Bit More on Frankfurt

One of the coolest things that happened last night was when, in the middle of the Berlin Verlag party, everyone went dead silent to watch the announcement of the Booker Prize. (_The White Tiger_ by Aravind Adiga won.)

For one thing, it was interesting to see people freaking out over a book award. Of course, people from Atlantic were there, and had good reason to be excited, but even so, it was a unique experience.

Even stranger—to Americans—was the fact that the Booker ceremony was televised! Can you imagine an hour-long National Book Award presentation program? Featuring Tom Jones?

Bizarre these countries where the written word is cherished and celebrated . . .

BTW, my posts are up at the “Frankfurt blog.:http://www.book-fair.com/en/blog/ There are three of us covering the fair and tons of events, so this should be one of the best sources for information about what’s going on at this year’s fair.