As we were excited to report recently, it’s New Yorker Festival season! And here’s the lineup for your browsing and ticket-buying pleasure. Oh, and Calvin Trillin’s walk–you can try, but don’t be crushed if it doesn’t work out. It so rarely does, but then again, it could be your year for the golden ticket! Tickets go on sale Friday, September 12, and you can find them at the Festival website. Quoting from the press release: “Tickets will also be sold during the weekend at Festival Headquarters, located at 125 West 18th Street, and at event doors.” See you there!
FRIDAY
OCTOBER 3
An evening of discussions among writers whose stories have appeared in The New Yorker; an interview with Alice Munro; a New Yorker Town Hall Meeting on race and class in America; a Cartoon Caption Contest at Festival HQ; and a New Yorker Dance Party.
FICTION NIGHT: DISCUSSIONS AMONG WRITERS
Writing About Home
Sana Krasikov, Yiyun Li, and Manil Suri, moderated by Cressida Leyshon
7 p.m. Acura Stage at Cedar Lake Theatre ($25)
The Devil Within
Matthew Klam, Elmore Leonard, and Joyce Carol Oates, moderated by Daniel Zalewski
7 p.m. Ailey Citigroup Theater
Joan Weill Center for Dance ($25)
The American Dream
T. Coraghessan Boyle, Jeffrey Eugenides, and Jhumpa Lahiri, moderated by Leo Carey
7 p.m. Angel Orensanz Foundation ($25)
Family Secrets
Roddy Doyle, Anne Enright, and Tobias Wolff, moderated by Willing Davidson
9:30 p.m. Acura Stage at Cedar Lake Theatre ($25)
Outlaws
Peter Carey, Hari Kunzru, and Gary Shteyngart, moderated by Peter Canby
9:30 p.m. Ailey Citigroup Theater
Joan Weill Center for Dance ($25)
Where I Come From
Sherman Alexie, Shalom Auslander, and Junot DÃaz, moderated by Carin Besser
9:30 p.m. Angel Orensanz Foundation ($25)
FICTION NIGHT: IN CONVERSATION WITH
Alice Munro interviewed by Deborah Treisman
8 p.m. Directors Guild of America ($25)
THE NEW YORKER TOWN HALL MEETING: Race and Class in America
With Barbara Ehrenreich, Thomas Frank, John McWhorter, Leslie Sanchez, and Cornel West. Moderated by David Remnick.
7 p.m. Town Hall ($20)
CASUAL FRIDAY
The Cartoon Caption Game
Hosted by Robert Mankoff
8 p.m. Festival HQ
Metropolitan Pavilion ($25)
A NEW YORKER DANCE PARTY
Hosted by Sasha Frere-Jones, with special guest d.j. Ghislain Poirier. Opening set by Megasoid.
10 p.m. Hiro Ballroom and Lounge ($25)
SATURDAY
OCTOBER 4
A day of interviews, panel discussions, and talks by New Yorker writers; an excursion to Governors Island; Early Shift and Late Shift events; preview screenings of the upcoming films “Fear(s) of the Dark” and “Frontrunners”; and book signings at Festival HQ.
WRITERS AND THEIR SUBJECTS
Alexei Ratmansky and Joan Acocella
1 p.m. Acura Stage at Cedar Lake Theatre ($25)
Clint Eastwood and Lillian Ross
1 p.m. Directors Guild of America ($25)
Richard Brody on the films of Jean-Luc Godard
4 p.m. IFC Center ($25)
IN CONVERSATION WITH
Jean-Michel Dubernard interviewed by Atul Gawande
10 a.m. Acura Stage at Cedar Lake Theatre ($25)
Seamus Heaney interviewed by Paul Muldoon
1 p.m. New York Society for Ethical Culture ($25)
Chuck Hagel interviewed by Ryan Lizza
4 p.m. Acura Stage at Cedar Lake Theatre ($25)
Elizabeth Edwards interviewed by Atul Gawande
4 p.m. New York Society for Ethical Culture ($25)
Lynda Barry in conversation with Matt Groening
4 p.m. Festival HQ
Metropolitan Pavilion ($25)
NEW YORKER TALKS
Malcolm Gladwell: “The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes”
2 p.m. Ailey Citigroup Theater
Joan Weill Center for Dance ($25)
Art Spiegelman: “Breakdowns: Comix 101”
4:30 p.m. Ailey Citigroup Theater
Joan Weill Center for Dance ($25)
PANELS
If I Were Running This Campaign
