Though in truth, they really aren’t – as anyone who went to the Las Vegas World Mystery Convention (aka Bouchercon) can attest, though perhaps they don’t really want to….anyway, Motoko Rich at the NYT reports on Foxwoods Resort Casino‘s plan to bring in authors – such as Janet Evanovich and Augusten Burroughs – this summer to appear, sign books and entertain the gambling folk. Other casinos are doing the same in New Jersey and Vegas.
How’s this happening? “Casinos historically limit themselves to the types of activities that they think their customers will be interested in — boxing, rock concerts or sporting events,” said Mitchell Etess, chief executive of Mohegan Sun, which has worked mostly with Penguin Group USA, the publisher, to bring in authors over the past three years. “But obviously, many people read books and everybody has got their favorite authors, and it just seemed like it would be a logical extension of our program offering.”
Some people think, though, that the casino approach works for more commercial or popular fiction but less so for literary fiction. But others, like Jacquelyn Mitchard, disagree with that notion. “I don’t think there’s anything inherently tawdry about having it in the middle of a place where people are gathered for other kinds of pleasure,” Mitchard said, though she did have to read over the sound of the slot machines. And she sold a fair number of books. “They were all saying, ‘Oh, this is just the perfect thing to bring back from Las Vegas for my sister.’ It was sort of the alternative to a shot glass,” she said.