BEA–It’s Over

The paperback edition of 2666. It’s even more beautiful in person.

BEA was intense. It’s been a while since I have I been around that many people in an enclosed space, but never with the added chaos of frantic book-slinging. Friday, though, far less intense than Saturday when all the authors started signing books and there were lines of people making it that much harder to get around. That was the day some young lady kept inviting me to meet "one of the skinny bitches." Damn you, Saturday. (Yes, it was yet another dieting book.)

It was wonderful to finally meet in person many of the good people I’ve known only through this blog, and it was also quite nice to make the acquaintance of a number of new small- and large-press folk that I don’t think I’ve previously met in any way.

So here’s the deal. As far as I can tell, I picked up about 20 catalogs (that’s on top of the 10 new catalogs I already had on hand before BEA) and 30 ARCs/review copies. We’re going to try to cover a lot of these books in upcoming issues of The Quarterly Conversation, but I’d also like to give them all a little bit of attention right here.

And yes, I really think the above paperback of 2666 is an incredibly well-made book. It’s clear the FSG has gone well out of their way to make this book a pleasure to touch and see. Up to you to decide how well it reads.