Donna Brazile, Alex Castellanos, Edward J. Rollins, and Joe Trippi, moderated by Jeffrey Toobin
10 a.m. Directors Guild of America ($25)
Extreme Sports
Greg Child, Lynne Cox, and Andrew McLean, moderated by Nick Paumgarten
10 a.m. Festival HQ
Metropolitan Pavilion ($25)
Covering the Candidates
Ta-Nehisi Coates, Bill Keller, Peggy Noonan, and Jack Shafer, moderated by Ken Auletta
10 a.m. Cathedral NYC ($25)
The Next Generation of Fashion
Louise Markey, Makoto Takada, and Joeri Van Yper, moderated by Judith Thurman
1 p.m. Cathedral NYC ($25)
The Campaign Trail
Hendrik Hertzberg, Ryan Lizza, and George Packer, moderated by Dorothy Wickenden
1 p.m. Festival HQ
Metropolitan Pavilion ($25)
Political Humor
Samantha Bee, Andy Borowitz, James Downey, John Oliver, and Allison Silverman, moderated by Susan Morrison
4 p.m. Cathedral NYC ($25)
Young Shakespeareans
Lauren Ambrose, Ethan Hawke, Kristen Johnston, Martha Plimpton, and Liev Schreiber, moderated by Adam Gopnik
4 p.m. Directors Guild of America ($25)
ABOUT TOWN
A Governors Island Bike Tour
Adriaan Geuze, Leslie Koch, and Ricardo Scofidio talk with Paul Goldberger.
11 a.m. Governors Island Ferry Terminal ($80)
EARLY SHIFT
Saturday Night Sneak Preview: “Frontrunners”
Moderated by Rebecca Mead.
6:30 p.m. Stuyvesant High School ($25)
Paul Rudd talks with Michael Specter
7:30 p.m. Acura Stage at Cedar Lake Theatre ($35)
Dawn Upshaw talks with Alex Ross
7:30 p.m. Ailey Citigroup Theater
Joan Weill Center for Dance ($35)
Stephen Colbert talks with Ariel Levy
7:30 p.m. Cathedral NYC ($35)
Worst Nightmares Part 1: Horror Movies
Wes Craven and Hideo Nakata, moderated by Ben Greenman.
7:30 p.m. IFC Center ($35)
LATE SHIFT
Tom Morello talks with James Surowiecki
10 p.m. Acura Stage at Cedar Lake Theatre ($35)
Mary-Louise Parker talks with John Colapinto
10 p.m. Ailey Citigroup Theater
Joan Weill Center for Dance ($35)
Oliver Stone talks with David Denby
10 p.m. Directors Guild of America ($35)
Worst Nightmares Part 2: “Fear(s) of the Dark”
Charles Burns and Lorenzo Mattotti, moderated by Françoise Mouly.
10 p.m. IFC Center ($25)
SUNDAY
OCTOBER 5
A day of About Town excursions and events throughout the city; talks by New Yorker writers; interviews with Tommy Lee Jones and Haruki Murakami; a series of master classes in political cartooning, humor writing, and literary criticism; and book signings at Festival HQ.
ABOUT TOWN
Morning at the Frick
With Peter Schjeldahl
10 a.m. Frick Collection ($65)
Come Hungry
With Calvin Trillin
11 a.m. Ticket buyers will be contacted concerning the starting point. ($100)
Inside the Artist’s Studio
John Currin talks with Calvin Tomkins
11 a.m. Ticket buyers will be contacted concerning the location. ($80)
Presto Change-o
Matthew Holtzclaw, Charles Reynolds, Jamy Ian Swiss, and Johnny Thompson, moderated by Adam Gopnik
11 a.m. Spiegeltent-Salon Perdu ($30)
Spice World
Claudia Roden talks with Jane Kramer
12 noon. Culinary Loft ($80)
WRITERS AND THEIR SUBJECTS
Tommy Lee Jones and Lillian Ross
11 a.m. Directors Guild of America ($25)
IN CONVERSATION WITH
Haruki Murakami interviewed by Deborah Treisman
4 p.m. Directors Guild of America ($25)
NEW YORKER TALKS
Paul Theroux: “Reliving ‘The Great Railway Bazaar'”
1 p.m. Ailey Citigroup Theater
Joan Weill Center for Dance ($25)
Salman Rushdie: “The Composite Artist: The Emperor Akbar and the Making of the Hamzanama”
4 p.m. Ailey Citigroup Theater
Joan Weill Center for Dance ($25)
MASTER CLASSES
Political Illustration
With Barry Blitt and Steve Brodner
10 a.m. Festival HQ
Metropolitan Pavilion ($35)
Humor Writing
With Ian Frazier and Mark Singer
1 p.m. Festival HQ
Metropolitan Pavilion ($35)
Literary Criticism
With James Wood
4 p.m. Festival HQ
Metropolitan Pavilion ($35)
