Miami Book Fair

November 25, 2019

The Rock Bottom Remainders 

Carl Hiassen and Dave Barry

Miami Book Fair

The largest literary event in the country is thankfully held each year at Miami Dade College in downtown Miami and it remains one of my favorite annual events. I have been attending it now for about 30 of the 38 years that it has been held and have watched in awe and wonder as it has grown into one of the premier events of its kind held anywhere, greatly expanding from the original two day street fair model to an expansive 10 day- long celebration of the written word.

David Marannis

 

For us the fair means attending what is now a three day street fair and presentations by the more than 300 authors who attend the fair each year, which makes trying to decide which authors to go and see a difficult proposition since there are often 8-10 really amazing presentations happening at the same time.

Marc Caputo

Phil Caputo

I have always tried to share my love for the book fair with friends and there are a number of Key West residents who make the trek up each year to participate and almost always these days there are authors that I know personally making presentations throughout the weekend. My work with the Key West Literary Seminar has introduced us to so many fantastic writers, many that we call friends and many who have or will be among those represented at the fair.

Dave Barry

 

I also try and tell my friends how special it is to attend the fair and this year my friends Howard and Najada and their sons attended their first book fair, which was really cool. It was great to get the perspective of first time visitors and I forget sometimes just how massive and overwhelming that experiencing the fair can be, Because they were there with their kids, I spent more time in the wonderful Children’s Alley than ever before, which is truly a wonderful aspect of the fair that I doubt I appreciate enough.

 

What I truly love about the fair is the incredible diversity it celebrates, both with the writers that are selected as well as with the demographics that Miami provides. Miami is as wonderfully diverse and vibrant as any city in America and is a city that once drove me crazy, but that I have grown to love and appreciate as much as anyplace else in the world. It is truly a dynamic and diverse city that is getting better and better all the time and I would like to think that MDC and the Book Fair have been a part of the positive changes in the city.

 

Peter Asher

What really makes the fair special tough is the authors who are on hand to share their work with the crowds that come out to hear and see them. The written word is still enjoying a healthy lifespan if the attendance and enthusiasm of the book fair is any indication. I was able to see a number of remarkable presentations starting with one by Peter Asher, the British guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the pop music vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a successful career as a manager and record producer of such acts as James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt.

With Peter Asher

with Guy Picciotto

He was here promoting his new book about his time working with and being close friends with the Beatles. In keeping with a rock n roll theme, I also checked out a presentation by famed photographer Glen E. Friedman who has just rereleased an updated version of his classic book of photos of seminal punk rock band Fugazi. He gave a presentation along with Fugazi lead singer Guy Picciotto. 

We also enjoyed presentations with Phil Caputo, who was interviewed wonderfully by our friend and former Key West resident, journalist Marc Caputo, as well as Carl Hiaassen and Dave Barry and more. It was an incredible two days that we enjoyed so much. Perhaps the best part is what is becoming an annual tradition is dinner with our friends the Strunk family from Key West, while we rarely see them in Key West, they always come to the book fair and for the past couple of years we have had an amazing night out at the Bengal Indian restaurant which is a short walk from the fair. As much as enjoying famous authors is fun, spending quality time with good people is what life is really all about.

Carl Hiassen 

Scott Turow

On the way back from dinner, we were able to catch the performance by the band made up of authors known as the Rock Bottom Remainders. Fronted by the likes of Dave and Sam Barry, Carl Hiaasen, Leonard Pitts, Scott Turow and more the band “played” a collection of funny covers and this year for the first time an original tune written by Barry. They are a total hoot and so much fun to watch. Not good at all, but great nonetheless. 

 

https://www.miamibookfair.com/