FICTION: Loving Jhumpa Lahiri

Had an "I love New York" moment today when we went to Jhumpa Lahiri's reading at Barnes and Noble at Union Square. She was there to read excerpts from her collection of short stories, "Unaccustomed Earth." The third floor of the place was entirely full--like, can hardly breathe and it's hard to see past the heads in front of you kind of full. But despite the cramped conditions, people looked genuinely psyched to be there, listening to her read. Some had looks of squinty-eyed concentration. Others, literally had smiles on their faces. But overall, the crowd was mostly young, spanning college age to late 30s, the same age group accused of contributing to the demise of newspapers and magazines and other forms of words on paper. The crowd was also incredibly diverse. It was the polar opposite of the mostly older, white group we're accustomed to seeing at readings from authors at Lahiri's level (that is, the Pulitzer Prize winning level). We walked out of there feeling happy to see so many different kinds of people excited about a book.