Leah Garchik, San Francisco Chronicle

Thursday, July 28, 2005

(Read the original article here.)

The buzz at Monday night’s benefit for the annual literary festival Litquake was so intense that you could hear the multitude of voices — excited, high-pitched, staccato — from the sidewalk. Inside the hip lower Haight restaurant RNM, the cacophony of writers pressed together, flinging verbs and adjectives at each other, literary rock stars jamming without music.

"They have to be quiet all day,” said Tom Barbash, "so this is their opportunity to let go.” In addition, "There’s a problem with their social skills,” joked Kathi Kamen Goldmark. "So they talk really loud.”

Some of the conversations were a shade less than literary, Craigslist’s Craig Newmark and this newspaper’s Phil Bronstein, for example, on the effect of the former on the latter’s classified ads. Daniel Handler, who’s got a new Lemony Snicket on the way as well as a novel for adults, described Amazon. com’s 10th birthday party in Seattle, where "Norah Jones opened for me” (Handler plays the accordion), and Bob Dylan played a digital piano Handler said would have been appropriate for a bar mitzvah reception. Goldmark said the Rock Bottom Remainders had been asked to do that gig, but they were booked. And therein, the pecking order of literature lovers is summed up: The authors’ band was busy; Dylan was pressed into service.

Litquake founders Jane Ganahl (a Chronicle colleague) and Jack Boulware greeted the gang — including Robert Mailer Anderson, Amy Tan, Po Bronson, Ishmael Reed, Mary Roach, Kate Braverman, Gary Kamiya, Peter Plate, Barnaby Conrad, Nion McEvoy, Sidney Goldstein, Thomas Sanchez, Maya Draisin and mayoral aide Mike Farrah — and particularly thanked Justine Miner, chef and proprietor of the restaurant, which hosted the event and provided bounteous food. (Bravo to a-fictionados who have replaced traditional literary fare of cheap wine and goldfish crackers with Cosmos, lamb chops, shrimp and asparagus. )

An event at Herbst Theatre marking the 50th anniversary of Allen Ginsberg’s "Howl” is being planned for Oct. 7, and the possibility of street banners for that occasion was mentioned. Homegrown Litquake is joining the bigs.