BOOK SIGNINGS
Saturday, October 4
11 A.M.
Joyce Carol Oates – “My Sister, My Love: The Intimate Story of Skyler Rampike”
Tobias Wolff – “Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories”
12 noon
Roddy Doyle – “The Deportees: And Other Stories”
Anne Enright – “Yesterday’s Weather: Stories”
1 P.M.
Alice Munro – “The View from Castle Rock”
Haruki Murakami – “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir”
2 P.M.
Sana Krasikov – “One More Year: Stories”
Manil Suri – “The Age of Shiva: A Novel”
3 P.M.
Peter Carey – “His Illegal Self”
Paul Theroux – “Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great Railway Bazaar”
4 P.M.
Robert Mankoff – “The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest Book”
Susan Orlean – “Lazy Little Loafers”
Sunday, October 5
11 A.M.
Hari Kunzru – “My Revolutions”
Jhumpa Lahiri – “Unaccustomed Earth”
12 noon
Richard Brody – “Everything Is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard”
John Seabrook – “Flash of Genius: And Other True Stories of Invention”
1 P.M.
Salman Rushdie – “The Enchantress of Florence”
Art Spiegelman – “Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!” and “Jack and the Box”
2 P.M.
Peter Schjeldahl – “Let’s See: Writings on Art from The New Yorker”
James Wood – “How Fiction Works”
3 P.M.
Lynda Barry – “What It Is”
Steve Brodner – “Artists Against the War”
4 P.M.
John McWhorter – “Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold Story of English”
Author Archives: Martin
The Wavy Rule, a Daily Comic by Paul Morris: Palin’s Drome
In today’s “Wavy Rule,” Paul continues his wine labels series with a kind of northern wine we’d rather not be drinking come November. Click to enlarge!
Paul adds: Like most of America, I had no idea Wasilla ever existed before it became a name uttered by thousands of pundits, voters, orators, and average people in the street. The Wikipedia article on the town has seen a lot of activity recently. And I don’t mean the article on the Sarmatian god of the same name. Let’s face it: it’s a small town, no matter how the Republicans spin it. And there’s nothing wrong with small towns. The United States is dotted with small towns, from Stovepipe Wells, California, to Iceboro, Maine. But saying that running a small town qualifies one to run a country is something of a stretch. That wouldn’t even be so bad if the corollary of that argument wasn’t always added: that Obama is less qualified or experienced because he’s never been an “executive.” The implication is that an “executive” is necessarily of a higher rank than a “legislator” no matter what, even if that executive is the mayor of a small Alaskan town and the legislator is a United States Senator.
The official website for the town of Wasilla has added a section called Questions & Answers Concerning Former Mayor Palin. The only actual question on the page, and on the bottom of it, is “What are the duties of the Mayor of Wasilla?” If you click on that, you are taken to “Document Central.” Click where it says “City Documents–Recently Requested–Former Mayor Palin,” and again on the bottom of the page, is a link to a PDF document titled “What are the duties of the Mayor of Wasilla?”
That document is three pages long. A description of the mayor’s actual duties fill up one of those pages. A description of the mayor’s salary is on page 3. If someone can send me a document listing the duties of a U.S. Senator, I’d be happy to compare the two.
More by Paul Morris: “The Wavy Rule” archive; “Arnjuice,” a wistful, funny webcomic; a smorgasbord at Flickr; and beautifully off-kilter cartoon collections for sale (and free download) at Lulu.
New Yorker Announces Festival Schedule; Buy Tickets Friday!
The headline says it all; a full list of New Yorker Festival events, complete with times and locations, is now available at the Festival website.
I can’t improve on the wording they provide:
Tickets for The New Yorker Festival will go on sale at 12 noon E.T. on Friday, September 12th. For more information, click here.
We will be printing a version of the schedule ASAP.
Dick Cavett: The Intellectual’s TV Sensation of Yore
Recently I’ve been watching some old episodes of The Dick Cavett Show on DVD. (By the bye, if you get the chance, do absolutely see the one with Orson Welles.)
For some reason, watching it made me think quite strongly of The New Yorker—what struck me was that The New Yorker never had as close a correlative on television as Dick Cavett. Cavett was The New Yorker in television form, if you will. (Anyone have any other candidates?)
