Last night I left the children in the care of someone trustworthy to attend the 50th Anniversary Celebration of To Kill a Mockingbird at Symphony Space. In addition to Oskar Eustis (Artistic Director at The Public Theater), Kurt Andersen (novelist and Studio 360 Host), Jayne Anne Phillips (novelist and National Book Award finalist Lark & Termite), filmmaker Mary McDonagh Murphy (author of the upcoming book Scout, Atticus, and Boo), were two of my favorite people in the world Stephen Colbert and Libba Bray (award winning young-adult novelist Going Bovine, winner of 2010 Printz Award)! Basically, they read excerpts from the book and went on about how great it was. And the audience concurred! The panel was mostly Southern-raised and had a deep connection with the book. I didn't read it till I was out of grad school and at my Scottish husband's insistence (!) but it nevertheless tore my guts out. Scout’s voice is amazing, and I think what every writer, YA or otherwise, aspires to achieve in their work. Just when I thought I could not possibly love him anymore than I already do, Stephen Colbert says that he reads To Kill a Mockingbird at least once a year and his copy is held together with rubber bands. It was a great night with a bizarre panel. Jayne Anne Phillips was a little "I'm a National Book Award Finalist and Who the Hell Are You" the whole night, Libba was a little shy, and it did drag on a bit but Stephen kept it lively and it was a real pleasure to be in a room where people were talking about falling in love with a book. Then we went for tapas and wine (sadly without Libba and Stephen) and caught a taxi home. I was shaken up because all I could think of was Scout and Atticus and Jem and my own two little ones at home and the YA book I'm about to delve into come Monday and the power of words arranged artfully on a page to change the world while drinking a fantastic tempranillo and eating patatas bravas... Not quite a Literary Night of Debauchery but pretty fucking close.
Days to May of Mayhem: 4
So, I'll begin a little Q & A here ala Isaiah Sheffer: What do you remember most from reading the book? Where were you when you first read it and how old?
Your turn! Er, in the comments!
I have the honor- nay the 
is one of the most exciting and acclaimed novelists of our 
generation and he is going to present me at this crazy ball. And he lives in my neighborhood so, hopefully, we can share a ride uptown from Brooklyn. ! And I genuinely like him and have been inspired by him and think that we are a delightful match. And I can't wait and you should buy ALL of his books~!
A friend of mine is in Paris, galavanting about in false mustaches and bangs, buying African art at French auctions, and living her artistic life in ways I can only dream of amid my boxes and baby food grinding. She implored me to find "someone trustworthy" to watch my baby so we could spend some quality friend time together and we will when she returns. I love that although we are both parents, we are not mommy friends, that she wants to escort me to the Otto Dix show at the Neue Gallerie, and that she knows of my obsession with Weimar Germany. In her honor and to celebrate the forthcoming arrival of my editor letter and my upcoming May of Mayhem in which I hire a full-time babysitter and write 125 pages of my book: I bought a fitted black blazer. I am wearing the shit out of it because it is awesome. I took it to the tailor down the street ala What Not to Wear so they could hem the sleeves and move the button. When I dropped it off, it felt like I was leaving my puppy at the pound. Bon Voyage!
