Overheard...

...at the recent Joan Didion reading: Absolutely nothing. The packed house was respectfully silent while she read from Political Fictions, her new book; then the audience asked mostly good questions about the current political situation. (There was one annoyingly vigorous nodder sitting in front of me, but that was the only sign I saw of intellectual posing all night.) Didion was elegant and frail, as she has always been, dwarfed by a voluminous black jacket and Cary Grant glasses. I had forgotten how painful Q&A always seems for her--Didion has multiple sclerosis, which makes unprepared remarks difficult--but she distinguished herself by never being less than interesting, and often being brilliant.

It seemed to me that the audience was waiting, in that oracular silence, for this great writer who has seen through pap and rhetoric straight to the truth of things, to deliver the last word on terrorism and George W. Bush, but she wisely did not. Didion's method has always been a careful examination of facts and numbers, which she ruthlessly compares to conventional wisdom. She discussed the near-irrelevance of journalism in this time of "unity," and wryly laughed off the suggestion that America has lost its innocence. ("Again?" she said.) Clearly, it's too soon for the truth. But I would like to go on the record with my sincere appreciation for a sophisticated and literate and patient crowd. EMILY HALL


Theatrical Gaffes

The 5th Avenue Theatre has added a special Monday night show of its current production of A Little Night Music; the box office proceeds from this performance will go to the American Red Cross. It's an admirable gesture, but the thinking behind it is a little fuzzy: The press release states, "In the context of the story and in light of current events, never has 'Send in the Clowns' seemed so poignant." The administrative staff has not been answering the phone, and their voice mail seems to be turned off, so I was unable to ask why this song, from a Stephen Sondheim musical about turn-of-the-century Scandinavians, is so poignant "in light of current events." Particularly in light of the opening verse's lyrics: "Isn't it rich? Are we a pair?/Me here at last on the ground/You in mid-air...."

Meanwhile, at Seattle Repertory Theatre, solo performer Marc Wolf stopped his performance of Another American: Asking and Telling when a cell phone started to ring. Given how often this disruptive event happens in theaters these days, Wolf's gesture seemed like a justified cry of outrage against thoughtless audience members... unfortunately, it turned out that the phone was Wolf's own, ringing offstage. BRET FETZER


Go To Readings. Buy Books.

It's not surprising that a lot of readings have been canceled in the last three weeks--most of the big publishers are in New York City, after all. Rick Bragg's tour was canceled because The New York Times sent him to Pakistan. But Elliott Bay Book Company's Rick Simonson is wondering if, post-terrorist attack, the whole book-tour scene is going to change.

It may or may not be true that West Coast book tours are becoming less frequent because they don't bring in enough returns in media coverage and book sales. This is less true of chain stores, where an author visit brings visible results, but these, Simonson says, tend to be "authors I don't care about." He attributes his sinking feeling to New York's (understandable these days) provincialism, "the herdlike way people in New York tend not to think beyond New York. It's an economic fear on top of that other fear." So is this a temporary lull or a burgeoning trend? Wait and see. In the meantime--do we have to say it again? Buy books at independent bookstores, or we will become the cultural backwater we all suspect we are. EMILY HALL

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