At a BookExpo America speech yesterday, author and television host Jon Stewart exposed a common problem that plagues literary readings: long-winded questions from the audience.
New York magazine reporter Boris Kachka wrote about the event, capturing the key moment: “‘Do you have a question,’ Stewart slowly groaned into the mike at one long-winded guest. ‘You’re killing us.’ After a few more questions, he said, ‘Does anyone have a question where we don’t end up having to help you people? Is anyone here okay with what’s going on at this point in their careers, and maybe just curious about the s*** we do?'”
This GalleyCat editor can think of plenty of readings ruined by painful questions. Share your worst long-winded reading question in the comments–we’ll round them up in a future post.