It seemed to me that Cavett was a celebrity too close to the actual TNY demographic to ignore for long, and sure enough, he was the subject of a Profile by L. E. Sissman in the May 6, 1972 issue.
I don’t have much to say about the article, which amply met my expectations. Reading about the (let’s face it) somewhat dilettantish Nebraska native and Yale grad who was never any great success as an actor or comedian—well, he makes one of the more improbable television sensations. And yet he was talented, and his notoriety was entirely deserved. I suppose that most talk show hosts are generally hybrid talents whom you can’t quite picture attaining stupendous success in any other pursuit.
The Profile does have one very striking feature: it comes with a kind of artist’s notebook by Charles Saxon, who incidentally also executed hundreds of cartoons over more than four decades. The eleven-page article features twelve pleasing sketches of some behind-the-scenes activities at the offices of The Dick Cavett Show, an unshowy way of adding value and verve to the piece. A fine idea.
Two other points: one of the staff members of the show is described as having a “a Walter Ulbricht beard,” the almost aggressive obscurity of which I (more than thirty-five years later) found hilarious. Turns out Ulbricht was a politician from East Germany with a wholly unexceptional goatee.
The other thing is that one of the guests on the workday described was … James Brown! Holy moly.
Intern Roundup: Denver-Minnesota-Wasilla Edition
Each Friday, the Emdashes summer interns bring us the news from the ultimate Rossosphere: the blogs and podcasts at newyorker.com. Here’s this week’s report.
Sarah Arkebauer
In the Fiction Podcast I chose for this week, E.L. Doctorow reads John O’Hara’s short story “Graven Image.” The story showcases both old-world glamour and prejudice and leaves the reader with plenty to ponder, and Doctorow’s discussion with Fiction Editor Deborah Treisman following the reading is particularly interesting.
In the sporadically updated The Rest is Noise, Alex Ross provides a link to his New Yorker article on the evolution of the classical concert.
Though I’ve been hearing more than enough about Sarah Palin these past few days, The Book Bench offers a snapshot of her views on book censorship. The blog also published another Bookspotting, and a wonderful piece on a new collection of teenage diary excerpts.
Goings On posted the latest information on Haley Joel Osment’s career—he’s to star in the upcoming production of David Mamet’s American Buffalo on Broadway. It will be interesting to see how he makes the transition, both from child actor to adult actor, and from film to stage. Much of the rest of the Goings On this week was devoted to material relating to the Republican Convention. There is a reprint of an interview with Chaka Khan after she performed at the 2000 Republican Convention, and a soundtrack of Alaskan music in two parts—in honor of Sarah Palin.
The Cartoon Lounge also had a bit of a convention-centered approach to its posts this week. First, Zachary Kanin posted a humorous treatise on vice-presidential responsibilities, which was soon followed by Drew Dernavich’s equally funny take on vice-presidential relationships. The blog also published the tenth and eleventh installments of the Sandwich Duel. Although this duel has been taking place nearly all summer, I am amazed at how fresh the material stays. On another note, one of my favorite features on The Cartoon Lounge is the Q&A series they post with different cartoonists, and this week’s interview with Perez Hilton does not disappoint.
Adam Shoemaker
George Packer went to Denver last week, and writes about the experience in Interesting Times. He sees Barack Obama’s speech as tremendously successful, but also Reaganesque in its invocation of optimism and hope. Packer’s observation that “the parties have traded places” is not a cynical one—rather, he marvels at the ability of a truly great politician, now as then, to draw enormous crowds of ordinary people to a political event.
Hendrik Hertzberg also enjoyed the speech—and over at his blog
“Notes on Politics, Mostly,” he calls it the best acceptance speech he’s ever heard. Much of his post is a reminiscence about other great speeches from the past and the constraints placed on a nominee’s acceptance that keep most of those speeches from rising to the airy heights. He also notes the “distinct lack of ugliness in the criticisms of McCain and the Republicans” at the convention. I can’t wait to read his comments on Palin’s speech night in Minneapolis. [Boy howdy, yes! —Ed.]
This week Sasha Frere-Jones posted a concert video of “Those Darlins,” a Tennessee band with a song whose riff he can’t get out of his head—”a script for any successful Labor Day weekend.” This line got me thinking about the sad dearth of non-Christmas holiday songs–but perhaps Labor Day is just as much about those songs we don’t have to sing.
