Richard Powers is an easy man to spot. He had told me to look for "a tall man with a bewildered look" and as soon as I stepped out of the elevator on the 7th floor of the New School building, thinking I was early for last night's reception, there he was — taller than promised, but less bewildered than intent on acclimating himself to new surroundings, subsequent National Book Awards commitments, and the prospect of chatting briefly with a newly-minted admirer of his work.