Save the date: the book fair

You managed to score a date with one of the rarest of Miami breeds: hot and smart. Time to get your read on.

Can you read good? The Miami Book Fair International is for you.

Member rating: 4

By Jessica Sick

So you managed to score a date with one of the rarest of Miami breeds: hot and smart. You can hit up a surrealist art exhibit or modern dance concert any time, but the Book Fair is only in town for one weekend. Follow our itinerary and you and your intellectual beauty will be between the covers in no time. Get it? Books? Bed? We're so clever.

Saturday, November 15

Get to downtown early to find street parking or to get a good spot in the free garages, as the book fair gets more crowded as the day goes on. And in Miami, even quiet reader types get road rage. So grab a cafecito and a couple pastelitos at one of the many coffee windows that line downtown streets. Start things off light with underground comic superstar Art Spiegelman (Maus, The New Yorker, Garbage Pail Kids), who speaks at 11:45 a.m.

At 1 p.m., it's the bizarro combination of Dave Barry, the Gloria Estefan of the local literary scene, who will read from his latest, History of the Millennium, and Irish author Frank McCourt of so not funny memoir Angela's Ashes. After wrapping your head around that one, head to the International Food Court. Order up a falafel while you talk about Kafka and how you could really go for a frozen lemonade.

Despite your food baby, you're never too full for cake. At 3:30 p.m., Sloane Crosley reads from her book I Was Told There Would be Cake, a humorous memoir about Christian summer camp, Oregon Trail and unidentified poop. Crosley tag teams with Lilly Koppel, who will read from her latest, The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal. Finally, catch a few songs by the Rock Bottom Remainders, made up of Dave Barry, Amy Tan, Matt Groening and other writers-turned-wannabe-musicians.

Time for dinner. The perfect spot for intimate discussion - whether it's about books or those Sonic commercials (hilarious or heinous?) - is Soya e Pomodoro. At this hole-in-the-wall eatery around the corner, it's all about good food, good wine, live music and candlelight. It's like something out of a, well, book.

Sunday, November 16

After hopefully what was a late night, start off easy with a stroll through the vendor booths, where you'll find books, books and more books to purchase. The later it gets the more crowded the street fair gets, so try to get there before noon. After all that leg work, duck into the Write Out Loud tent for a little guitar playing by Peter Betan at 1 p.m., followed by Prime-Time Poets, which will include readings by some poets who do know it. And know it well.

After a quick bite, fight the food coma by fighting the power. Controversial urban activist (she got Bill Clinton's panties in a bunch) Sister Soulja will read from Midnight: A Gangster Love Story, which is the sequel to her bestselling novel, The Coldest Winter Ever. Finally, get in line early for a good seat to hear Salman Rushdie read from his latest novel, The Enchantress of Florence. Nathan Englander will also be there to say prophetic things.

After so much intellectual stimulation, you're going to need a drink (all the great ones did). Lucky for you, Transit Lounge is just down the road. Affordable drinks, plenty of tables, live music and a great jukebox (but not at the same time) and board games equal good times. Here's to sweet dreams of a great date, now get some sleep. After all, to quote a pretty good writer, the sun also rises.

Published: 11/08