THANK YOU, CINCINNATI MERCANTILE LIBRARY

Thank you to all the gracious people associated with the beautiful Mercantile Library who made my visit to Cincinnati such a pleasure, including Albert Pyle, Executive Director, and Mary Gruber. And thanks to everyone who turned out for my reading. The library is an American gem; I envy those lucky enough to live nearby, much less spend all day working there. The visitor walks off the elevator and is enveloped by a fragrance redolent of ancient books and--mysteriously, perhaps suggestively, inviting hearths. You'd think you had arrived at a country weekend, during which you can curl up with a book in front of crackling logs--but the space looks like an urban loft, decorated by an 18th century gentleman. The library is running a series of talks around the theme Hearth and Home. I am a huge fan of libraries connecting with their communities through lecture series--especially those that are so thoughtfully and creatively planned. They are gifts to readers; they bring books to life.

Arriving at the library on Monday, May 16th, is the excellent L.A.-based designer Lisa Borgnes Giramonti (I particularly like this interview on Yell Softly); Lisa is the creative force behind a blog I love to visit, A Bloomsbury Life. In fact, she has a witty series of posts up now about writing her speech for the library. I can sympathize. Also speaking, on May 3rd, is Nicholson Baker, whose new book, The Anthologist, I just bought on the recommendation of my friend Jim Wolcott, who loved it. And he is, thankfully, hard to please--and howlingly funny about the good, the bad and the ugly. I cannot wait until his new book about the seventies appears. I hope the folks at the Mercantile Library snap him up for a new series now!