The LA Times - UCLA book fair is an annual spring event that I have attended more often than not for the last 8 years, usually spending one full day there visiting booths and attending panel discussions. Whenever possible I have gotten tickets the day they are available, free tickets to readings and panel discussions. This year I made a mental note that I ought to go, but in the end I found something better to do.
No doubt the UCLA - LA Times bookfair is a literary event, one that embraces reading, books, authors, and the publishing industry. However, for the massive number of unpaid workers involved in a monumental effort - hoping some literary prestige will rub off on them - I had a very "been there - done that," attitude about the fair this year.
Last night when it was already too late to go I wondered why...
#1) It seems to me that over the years the opportunities to hear one author read and speak and take questions has dwindled. Instead sound bytes from too many authors jammed into a panel discussion is substituted. I have always enjoyed quality over quantity.
#2) Standing in line to get free tickets well in advance in order to get into the most coveted events I am willing to do but NOT to get there and find out that despite my ticket I have been displaced by press and assorted other people who showed up that day more officially. (Yes, I was early or on time for the wait line. So were lots of other people. What again is the point of tickets? When my time is wasted I am not grateful for free tickets.)
#3) I know that the vast children's offerings are meant to foster not only book buying parents but early reading programs in a city where many 9th grade high school students are actually reading at a 3rd grade level. However, the children's events and entertainment seem to dominate the space and maybe that's because of the booming kiddy music and the dancing Barney. I know it's down a treacherous hillside but I would rather all that be placed where the vanity presses and cooking book booths are because sometimes I feel mowed over by the stroller brigades...
#4) I feel sad that the LA TIMES itself has over the last 15 years or so allowed itself to be increasingly decimated. Seasoned journalists were canned, subscriptions are down and desperate, some nutcase patron at LAPL sent the entire ON-LINE LA TIMES to the printer and it was jammed up for days and the one dollar Sunday edition sold at the book festival seems like a vauge reminder of a bygone journalistic age.
WHY ARE THERE NO LA TIMES REPORTERS AT BOOTHS AT THE LA TIMES BOOK FESTIVAL? Why does the LA Times honor BOOK AUTHORS and NOT THEIR OWN JOURNALISTS?
C Christine Trzyna All Rights Reserved
