I had some family business to attend to in Prague and decided to head over. No big diversion required, pretty well all flights to this part of the world go through Frankfurt. The airport has capacity for approximately 65 million passengers a year and serves as the main hub for Lufthansa and its affiliates, including Condor, my current airline of choice.

Over the years I've enjoyed some excellent book fairs, including Book Expo Americas (BEAs) in New York and Washington D.C., and the London Book Fair. I met Canongate's Jamie Byng in D.C. years ago and interviewed him at the time about how to successfully bolt celebrity introductions onto great short stories from the bible, mythology, and other sacred sources, listen here, if you like:

During our conversation Jamie made a most memorable remark - well, at least I've never forgotten it - 'one of the best things you can do for your children is to make their lives interesting.’

I had fun in D.C. Bought myself this great t-shirt promoting the local Shakespeare Theatre Company. It features a logo I've always liked. Took in a good performance of The Persians and paid a visit to the Folger Shakespeare Library where I interviewed the then librarian Richard Kuhta. Listen here:

Plus I dropped in on the Center for the Book to talk with John Cole about the history of the Library of Congress.

I also attended a Book Expo in New York about ten years ago where I interviewed critic/editor John Freeman about the demise of stand-alone newspaper book review sections. Seems kind of quaint today (listen here). I recently caught up with John to revisit this topic and discuss how LitHub has, at least in some ways, stepped in to replace what's been lost.

Finally, there was the London Book Fair, also about ten years ago. Here I interviewed the guy in charge of Google's library book scanning project, and Emma House, who managed the show.

Most of the above mentioned interviews came off as a result of working with friendly media relations people at these Fairs.

All three events were packed with people. No Covid of course, just loads of book and rights peddlers, fans and readers, authors, agents - all wired-up bustling around trying to close deals, get books signed, or score good loot. Nerding out basically. Publishing personnel and the public having a good time together.

One person in New York who wasn't quite so wound up was Alan Greenspan. He'd released a memoir touting his long, lustrous stewardship of the American economy. Inconveniently, Wall Street had just imploded and everyone was pointing fingers. A humongous bailout was required to correct this criminal mess. Books like this were soon on the shelves:

The title sums up how people in the room felt the evening I was there listening to Greenspan's speech/implorings. Bragging about your role in shit that's gone wrong isn't typically a good move, but what choice did he have? The book had already been written, printed and distributed. The world had changed dramatically in a matter of days, discrediting years of work. The emperor's pants were now down at his ankles, and he had to pretend they weren't. Needless to say, the book didn't land too well. The lesson was clear: regardless of how much work you put in, so much in publishing has to do with timing and luck, or lack of it.

Frankfurt, this time round at least, wasn't as lively as the various fairs I've attended in the past. It didn't seem designed for the consumer/booklover/author stalker. It wasn't bustling. Covid had scared many off. No doubt this is why Canada was given a rain-check. "Back" again from 2020, it got a second shot at stardom. I was happy to attend this year's event - to get a feel for "the world's largest and oldest book fair," even if it was driving at less than full throttle. Plus it was Canada’s year.

First impression? I had to walk a fuck of a long way just to get anywhere. The place is gigantic. Twelve huge halls, at least. At the entrance the official ID, Covid vacs paper-checking regime was pretty rigorous. As for media passes, there was no screening at all. "Hi, can I have a pass please." In fact this nonchalance was symptomatic of how Frankfurt treated me all along. Disinterested really. Despite several attempts to get help lining up interviews, the pat response was: 'fill in the form online stating what you're interested in, leaf your way through thousands of attendee and exhibitor profiles, and start dating. Have a nice Fair. ' Pretty unhelpful. As a result: no ‘fresh-from-the-floor of the Frankfurt Book Fair’ Biblio File episodes this year.

