Bookish Love: “Doctorow gave the longest reading I’ve ever attended, clocking in at about 40 minutes. Although the writing was captivating and he included a felatio scene [sic], describing the neck of one of the participants as swan-like, forty minutes might be too long for anyone to read at one clip.”
Magic Hours by Tom Bissell: This marvelous collection of essays chronicles everything from film shoots to novelists rescued from oblivion. (The essay on the Underground Literary Alliance, with its portrait of raucous factions, unexpectedly reveals how soft today's literary world has become.) But if you peer between the cracks of these smart pieces, you may very well see how cultural lives are formed from the most unexpected life choices. And as we follow Bissell's development as a writer over the years, that goes for Bissell as well. (Bat Segundo interview with Bissell)
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway: Harkaway's latest novel greatly improves on his previous book, The Gone-Away World, which I'm already on record as praising. Angelmaker adopts genre elements without ever feeling like a genre book, and it leads me to believe that Harkaway is well on his way to a narrative grace close to China Miéville's. Yet inexplicably this very fun book, which includes an eightysomething badass named Edie Banister, a mysterious mechanical object that may destroy the world, farcical scenarios involving lawyers and the police, and some unexpectedly moving moments about fatherhood, doesn't appear to be getting much attention in American newspapers. Nothing from the snobs at The New York Times Book Review, nothing from The Washington Post. And since I can't get Harkaway on Bat Segundo, I hope this Jump Up and Down mention gets you hopping as well.
The Age of Insight by Eric Kandel: Unless you're really pressed for time, forget Jonah Lehrer. If you want to understand creativity and its relationship to neuroscience, then the bowtie-wearing Nobel laureate is your man. In addition to being a physically beautiful book (you will drool over many of the paintings), there are helpful overviews on optical illusions, science, biographical backgrounds, and many vital figures from the Vienna Secession. Kandel's enthusiasm (and his call for greater unity between the humanities and science) is contagious. 
I thought you meant Cory!
I survived more than one hour-long reading when I was getting an MFA, during which I narrowly prevented myself from poking out my eardrums with my pinkies each time.
Haha- I’d think that 0 minutes would be good enough for the self-serving Cory D.
As for E.L.- did anyone else think that “Sweet Land Stories” was kind of bad?
Definitely too long! Sometimes when you give a reading at a university, you’re expected to read for a certain amount of time to earn your fee. But unless requested to by the person who invited you, very long readings are almost always in bad taste. WORST–folks who read over their time limit during joint readings!