Al Franken to Host ABA's Celebration of Bookselling

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Booksellers and other industry professionals attending ABA's Celebration of Bookselling at this year's BookExpo America (BEA) will be treated to an event hosted by multitalented performer Al Franken. Franken, the bestselling author, Emmy Award-winning television writer and producer, Grammy-winning comedian, and host of The Al Franken Show on Air America Radio, will serve as master of ceremonies for the highly anticipated event, which will be held on Friday, June 3, at New York's Jacob Javits Convention Center.

Al Franken
Photo credit: Bill Hayward

Always a high point of BEA programming, the Celebration features the presentation of the Book Sense Book of the Year Awards. This year, the winners in the categories of Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, Children's Literature, and Children's Illustrated, as well as four honor book winners in each category, will be announced in March. All of the honored authors will be invited to attend the Celebration and the Book Sense Author Luncheon, which are shaping up to be stellar events.

Franken's blend of comedy and politics has made him one of the nation's most sought-after speakers. He has anchored coverage of both political conventions as well as election night for Comedy Central's Indecision '92, and in 1996 he teamed with Ariana Huffington to cover the conventions and elections for Politically Incorrect. In 1994 and 1996, he was the featured performer at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

As a writer, performer, and producer for Saturday Night Live, Franken has won five Emmy Awards. His portrayal of diffident New Age cable television host Stuart Smalley formed the basis of his first book, I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me, published by Dell in 1992. Franken wrote and starred in the 1995 film Stuart Saves His Family. He was also co-writer of the 1994 movie When a Man Loves a Woman, starring Andy Garcia and Meg Ryan.

Franken has written four other books, all bestsellers: Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations (Dell); Why Not Me: The Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency (Delta); Oh, the Things I Know!: A Guide to Success, or Failing That, Happiness (Plume); and Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right (Dutton). Franken's recordings of Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them both won Grammy awards. Over one million copies of Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them are now in print.

Typically irreverent and entertaining, Al Franken responded via e-mail to some of BTW's questions about his appearance at this year's Celebration of Bookselling.

BTW: Since you will be hosting the Celebration of Bookselling -- any thoughts about the role of independent booksellers for consumers and for authors?

Al Franken: Independent booksellers are absolutely crucial to the life of publishing in this country. If only the chains sold books you wouldn't be able to have little books like Harry Potter and my last hit, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, now in paperback and still doing great in backlist. Any other questions?

BTW: Have you had any personal experiences with independent bookstores -- as a reader or as an author?

AF: Yes.

BTW: Based on your history at BEA on a particular panel, is there anyone you'd especially like to avoid or to confront?

AF: I don't know what you're talking about. Are you people crazy? Why are you asking me questions like this?

BTW: Has there been any backlash from that event?

AF: Oh, I get it, you're talking about the Bill O'Reilly thing. Yes, most of the backlash came from Bill O'Reilly. In fact, he sued me and I won, helping publicize my book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, now in paperback and still doing great in backlist. Oh, and by the way, he's an amazing jerk.

BTW: Do you regard independent media (such as Air America) and local independent bookstores as an important part of the news/cultural/media landscape?

AF: That's a hard one. Let me think ... yes.

BTW: Any favorite books written this year? Any authors you'd enjoy talking to?

AF: I'm kind of a slave to the books that my guests come on with. I wouldn't recommend Christie Whitman. I did like Jared Diamond's Collapse. It was much, much better than Christie Whitman's. --Nomi Schwartz


For more about BookExpo America and ABA's educational programming, click here.

Owners and staff at all ABA member stores are eligible to vote for the Book Sense Book of the Year. For an online ballot, click here.