At the New Yorker Out Loud, Matt Dellinger interviews Steve Coll, who wrote an article on General David Petraeus for this week’s issue of The New Yorker. Coll discusses the strategy behind Petraeus’s surge and how difficult it has been to keep military strategy and political partisanship separate. The general wants nothing to do with the latter, as he made clear to journalists inquiring into a possible vice-presidential tap by McCain. Coll also talks about Petraeus’s next step: taking command of forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Over at the Borowitz Report, Andy Borowitz gives us Levi Johnston’s Convention Diary. While Bristol Palin’s betrothed might lack the journalistic credentials of George Packer and Hendrik Hertzberg, his belligerent “coverage” does help give us some insight as to why John McCain’s relationship with the media has been so strained of late.
Previous intern roundups: the August 29 report; the August 22 report; the August 15 report; the August 8 report; the August 1 report; the July 25 report; the July 18 report; the July 11 report.
The Wavy Rule, a Daily Comic By Paul Morris: Katrina’s Ugly Brother
Here’s Paul on today’s “Wavy Rule” (click to enlarge!):
We were relieved to see that New Orleans was spared the worst in the latest hurricane. Still, has anyone learned the most important lessons from the egregious mistakes that resulted in almost 2,000 deaths during Hurricane Katrina? In preparation for Gustav, according to The Chicago Tribune, “city officials ordered downtown hotels closed, strongly urged all residents and visitors to leave and choreographed an orderly bus and train convoy to evacuate up to 30,000 city residents without the means to get out themselves.” But the levee that broke during Katrina was severely tested again, and while getting people out saves (and saved) lives, it still does nothing to protect the city from the storm itself.
More by Paul Morris: “The Wavy Rule” archive; “Arnjuice,” a wistful, funny webcomic; a smorgasbord at Flickr; and beautifully off-kilter cartoon collections for sale (and free download) at Lulu.
The Wavy Rule, a Daily Comic By Paul Morris: 48 Hours of Irvin’s Birthday!
As we did yesterday, we continue to celebrate The New Yorker‘s resident genius, Rea Irvin, born 127 years (and a day) ago. Click to enlarge, and swig some bubbly in celebration!
More by Paul Morris: “The Wavy Rule” archive; “Arnjuice,” a wistful, funny webcomic; a smorgasbord at Flickr; and beautifully off-kilter cartoon collections for sale (and free download) at Lulu.
“You Got Your Batman in My Borges!” Nils Runeberg Lives!
On the self-promotion tip, I have a brief article over at metaphilm.com about how The Dark Knight seems to appropriate some plot elements from the Jorge Luis Borges story “Three Versions of Judas.” The similarity seemed very strong to me, and yet I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere despite many Google searches. Enjoy!
Dorothy Parker (& Her Society) Will Always Be Newsworthy
Martin Schneider writes:
City Scoops, a periodical that can be found in some of our city’s most luxurious lobbies, has a swell two-pager by Larry Getlen on the Dorothy Parker Society, run by our friend Kevin Fitzgerald. Click here to read it on pages 8 and 9 of the pdf file (click on the Marsalis image, at least until the next issue comes out). The pdf file itself can be found here.
New Yorker Festival 2008: A First Glimpse at the Lineup
Martin Schneider writes:
Finally, The New Yorker has gratified our curiosity by divulging details about the upcoming New Yorker Festival in October. There are a lot of terrific people listed here; our cup runneth over!
In its entirety, here is the press release:
The 2008 New Yorker Festival
New York, August 21, 2008 – During the weekend of October 3rd-5th, The New Yorker will present its ninth annual Festival, a three-day series of events that brings together an eclectic array of writers, artists, actors, directors, musicians and politicians at venues throughout the city. This year’s Festival takes place one month before the Presidential election, and there will be a special emphasis on politics in the Festival’s programming, as well as a weekend-long voter-registration drive. In past years, Festival events have sold out quickly, drawing more than seventeen thousand people from around the world. The full program guide of fifty events will be included in the September 15, 2008, issue of the magazine, on newsstands September 8th, and will be available at http://festival.newyorker.com. This year’s highlights include:
Right to Vote–The New Yorker Festival will partner with the New York City Board of Elections for a weekend-long voter-registration effort at all Festival venues and at Festival HQ, where special guests will be registering voters.
The annual New Yorker Town Hall Meeting will address the topic of race and class in America. David Remnick will moderate a discussion among the journalists Barbara Ehrenreich and Thomas Frank, the linguist John McWhorter, the political market-research expert Leslie Sanchez, and the scholar Cornel West.
