The Brooklyn Book Fest was quite an eye opener. And big. Brooklyn’s book culture is so much more than just a bunch of top-of-the-line writers who happen to live in Brooklyn. There’s a whole book and magazine culture out here, too. And much of it was new to me or I just wasn’t familiar enough with it. I went around wearing my "Brooklyn Reading Works" hat and introduced myself to a lot of people at the tables and came up with some great names for future readings.

Who I spoke with: I will blog that tomorrow when I’m in my office and can go through all the business cards and catalogs I took.

Who I heard read: I don’t know. But I loved the portable Parks Dept. stage and the way the steps of Borough Hall became an  amphitheater of sorts; a big, huge, outdoor reading. Loved that. But only had two hours and had to keep on moving…

I missed Gersh Kuntzman’s panel of food authors. The stage near the farmer’s market was lively with writers and musicians.

WHAT HC BOUGHT$$$$$

The Destruction of Lower Manhattan by photographer Danny Lyons. HIs
mid-1960’s photos of the area that got torn down to make way for the building of the World Trade Center. Powerhouse Press

Tugboats in Manhattan photographs by George Matteson

On the Ledge A memoir of life as a window washer by Ivor Hanson.
Two Dollar Radio Press

You Can Never Find A Rickshaw When it Monsoons: The World on One Cartoon A Day
by Mo Willems

WHAT OTBKB BOUGHT $$$$$

I Have Not Been Able to Get Through to Everyone. Poems by Anna Moschovakis. Turtle Point Press.

Daybooks 1970-72 by Jonas Mekas. Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs

Chrismakah by Gersh Kuntzman. Succatash Press.

a copy of Ballyhoo, an interesting looking Brooklyn literary magazine.

An issue of Gulf Coast, a literary magazine out of Houston, Texas.

What panels I went to: None. We didn’t even have time to go inside Borough Hall.

TOMORROW: What I saw and didn’t buy. Who I met.