Speaking/reading/signing books tonight (Sat 1/27) in Marin

Tonight (Sat 1/27) I'll be reading from and signing copies of my book FAKE at Book Passage in Corte Madera, California. (I'll also be answering questions and blabbing and going off on all sorts of tangents. And giving something away.) It's just a few minutes north of San Francisco, right across the Golden Gate Bridge and close to the 101. This place is one of the best independent bookstores in the country (and one of the top spots on any book tour), and I'm honored to have been invited.

I'd be equally honored if you'd stop by and say hello.

Where: Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd, Corte Madera, CA
When: Saturday, January 27, 7:00 PM
Directions
Google Map

I hope to see at least a few of you there.

Video of appearance on Evening Magazine (KING5 Seattle)

Here's a clip of a piece that aired several weeks ago in Seattle on a show called Evening Magazine. We filmed it last summer in an art gallery using one camera, so the shots of the reporter asking the questions and me answering them were filmed in two separate takes. First they recorded me answering all the questions, and then they moved the camera behind me and taped the reporter asked some of the questions a second time. I imagine this technique, combined with clever editing, is how The Daily Show makes its interview subjects look ridiculous. Lucky for me (and unlucky for you), I was spared the Daily Show treatment.

This is the first and only time a TV show has used special effects to morph my 38-year-old face into my 19-year-old face.

Will eBay's new policy make shill bidding easier?

Auctionbytes interviewed me yesterday for an article about a new eBay policy that may make shill bidding easier.

As I explain in FAKE, my cohorts and I used to bid on our own and each other's auctions using fake eBay user IDs. This practice, which is known as shill bidding, is against eBay rules. Our shill bidding was uncovered by a New York Times reporter who carefully researched our auctions and found patterns, and this discovery is what ultimately attracted the attention of the FBI.

Although eBay has adopted many new measures to combat shill bidding since then, a lot of eBay users claim it still goes on. Some, in an effort to make sure the price of an item they want is not being driven up by shills, like to research the bidding activity of competing bidders.

Until now. eBay recently starting hiding the identy of anyone bidding on an item going for more than $200. The company adopted this new rule to prevent scammers from being able to send off-eBay offers to people who bid on, but didn't win, high-dollar items. But users who like to watch out for shill bidding fear the new policy will make it easier for sellers to bid on their own items with alternative IDs. eBay is confident it can catch shill bidding itself.

All I can say is this: If this policy had been in place when I was on eBay, I might never have been caught.

Norman Rockwell painting found hidden inside wall

Here's something: A Norman Rockwell painting called "Breaking Home Ties," which, like most of Rockwell's work, once appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, and was on display at the Norman Rockwell Museum, has turned out to be fake.

This fact only came to light when the original version of the painting was found buried inside the wall of the studio of a friend of Rockwell. For some reason, when Rockwell gave the painting to his friend as a gift, the friend created a copy of it and hid the original. The fake version went on to be displayed, while the original remained encased behind plaster.

If it was properly stored, I'll bet the original is in excellent condition.

This illustrates two things that I point out in my book: Plenty of paintings hanging on museum walls are not authentic, and valuable paintings fall through the cracks, and are sometimes unearthed in the most unlikely places.

The latter fact is what fuels so much speculation on the fringes of the art market. A lot of people spend their lives looking for a Rockwell hidden inside a wall (or a Diebenkorn stored in a garage).

I met William Vollman tonight

Courtenay and I had some time to kill before our movie, so we popped into a coffeehouse in downtown Sacramento. As we sat and drank (she got something called a Voodoo, which consisted of sweetened condensed milk, half-and-half, and four shots of espresso), I noticed William T. Vollmann approach the counter.

No, he's not a household name, but he is one of the greatest writers of his generation, and somewhat of a literary hero of mine. He won the 2005 National Book Award for his novel Europe Central. Here is a picture of him with his National Book Award:

His books are not easy to read (I've only tackled about four of them), but his prose is so masterfully rich and challenging that is makes me want to claw my skin. I have to avoid reading his work when I'm writing, lest I start trying to write like him, and sounding like a cheap, clownish imitation.

I don't usually approach famous people, even if I really admire their work, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to introduce myself. So I stopped him in his tracks as he made his way back to his table, unleashed about 30 seconds of fawning praise, and then made awkward small talk for about another half minute.

He didn't give me his email address or ask me to join me for coffee, but he was nice enough. I haven't been approached by strangers very many times, but when I have, I've never really been sure of what to say either.

As he returned to his 17-inch MacBook Pro, I considered the fact that, over the years, I've probably spent 30 or 40 hours reading his writing. He's made me laugh, cringe, and seethe with envy. He's made me think so hard my head hurt. At any given moment, he's very likely smarter than anyone else within a one mile radius. I was more excited to have met him than I would have been if, say, I'd turned and introduced myself to Nicholas Cage that time he sat next to me at a bar in San Francisco (and was very, very drunk).

Audio clip of radio interview on KXJZ

Here's a clip of the short interview I did last week on Capital Public Radio, a follow-up to the longer interview I did in May. I did this by telephone from South Beach, Miami, and I had not, as I predicted, been drinking beforehand. Not very much, anyway.

On libraries

Someone wrote last week to tell me FAKE has been deemed a "staff pick" at the Public Library of Cincinnati, and has been reviewed on the library's blog. This post is really less of an announcement of this than an excuse to remind you that FAKE is, by now, available at hundreds of libraries around the US and Canada (and a few in the UK and Australia, as well). The New York Public Library alone has 45 copies available at its various branches (far more than it needs, I'm sure). So if you're interested in reading the book, but not necessarily buying it, remember that borrowing it is an option.

A lot of people who've written to me about FAKE have told me they found it at their local libraries, and I love hearing this. I've always been a fan of libraries, both in theory and in practice. I don't use libraries as much as I once did, but I like knowing that they are there when I need them and, more importantly, I like knowing they are there for people who need them more than I do. When I was researching my book I made many visits to the downtown branch of the Sacramento Public Library, and was reminded that, in an era when nearly all information seems to be available on the internet, libraries are, for some people, the only way to get online for free.