Frankfurt

The huge international Frankfurt Book Fair, where I just spent five days—to wrap your mind around it, imagine a paper bag big enough to hold a Costco, or some other enormous warehouse store. Then expand that bag eightfold, to include all the active display halls at the German fair.

Make your paper bag very strong, because it must expand yet again. Each of the eight display halls contains two stories each, except for the occasional one that crams in three stories. Walking through all that space, in physical reality rather than imagination, you can wear through the soles of your shoes. I did.  

Or else you can take transport. In Germany, escalators don’t start until you step on them, but given the crowds, metallic steps rose and fell nearly constantly. The horizontal equivalent moved, too–Rolltreppe being the name for them, I think, walkways between the huge halls. You may have ridden on ones like these in airports.

NOT YOUR LOCAL

At Frankfurt, however, you ride without suitcases. You ride past a strange assortment of exhibit cases and posters. My favorite juxtaposition lay just outside Hall 8, before an escalator.

• To one side: Lovely miniature icons from the Russian Orthodox Church, tiny sacred paintings on wood, embellished with gold.

• To the other side: One large, lively photograph of a naked woman. I’m not sure, exactly, what she represented, but whatever it was, she did so with great enthusiasm.

Another much-admired (by me) juxtaposition was contained within one display case belonging to an Italian publisher.

• Upper shelves displayed Pope Somebody’s book about Jesus.

• The rest? A book about filmmaker Federico Fellini.

Getting the feel for Frankfurt? Remember, hold onto the size, the movement, the contrast between sober attire, European manners, and absolute wackiness. Now, bring in the sounds. To be realistic, you must add refined but incessant chatter from Wednesday to Friday, when the real business is done.

This expo, after all, is by far the most important publishing event in the world. Nerdy types, book lovers, rule. We meet to sell translation rights or negotiate new contracts; as one agent told me, “Frankfurt is your big chance to meet face-to-face for once.”

Saturday and Sunday, the Messe opens to the public and things became really laut and, well, messy… also very, very crowded. During the week, publishing pros rule. They dress soberly, conservatively, blackly. On the weekend, bam! In comes the funk. Just like last year, Goth outfits were popular, along with strangely colored hair and bouffant costumes. Stars of the German book scene do readings, media abound, so many visitors act self-conscious, as if auditioning for a reality show.

GOOD VIBRATIONS

Was the Fair good for me? It was my best so far, with over a dozen requests for reading copies, two different booths showing my books, and wonderful conversations with publishers from many parts of the world. I’ll trade that for shoe soles any day of the year.

While in Europe, I planned to visit this blog every day, enabling posts. (Nobody’s comments come onto the blog automatically; this keeps out spam.)

But all my efforts to get online failed, so I apologize to all those whose comments seemed lost in cyberspace. One of my first acts on returning was to enable the wonderful backlog of comments and guest posts.

Before leaving for Japan, October 28^th, I’ll be sure to make a contingency plan so that this blog doesn’t languish. Meanwhile, I’m happy to have made new friends abroad, as well as those forementioned wonderful publishing connections. Anyone who has been to the Frankfurter Buchmesse, please add your comments to this post!  

Blog-buddies, you may note that my description hasn’t contained one single observation about Deeper Perception. Instead I took a vacation. I also took an empathy fast. During my entire weeklong trip, I didn’t read a single aura or face; not do even one small empathic merge.

No wonder I can’t wait to be back. I’m glad to have many sessions scheduled, starting today. And I’m eager to read your fresh comments and guest posts.