Here’s a brief written take: The Italian and Spanish booths, along with their personnel, were predictably stylish. The women were attractive, smart, elegant. The men were well-dressed with their drain-pipe pants and panoramically razored-down-to-the-boards heads. The pavilions were well appointed - nice carpets - and pleasantly lit. The books - coffee table titles mainly it seemed, were sharply displayed, presented with a unified, well-designed, inviting vibe.

I had to go down a floor to find the English language publishers (this administrative separation, incidentally, provided Quebec with a great excuse to camp out miles way away from the official Canadian booth, up with the Italians and Spaniards). Going down in fact felt oddly appropriate, given the second-tier feel of the floor - the booth accoutrements definitely weren't as slick or professional-looking on this level.

Where's the paneling? The booth looked as if it’d been designed to promote plywood products, repurposed from a Home and Garden show. Most of the adjacent Canadian booths hadn't had anything done to them. Bare bones. Just the fittings. One sad little space sat barren and unclaimed, save for a sign swinging on the wall ‘Sutherland House.’ I mentioned this to Ken Whyte who invited me to man it. Actually, he'd pulled out of the Fair after learning late in the game that none of the people he wanted to pitch would be attending. Someone in admin must've made the executive decision to leave the signage up. Any publicity, I guess. Speaking of Ken, I must start using “We”in these posts instead of “I.”

There weren't that many people in the booths when I strolled the hall. When I did see anyone, they didn't see me - too busy fixating on their electronic devices. Mobile phones are such a godsend for the anti-social. You aren't labeled a loser if you're alone in the bar staring obsessively at your phone. It looks like you're popular - engaged in the world's most fascinating conversation, or, if you're "manning" a booth at the Frankfurt Book Fair, like you're closing the largest rights deal in the history of publishing.

None of the big British or American houses were here. A few American university presses had pooled resources to take a spot. I didn't see any Canadian equivalents, which is a pity. U of T and McGill Queen's have put out some very interesting titles over the years. I would've liked to have seen what was in the hopper.

Ken's empty space, the lack of people, the lack of connection - there was a kind of absence here which didn't do much to 'pump me up'. IMO Team Canada failed to show off how cool Canadian authors are. How great their work is. How desirable the rights to their books are.

I didn't expect much, but the lack of energy and excitement, the lack of engagement, was striking. Still, it wasn't all bad. I'd come away with a few interesting publisher catalogues - the one that Ireland put out was especially sweet. Plus I'd gotten some good hall-to-hall long distance hiking in. I’d visited nearby Mainz and the Gutenberg Museum

with its old printing presses

and various printed treasures;

Goethe’s House where I spent more time farting around with this cool telescope set-up reading book titles from across the room than touring the place);

and the Contemporary Art Museum where I saw this human organ on the wall

I also toured around Frankfurt a bit. Learned that skyscrapers here are as skinny as they are because by law all office windows must let in direct sunlight.

I'd found this pub that I liked right in the very center of the city. Here I’d sampled some tasty brats and frankfurters, thrown back some excellent Pilsner and sampled a regional dish of potatoes, boiled eggs and this green sauce made from something like 100 herbs, plus I'd found an Oxfam used bookstore close-by, which, in line with the Fair, was touting Canada’s big brand name authors.

There were plenty of posters around too doing the same job, highlighting in this case Canada’s short story strengths. Promotion outside was much better than it was in.

Margaret Atwood was here virtually to open the Fair. Actually she was virtually everywhere on the streets of Frankfurt too playing Big Sister, as she does at home so well patrolling Canadian literature; nothing escapes her.

I'd even tried the local Apple Wine a specialty of the region. Wasn't quite sweet enough for my taste, so I poured it into this glass of strawberry-flavoured sparkling water. Much better.

One evening I also experienced what someone who has attended the Fair close to fifty times told me is the secret to Frankfurt’s true greatness.

Stay tuned for Part ll.

Frankfurt Book Fair: the bad, the good, and the dangerous. Part l

Kafka, Heartfield, Prague

Alsace, Storks, Paper Museums, Verlaine and Gargoyles.