Manhattan Transfer

A few years ago I was in the Marriot Marquis for a meeting. I'd forgotten which conference room they were having meeting, and ended up crasyhing the National Book Awards. Steve Martin was hosting so I stuck around. It's supposed to be by invitation only but there is zero security so basically anyone can go. They'll serve you free wine and even free food if you wait for the invited guests to sit down and snag a seat left empty by a no-show.

This year's host is Garrison Keillor and they're giving the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to Judy Blume. There's also a controversy about the nominees but I won't bore you with that business. I'm sure you can read all about it on the lit blogs.