We’ve told you about Larry Doyle‘s I Love You, Beth Cooper a few times already, from Ron’s enthusiasm over the cover art to a brief clash with Sarah over avoiding the YA tag. Last night, Ecco threw its official launch party for the novel at Housing Works, where Doyle (at left) expressed his thanks before a supportive crowd that included HarperCollins heavyhitters like Daniel Halpern and Jane Friedman. And I was lucky enough to inadvertently walk by Evan Dorkin (holding the raincoat), the artist who drew the cover, and chat with him about how weird it was to see his distinctive cartoony style face-out in chain stores; he told me he pretty much felt the same way. He’ll also be appearing with Doyle tonight at McNally Robinson; you should check it out, and if they have any of his Hectic Planet graphic novels for sale, do yourself a favor and buy them.
Doyle also met up with not one, but two Beth Coopers during the evening. I didn’t quite catch the top one’s story, but I’m pretty sure the bottom Beth is a painter. A little after thta, he reminded me about his ‘Shouts and Murmurs’ piece in this week’s New Yorker, the first item in the magazine’s history to come with an accompanying website, not to mention a few other fake web pages linked to in the article. Did you get paid anything extra for all that additional work, artist Kyle Baker wanted to know? “Nothing,” Doyle cheerfully confirmed.