According to this morning’s Publishers Lunch, the BookExpo events lineup is changing once again, as “Paulo Coehlo (left) has canceled his Sunday morning author breakfast, and his US tour.” And given that Ian McEwan could very well get held up at the border, that means the entire breakfast will be Rosie O’Donnell telling Alice Sebold how much she adores The Lovely Bones. (Personally, if I was going to pay for a BEA breakfast, it would’ve been the Saturday one: Ken Burns and Stephen Colbert? Oh, it’s on!)
No explanation for the cancellation was given in the Lunch item, but you can bet that a few months from now, Coelho will wonder aloud why he’s still “totally unknown in America,” even as he’s cashing the royalty checks. UPDATE: BEA event director Lance Festerman cites “pressing family needs” as the explanation for Coelho’s withdrawal.