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Oct. 29th, 2003 12:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chelseagirlTook the morning off -- M. is working a long day-into-evening shift today, which becomes the litmus test of Whether I Can Ever Accomplish Anything Without Going to the Library. Though as I'm currently further behind on 'net stuff than on my work, I've got duelling priorities here.
Speaking of which, spent a lovely afternoon at the Main Reading Room of the NY Public Library -- there's something about that space that is so inviting, yet calming.
Afterward, Kevin Baker, the author of *Dreamland* and *Paradise Alley* did a reading/signing at Coliseum books. It's the first time I've seen the new store -- so happy that one of the great independents didn't just fold in the face of rising rents and the chains.
Baker was great -- happy to talk about his next project, really engaged with answering the various history questions asked by audience members. I asked him how he felt about the way the Draft Riots were portrayed in the film version of *Gangs of NY*, since *Paradise Alley* does such an amazing job of same. He was diplomatic (and thank goodness, not annoyed by the question); he said (and I agree) that there were a lot of terrific aspects to the film, particularly the visual recreation of the age, but that he wishes Scorsese had done a mini-series instead, and been able to capture more of the stories.
I told him how my great-great grandfather, a German immigrant shopkeeper, had been one of those who bought a substitute for the Civil War; he was amused, but then signed the book "To C. and M., long time New Yorkers" and laughed when I said, "Well, actually M. just moved here from England a year ago . . . " (We're trying to remember to get all our books signed to both of us, though I've been going to more signings lately; the end result is that there are going to be piles of litfic dedicated to both of us that he'll never read . . . )
Speaking of which, spent a lovely afternoon at the Main Reading Room of the NY Public Library -- there's something about that space that is so inviting, yet calming.
Afterward, Kevin Baker, the author of *Dreamland* and *Paradise Alley* did a reading/signing at Coliseum books. It's the first time I've seen the new store -- so happy that one of the great independents didn't just fold in the face of rising rents and the chains.
Baker was great -- happy to talk about his next project, really engaged with answering the various history questions asked by audience members. I asked him how he felt about the way the Draft Riots were portrayed in the film version of *Gangs of NY*, since *Paradise Alley* does such an amazing job of same. He was diplomatic (and thank goodness, not annoyed by the question); he said (and I agree) that there were a lot of terrific aspects to the film, particularly the visual recreation of the age, but that he wishes Scorsese had done a mini-series instead, and been able to capture more of the stories.
I told him how my great-great grandfather, a German immigrant shopkeeper, had been one of those who bought a substitute for the Civil War; he was amused, but then signed the book "To C. and M., long time New Yorkers" and laughed when I said, "Well, actually M. just moved here from England a year ago . . . " (We're trying to remember to get all our books signed to both of us, though I've been going to more signings lately; the end result is that there are going to be piles of litfic dedicated to both of us that he'll never read . . . )
