Allow me one short addendum to the book fest journal:

Phil and I proved to have something in common besides the written word: he can’t get enough hand sanitizer. This does not surpise you, does it? We were both shaking a lot of hands, so when we settled at our table for dinner the first night, I whipped out my tiny bottle of Purell and offered him some. His face glowed. He cupped his hand obediently as I squirted a dollop of anxiety-reducing gel into his palm.

After his reading on Saturday when we went to lunch at SoHo, I again extracted my precious little bottle. Holding it aloft, I looked at him questioningly. He cupped both his palms and held them out toward me, as if he were at the altar rail for Communion.

I also have a large cylindrical pump bottle of foaming hand sanitizer stashed in one of the cup holders between the front seats. I caught Phil admiring it. We shared a shot of this stuff when we got in the car as I took him back to the Westin after lunch Saturday.

Regarding clothing and how we choose it deliberately to say something about ourselves: Rick Bragg looked seedy.

He wore what I at first took to be a dark blue suit. An open-necked white dress shirt completed his ensemble. I did not look at his shoes. I can only hope they were not dress shoes minus socks, but that would have been fitting. Have you read his books? You would understand that last statement.

In any case, as he walked away with his hosts after the last of his fans had drifted off, I looked hard at his worn suit. The jacket was a darker blue than the pants - it was not a suit at all. Both garments were baggy and misshapen and looked to be made of polyester, which is not

a shameful thing in and of itself, but this guy is worth millions.

If Rick Bragg, however, scion of a desperately poor and uneducated north Alabama family, had shown up in a navy blazer, khakis, and Cole Haan loafers, his readers would have egged him. I also suspect that is why he lets his longish hair get greasy. It’s part of the franchise. I am not being cynical, not calling his sincerity into question. Rick’s kin have been known to threaten death to anyone who called them phony, and I have no doubt that he would not spare me. He’s just making a point of remembering who he is, an admirable trait.

But, lordy, he does cut a figure.
That’s all, folks.
Carol