Some of the publishing world's biggest stars make strange cameos in the Harper's cover story this month--a scruffy peek behind the wizard's curtain at the 2008 Frankfurt Book Fair.

In "The Last Book Party: Publishing Drinks to a Life After Death," Gideon Lewis-Kraus takes a look at recession-era bookselling. His piece includes intimate looks at NY Times reporter Motoko Rich, Canongate publisher Jamie Byng, super-agent Andrew Wylie, and McSweeney's publisher Eli Horowitz. For more on Harper's future book coverage, check out GalleyCat's interview with columnist Benjamin Moser.

Here's an unexpected encounter with HarperCollins CEO Brian Murray: "His pants are black and too shiny, and his tie, with purple and green diagonal stripes, makes me suspect it is one of only three he owns. He looks like the man ESPN might send to cover the Book Fair. He and I turn to each other, and I ask him in a collegial way what he's doing here. He coughs and looks at his shoe for a second, and then says he's 'the, uh, new CEO of Harper-Collins.'"