Granted, Sarah and I have to rely on the New York subway system instead of the Book TV bus, but we have the photo, and they’ve got the live and taped coverage of some of the weekend’s top events, like the Saturday morning breakfast where Stephen Colbert will grill Ken Burns about his World War II documentary, and the NBCC-sponsored panel on the ethics of book reviewing.* So if you can’t get into the Javits, you have that option, or you could listen to the assorted pre-show interviews that BEA has been podcasting, including an interview with show-skipping Paolo Coelho.
So Sarah and I are off to pick up our press passes and sit in on some pre-show educational panels—and get ready for the GalleyCat party tonight—and that pretty much means that while we will do our best to post something Friday morning, in all honesty we’re going to have to work on the really juicy bits for Monday morning. But if you see us on the floor, say hi!
*According to this morning’s WaPo, though, they’re not allowed to cover the Alan Greenspan keynote, nor are any other broadcast journalists.The article notes the explanation Penguin Press publicity director Tracy Locke gave for the blackout: “We felt it’s premature for the media to cover a book that’s not finished.” But apparently not for him to talk about it with his wife while several hundred strangers look on.