US Literary Escorts

New York Times, 16 July 2009: In Praise of Literary Escorts
This is a really fascinating essay by author Joe Queenan on the US phenomenon of the Escort, the person who meets authors at the airport and takes care of them for the day. They basically do the role of the publicist -- the tour guide side of the job, that is. I've heard plenty of stories from authors about their US book tour adventures and the characters who are their companion for the day. I think this sounds like a cool job!

The BOOK I MOST WANT today is by Sophie Dahl

Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights, available August. I love it already. I want it immediately. I will have to wait like everyone else.

I love this sort of publishing -- delish food, elegant advice, sophisticated style, and impossible cool people. I call it Chic Publishing. Another book of this type I heard about today and will also be snapping up when it's out in October: Women, Work & the Art of Savoir Faire, by Mireille Guiliano, she of French Women Don't Get Fat fame.

Homer & Langley

Ah, Homer & Langley by the magnificent EL Doctorow. He has this fluid writing and story-telling style that is utterly timeless, which I first enjoyed when I read The March.

Inspired by the real-life Collyer brothers, the eponymous Homer and Langley, Doctorow weaves a stunning 20th Century tale of New York through two brothers, one blind but with great insight (Homer, the narrator), the other a war-scarred genius.