A panel on political humor will feature “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” correspondents Samantha Bee and John Oliver; the “Saturday Night Live” writer James Downey; the humor writer Andy Borowitz; and Allison Silverman, the executive producer of “The Colbert Report.”
Democratic strategists Donna Brazile and Joe Trippi and Republican strategists Alex Castellanos and Edward J. Rollins will discuss what they would do if they were running the Presidential campaigns, in a conversation moderated by Jeffrey Toobin.
In “Covering the Candidates,” The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates, the New York Times’s Bill Keller, the Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan, and Slate’s Jack Shafer will discuss what the press did right–or wrong–in covering the Presidential race, in a conversation moderated by Ken Auletta.
Featured interviews include the TV personality Stephen Colbert; Republican Senator Chuck Hagel; the attorney and health-care advocate Elizabeth Edwards; the actor and director Clint Eastwood; the actor Paul Rudd; the actress Mary-Louise Parker; the guitarist Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave); the soprano Dawn Upshaw; the actor Tommy Lee Jones; the dancer and choreographer Alexei Ratmansky; the fiction writer Alice Munro; the Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney; and the novelist Haruki Murakami.
Film events will include Oliver Stone discussing his work with David Denby and showing clips from his upcoming film, “W,” based on the life of George W. Bush.
The “Young Shakespeareans” panel will feature the actors Lauren Ambrose, Ethan Hawke, Kristen Johnston, Martha Plimpton, and Liev Schreiber, who will discuss performing in Shakespeare’s plays.
The magicians Matthew Holtzclaw, Charles Reynolds, Jamy Ian Swiss, and Johnny Thompson will join Adam Gopnik for a morning of illusions and conversation.
About Town excursions and events throughout the city will include: a bike tour of Governors Island, led by Paul Goldberger, with a discussion about the island’s future with the architects Adriaan Geuze and Ricardo Scofidio and Leslie Koch, the president of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation; a tour of the Frick Collection, conducted by Peter Schjeldahl, before public hours begin; Calvin Trillin‘s eighth gastronomic walking tour of Chinatown and Little Italy, with stops at some of his favorite eateries; a tour of John Currin‘s studio, followed by brunch and conversation with Calvin Tomkins; and a conversation between Claudia Roden and Jane Kramer about Roden’s latest culinary discoveries, while tastings of her dishes and wine pairings are served.
The cartoonists Matt Groening and Lynda Barry will discuss their careers in cartooning, and Robert Mankoff, the magazine’s cartoon editor, will host a live version of the Cartoon Caption Contest.
Friday Night Fiction events will feature writers discussing the themes in their work: T. Coraghessen Boyle, Jeffrey Eugenides, and Jhumpa Lahiri will address the ever elusive American Dream; Roddy Doyle, Anne Enright, and Tobias Wolff will uncover family secrets; Sherman Alexie, Shalom Auslander, and Junot DÃaz will talk about home, whether a place or a state of mind; Peter Carey, Hari Kunzru, and Gary Shteyngart will discuss writing about outlaws; Sana Krasilov, Yiyun Li, and Manil Suri will discuss writing about their homelands; and Matthew Klam, Elmore Leonard, and Joyce Carol Oates will talk about the devils that lurk within.
A duet of “Worst Nightmares” panels will explore the dark side of film. Part 1 features scary-movie directors Wes Craven and Hideo Nataka. Part 2 will include a screening of the new animated film “Fear(s) of the Dark” and a conversation with two of its directors, Charles Burns and Lorenzo Mattotti.
Malcolm Gladwell, Salman Rushdie, Art Spiegelman, and Paul Theroux will explore topics as diverse as comics and railways in a series of New Yorker Talks.
A series of master classes will feature Steve Brodner and Barry Blitt on political illustration, Ian Frazier and Mark Singer on humor writing, and James Wood on literary criticism.
Sasha Frere-Jones will host the annual New Yorker Dance Party, with special guest d.j. Ghislain Poirier.
The presenting sponsors of the New Yorker Festival are Acura and Citi. The event is co-sponsored by the Alliance for Climate Protection, Banana Republic, BlackBerry, and Westin(R) Hotels and Resorts. Don Julio, SOYJOY, and Stella Artois are supporting sponsors.
Tickets go on sale Friday, September 12, 2008, at noon E.T., at festival.newyorker.com or by calling 800-440-6974. Tickets will also be sold during Festival weekend at Festival HQ, at Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, and at event doors. Updated Festival information will be available online at festival.newyorker.com.