Day 4 Performance For those of you that don't know, this trip was built around the fact that Terri, Tom and I had tickets to a benefit reading (The Haven Foundation and Doctors Without Borders) given by Stephen King, John Irving, and JK Rowling. So we make it to Radio City and deal with the morons handing out flyers for a Harry Potter conference. I'm not even going to justify it with an explanation. We get inside, find out seats, which aren't bad considering I had never been there and picked off the net. Tom and I spent the time leading up to the performance discussing the three authors. He's not enthralled with Rowling in the least, he's not read any of the books and doesn't take kindly to her being compared to King and Irving as one of the greatest authors. The program lists them as three superstar authors. King has written somewhere in the vicinity of 50 novels. Not that I'm arguing proficiency makes you great (think Harper Lee), but it don't hurt. His views on everyday life and his unique twist in taking the mundane to the macabre and back again have earned him legions of "faithful readers." Irving, not quite as prolific, he's closing in on a dozen novels. However, his reach is far and wide due to several widely successful film adaptations to introduce readers to his books and vice-versa. Rowling has completed 6. According to rumors and straight from the author's mouth she's "well into the 7th novel." Again, I'm not saying that volume = anything, but her 6 books, though massive bestsellers, are all about the same subject in the same world. No stretch of the imagination, if you'll pardon the pun. So to put her in the same league just kind of set both of us on edge. The woman in the front of us was kind of leaning back looking for some way to interject on the subject of Rowling's only redeeming feature being the alleged fact that a new generation will discover other authors through her books, but when the topic shifted back to our start on King, I did some quick math and realized that I was 8 or 9 when I read my first King novel (Pet Sematary). This widened the woman's eyes and completely took the wind out of whatever argument she was gearing up for. Which, was good considering the house lights began to dim and special guest Whoopi Goldberg was announced. She did several minutes praising everyone involved and making the audience laughed. Then she introduced Kathy Bates. Also well received, Kathy did her piece on Stephen King. At the end, they cut to a video montage of interviews, movie clips, and peer observations on King. While they were showing the video, stage hands quickly moved out a platform containing a rural setting onto stage right. King came out and read the pie-eating contest section from the novella that became Stand By Me. Then the house voice introduced Andre Baugher who, in turn, introduced John Irving. Another video and stage left was occupied with a platform resembling a den complete with fireplace. Irving read the selection of roles for the Christmas pageant from "A Prayer for Owen Meaney." The house voice then introduced Jon Stewart who, in turn, introduced JK Rowling. The video segment went by and center stage was replaced with a platform resembling a castle like setting. Rowling read from book 6. Immediately after her segment, Rowling began to take a few pre-selected questions. It was then that I began to realize that the reality of my worst nightmare was unfolding before my eyes.
JK Rowling is a media whore. She enjoyed lording her vague answers over the audience. She's not going to be able to give that up with one more novel and three movie adaptations. My initial thought is that she's going to attempt a book far from Potter and his world, it will initially be received tepidly and then fall flat because her fan base won't understand how to adapt. A slew of bad reviews, more bad press when the paperback hits, comparisons abound and two or three years later and we'll be back in Potter's world. It won't necessarily have him as the focus (though it didn't look as though she'd be able to give that up either) and whatever credibility she would have had will disappear faster than (God help me) Harry wrapping his invisibility cloak around himself.
Thankfully after a couple questions they brought King and Irving back for a few questions posed to them.
Post performance and trip wrap-up tomorrow hopefully.