Celebrities

As the literary world braces for the midnight multiplex release of The Twilight Saga: New Moon adapted from Stephenie Meyer's mega-bestseller, GalleyCat caught up with one reporter who went straight into the heart of Twilight darkness--celebrating Stephenie Meyer Day in Forks, Washington.

Journalist and author Jeff Gordinier wrote a long essay for Details magazine about visiting the real-life town made famous by the fictional Twilight saga. We asked the obvious question. Do the local hate these 60,000 new literary tourists? "In the course of three full days there, I didn't encounter a single resident who snickered at the ravenous squealing Twihards. Everyone was thrilled about it! Believe me, the people who live in Forks are grateful," he replied via email, sharing two photographs of the trip.

Gordinier concluded: "Meyer has saved their town. Before the Twilight craze, Forks truly was trapped in the realm of the undead--the logging business had cratered. The vampire phenomenon has turned Forks into a magnet for Twilight pilgrims, which means that the local motels and souvenir shops are perpetually packed, and revenue is pouring in. Nobody in Forks (nor at the Quileute reservation out at La Push beach) seemed even the tiniest bit jaded about that. They're welcoming the fanatics with open arms."

continued...

GalleyCat had the opportunity to speak Celebrity/Author, George Wendt, best known for his role as Norm in the hit television series Cheers. He spoke with us about his new book, Drinking with George (Simon & Schuster).

30 Rock star Tracy Morgan cut loose while reading on the audiobook version of his memoir, actually improvising about his post-Saturday Night Live relationships.

Gawker captured a snippet from the upcoming audiobook, as Morgan has some angry memories about fellow SNL castmembers Chris Kattan and Cheri Oteri and then cuts loose with some other thoughts. Morgan co-wrote the book with Anthony Bozza for Random House's Spiegel & Grau imprint.

Here's more from the Gawker post: "But the grudge apparently runs even deeper, because when Morgan sat down to record the audio version (in the clip above) of that passage, he started ad-libbing, expanding on his earlier points: Morgan says he still counts Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon and Colin Quinn as friends, but as for Oteri and Kattan: 'F*** 'em.'" (Via The Millions)

The sad news arrived last night that Patrick Swayze has died. The actor passed away at 57-years-old, following a battle with cancer.

Over the last five years, the literary magazine Barrelhouse has paid tribute to this iconic actor, asking every interviewee the same question: "What's your favorite Swayze movie?" They received answers from many writerly types, including Chuck Klosterman, Emmylou Harris, and Malcolm Gladwell. Now, they've collected all the answers in a single post.

Here's more from the post: "Part of this whole Barrelhouse enterprise, as evidenced in our tagline, is the celebration of low culture along with more traditional 'art.' And there are no movies that embody the greatest aspects of 'low' culture better than Swayze movies. Road House and Point Break may be preposterous, but they are so unabashed and inventive in their preposterousness, so goddam comfortable in their own preening, goofy-ass, impossible skin, that some of us quite literally had no choice but to fall in love with them."

Last night 300 literary indie rock fans crowded into Housing Works Bookstore Cafe to watch Elvis Perkins sing and promote "The Indie Rock Coloring Book." GalleyCat was there, shooting that short video of Perkins' gospel-style sing-a-long and paging through the new book.

The nostalgic publishing project features black & white activities pages inspired by rock stars Broken Social Scene, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and Bon Iver. Created by the nonprofit organization, Yellow Bird Project, the profits go towards charities of the rock stars' choice.

Housing Works will feature more rock star art events over the next month: a benefit art show with Ryan Adams and an evening of music with Salman Rushdie. Follow this link for a complete listing of upcoming events at the bookstore.