(This podcast is part of our National Book Awards coverage for 2007, in which five bloggers are attempting various journalistic experiments using unusual technological methods. For more posts and other tomfoolery, keep checking under this category.)
People on This Podcast: Fran Lebowitz, Levi Asher
Click to listen: (MP3)
(This podcast is part of our National Book Awards coverage for 2007, in which five bloggers are attempting various journalistic experiments using unusual technological methods. For more posts and other tomfoolery, keep checking under this category.)
People on This Podcast: Christopher Hitchens
Click to listen: (MP3)
(This podcast is part of our National Book Awards coverage for 2007, in which five bloggers are attempting various journalistic experiments using unusual technological methods. For more posts and other tomfoolery, keep checking under this category.)
People on This Podcast: Jonathan Franzen
Click to listen: (MP3)
Tayari Jones is here. A white woman smiled at her and said, “I loved your reading last night.” This is because Tayari, like 5 Under 35 winner Asali Solomon, is African-American.
I just asked Franzen why he didn’t add me as a Facebook friend. He said that I talked too fast and that I sounded like I worked in advertising. There is audio.
I am here talking with Harold Augenbraum, the Executive Director of the National Book Foundation.
Me: Who do you use instead of PricewaterhouseCoopers?
Augenbraum: DB Bistro Moderne. [HA has confused my question with the caterer, but this is also interesting and he is a convivial fellow.] One of the perks of being a judge is that they get to pick the restaurant they get to go to. They get $2,500 for six months’ worth of work. Fortunately, Per Se is not open for lunch.
The Almighty Five Bloggers now have their own table here. There was a last-minute pitstop to Best Buy, but we’re all ready to go. More meaningful journalism coming soon.
Denis Johnson, incidentally, isn’t here. He’s in Iraq. The first of many swipes against the good people here at the National Book Foundation. More to come.
As you may or may not know, five bloggers are employing various journalistic experiments tonight using an arsenal of technology — some of it theirs, some of it borrowed, some of it having no apparent origin of acquisition that we can trace — at least, not legitimately. But however successful or unsuccessful our efforts, we’ll be covering tonight’s National Book Awards as it happens (and sometimes after it happens).
The following bloggers will be there tonight:
Levi Asher
Jason Boog
Marydell
Sarah Weinman
Yours truly
So if you want to check out what’s happening tonight on these pages, keep refreshing this page. I’ll be putting up everything under the “National Book Awards” category, reporting impressions, observations, and being an all-around wiseacre. Plus, we’ll be getting up the winners as they are announced.
Stay tuned! It’s just like the Oscar Blog, except we’re actually going to have people attending the ceremonies!
Folks, I’m wiped after a day that started at 5:00 AM. But I hope to have a somewhat lengthy report from tonight’s 5 Under 35 event up after I’ve had a few hours of sleep.
Also, we’ve assembled a crazy crew of bloggers, including Jason Boog, Marydell, Levi Asher, and Sarah Weinman, who will be providing you with live coverage of the National Book Awards on Wednesday night. We’ll have text, pictures, video, and just about every damn thing that technology will permit us to do in a few days as the awards happen! You’re not going to want to miss this, folks. And if you have any specific things you want this group to uncover, let us know and we’ll see what we can do.
I also have a few exclusive items that I’ll be posting on when the report goes up. Needless to say, after my conversations tonight, it appears that Denis Johnson is considered to be the favorite, but there appears to be a consensus that there could be an upset victory from Jim Shepard. We’ll see how the speculation holds out.
Okay. Now about to collapse. More craziness to ensue!