy that my son was with me for it (and floating after the compliment about his behavior!), and just happy to enjoy a nice evening, sharing this, in a sense, with one of my favorite authors!
I only wish that I had remembered to bring my camera!
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