1 post tagged “book signings”
I have a tendency to go on book-buying sprees during the school year, only to set those books aside for the summer vacation, when I finally have the free time to read for my own recreation. I bought Anderson Cooper's book, Dispatches from the Edge, at the beginning of the summer, but because I had such a large backlog of books I purchased at Kaboom Books and Borders during the school year, I forced myself to set this book aside until the day before Anderson Cooper's signing at the Barnes & Nobles on Veterans last Sunday.
I'm almost ashamed to admit this, but the first time I heard of the book was when I caught Anderson on Larry King. An acquaintance of mine who had been forced out of the city after Katrina was a huge fan of Anderson Cooper, so I watched it with her in mind. Cooper's life was absolutely fascinating; I was surprised to discover that he had once worked for Channel One, the news network for teenagers that was played every day before the morning announcements. The interview was fascinating, and the next day when I picked up my copy of Creationism's Trojan Horse, I made certain to pick up a copy of Dispatches from the Edge.
I furiously read Dispatches throughout the night, and woke up early the next morning to get even more reading done. Unfortunately, I did not manage to finish the book before I made the journey across I-10 and to the Barnes & Nobles.
I've been to signings before; I've met obscure musicians and local authors, of course, but this was my first time going to a signing of this magnitude; I showed up well over an hour early, and still, I had to park several blocks away from the store. Inside, Barnes & Nobles employees quickly escorted us to different aisles to wait; I promptly sat down with my book and managed to finish it even before the line began to move.
After Katrina, most of my friends moved away--some across the state, others across the country, a few even moved across the world. But since then, I've met a number of fascinating people in bookstores. Gary, for instance, I met discussing Star Wars books in the science fiction section of the Barnes & Nobles off the West Bank Expressway; since then, we've become gaming buddies. I met another thirty-something at the Borders on Clearview, and we exchanged e-mail addresses. On the day of the signing, I met a pleasant couple who had purchased a copy of Cooper's book for almost every member of their extended family. The man had recently returned from Iraq and his wife was recently-pregnant; we made small-talk while we waited in line; we discussed the war overseas, Cooper's book, even names for the gender of their child (which the duo adamantly debated). It was about two hours later that our section of the line finally began to move; it took only about fifteen minutes for us to meet Anderson Cooper himself.
I furiously snapped photos as we approached the reporter, though most of them came out poorly because we were constantly moving. Cooper apologized for not being able to customize the books he signed (he had another signing elsewhere at four), and smiled as he shook my hand and signed my book.
"Could you sign this, too?" I asked, holding out a flier advertising the event. "One of my friends has been stuck up north since the storm, and she's a big fan of yours."
"Of course." Though I'm sure his fingers were calloused from the massive amount of books he signed that day, Cooper was more than happy to sign the flier. I beamed, murmured a thank you, and quickly made my way out of the store, hugging my copy of Dispatches to my chest.
Ever since I was a little girl, I've always wanted to be an author; ever since I first began reading at the age of three, I've wanted to write. But since Katrina, I've had difficulty pressing my thoughts into words. But after going to that signing on June 25th, my enthusiasm for writing was rekindled.
Later that day, I started chapter one of the novel I had been planning for months.
