Why Do Books Have Covers? LA Times Book Festival
Los Angeles: home to the rich, the famous, the elegant, and the elite. That is, until the evening of April 23rd, 2010 when AK Press rode into town. Never fear! Our visit was temporary and we came with a purpose: to offer attendees of the annual LA Times Book Festival anarchist, alternative, radical, and leftist propaganda. For fourteen years the festival has existed to “bring together the people who create books with the people who love to read them.” An array of vendors came to show off their goods: from professional cooks, children book’s publishers, fellow radical publishers, and nonprofits like Reading to Kids… to the religious right, the religious left, and those who admit to being confused altogether when it comes to religion. The event takes place on the UCLA campus, providing ample enough space for the hundred thousand or so attendees. AK found itself a neat little tent and set up shop for the weekend.
Saturday started us off just right! Customers were coming left and right with sizable stacks of books to purchase. People were not intimidated by our somewhat cramped booth. Instead, folks navigated their way around each other to find their heart’s desire. Our books, I mean! Aside from AK Press titles and the latest distro stock we also had a display of new titles from our comrades at New Press and South End Press. For those who were not familiar with the titles it was oh so satisfying to see their eyes light up with joy and excitement. We also enjoyed the oldies but goodies and their continued support. When tabling at out of town events it’s always a pleasure to see old friends, fans, and authors of AK Press. This weekend we ran into folks from Feral House, friends from Book Soup in LA, New Press author Peter Richardson (luckily we had a good stack of his book, A Bomb in Every Issue, on display).
Sunday, LA graced us with another glorious day of sun and good weather. We could hardly resist the smell of freshly cooked kettle corn and Suzanne finally found some decent vegan options for lunch! People were especially hungry today. We sold a good amount of vegan cookbooks including Vegan Soul Kitchen, Sistah Vegan, and Vegan Brunch. Additionally, LA was thirsty for some graffiti photos. We ran out of Banksy’s Wall and Piece, Outsiders, and Protest Graffiti Mexico: Oaxaca. Of course, our own titles sold like crackerjacks at a baseball game. One of our favorite moments: a young boy, no more than 9 years of age approaches us. As he stares down at the books he is lightly fiddling with he asks, “Why do books have covers if we’re not allowed to judge them” and walks away! Not sure if he wanted an answer. A little food for thought nonetheless.
Well, as our adventure came to an end we were still peddling literature! If the event organizers had not been so strict about closing time we would have been there until nightfall. Thank you Los Angeles and we’ll see you next time. For all of our lovely readers be sure to stay tuned for when AK Press is heading to your town. Next stops: Montreal, Maryland, Detroit, and Harlem!