I returned from New York this morning, and I’ll be in Chicago on Thursday. Which is somewhat of an excuse for not telling you about my first book-signing, tonight, until now.
Last night, a little party was thrown in the book’s honor by our own Mo Rocca. Check out my incredibly pregnant sister’s photo-laden account right here.
Also yesterday I did the Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC. You can hear it here.
Woof. Now, back to the comedy mines. Sorry about the late updates, me hearties, it’s sort of a busy week around here. Plus, it’s 2 PM and my tuna melt hasn’t arrived. That’s not an excuse, just a complaint.





63 comments
nato
August 22, 2006 at 2:48 pm
1Congratulations, and if you’d just convince my local bookstore to carry the damned thing, I’d buy a copy of your book.
Murray
August 22, 2006 at 2:49 pm
2Wow. quite a party. It appears that the bar has been set high. We will see what we can do to top it here.
Ann
August 22, 2006 at 3:40 pm
3I don’t know…my mother always told me it was rude to talk about a party to someone who wasn’t invited. Hmmph.
Demento
August 22, 2006 at 4:48 pm
4I have begun reading your book. I bought it at Border’s (one copy on the shelf in the literature section, feel uplifted?) I even got it for 15% off because I took a phone survey. Who says chain stores don’t treat their customers right? Haven’t gotten too far yet, John is studying the bubbles in his beer and Deborah’s having a great time. I hope I have even a small portion of Deb’s enjoyment (can a guy share that type of ecstasy?) just from reading this tale. If I do you had better be writing more.
Chris Regan
August 22, 2006 at 5:14 pm
5I’l be there! And I’m going to have some tough questions, Adam!
cooper
August 22, 2006 at 5:54 pm
6Chris, I sure hope “What is reality?” is one of your questions. I’ve been working on that one for over 50 years and I’m still stumped.
Adam, I finished your book and I enjoyed it immensely. It is, BTW, the perfect book for those with a touch of Asperger’s or at least the ADD riddled TV generation of the 1950’s and 60’s. Read a few paragraphs - scene change, new characters; a few more paragraphs - ditto. My kinda book. I thought the exchanges between God and The Prophet Bernie were hilarious. Brenda and “Lady Liberty” had a nice twist as well. Oh, and the scene with Earl and Muldower speaking in tongues was definitely amusing. The book is great fun. Thanks! People, if you don’t have it yet, go out and buy the book!
Jeez, Mo’s got a wonderful apartment, doesn’t he. Great skyline! Adam, your younger brother seems to have gotten the bulk of the male hair in the family, pal. I’ve got a brother just like that. I hate him.
Susie
August 22, 2006 at 6:19 pm
7Ann, allow me to explain the stringent requirements one had to meet to make the guest list of this shindig. All guests:
Worked on the book the party was in honor of.
OR
Are panelists on Wait Wait who have also published one or more books themselves and also had given a stinking good quote to the book the party was in honor of.
OR
Are in Adam’s immediate family.
OR
Have known Adam since he was in utero.
OR
Have known and performed and/or written with Adam for no less than 10 years AND have served honorably and with distinction in the “Make sure Adam enters correct home after 4AM” brigade.
OR
Were currently having publicly recognized sex with any of the above guests on a fairly regular basis at the time of the invitation.
(Also, thank Thor a bunch of people who fit into category 5 were currently touring/taking meetings, or else we wouldn’t have fit into the apartment without greasing ourselves first. Ew.)
wmblair
August 22, 2006 at 6:31 pm
8ooh boy Adam! I am on my way to your signing right now (I hope I can still get a good seat). I already read the book and loved it.
Katie
August 22, 2006 at 8:23 pm
9Suzie -
Thank you for sharing! Actually, I kind of liked the slightly blurred effect of the montage…. it gave the effect of ‘being there and being a bit tipsy to boot.”
Also, thank you for proving that Michael is NOT a figment of the imagination.
Katie
p.s. Adam - What happened to Mo for this week’s taping?!?!?!!!! grrrrrrr…………
Harold
August 22, 2006 at 8:32 pm
10If the bar has been set high, we must make sure we bring a stepstool so everyone can have access to the alcohol and salted snacks on it.
I have a question for Mother Felber. Amazon has told me that some people who order Schrodinger’s Ball have then gone on to order the forthcoming For the Love of a Pirate by Edith Layton. My question is, shouldn’t the full title have been For the Love of a Purple Pirate?
Edith, Smug Mother of all Felbers
August 23, 2006 at 7:32 am
11Ah, but Pirates are love objects in Family Felber, Harold. Pirates of all colors, so there’s no need to specify.
(btw - Tell those nice readers over at Amazon to order that nice Edith Felber’s new book too. Nary a pirate in sight, but lots of lovely beheadings and disembowelments. Where’s Mel Gibson when you need him?)
And the party was swell: Adam and Jeanne and the incredibly pregnant Susie and her Englishman and Mike were there, so how could it be otherwise?
tim
August 23, 2006 at 7:44 am
12Any chance of the book signing tour coming to Wilmington, DE? If so, make sure you adopt a Joe Biden-approved Slight Indian Accent™ if you want a Coolatta.
Jonathan
August 23, 2006 at 8:21 am
13Kudos my friend! It was wonderful to see you at your first public signing last night in just south of Westwood. Your reading was superb! I look forward to cracking the spine and taking it for a read tonight.
Cheers!
And I just have to point out that Mother Felber did type “but Pirates”. Made me giggle and made my day.
Edith, Smug Mother of all Felbers
August 23, 2006 at 9:06 am
14tsk, tsk, Jonathan.
Mind your mind, and your dictionary. I did not type an extra “T.”
Dixie
August 23, 2006 at 9:46 am
15Lovely signing. Delightful reading. I promise not to lurk as much anymore, now that I have a book with the author’s signature and a kind suggestion to start commenting already.
So there. I commented.
I giggled at the “but Pirates are love objects in Family Felber” too.
Edith, Smug Mother of all Felbers
August 23, 2006 at 10:33 am
16Oh rats. I just should have admitted I shouldn’t Ever have written a “but, Pirates…” sentence in the first place.
Arggggggghhhh
(the pirates are miffed with me too, y’know.)
Ann
August 23, 2006 at 12:24 pm
17The sex had to be publicly recognized? Oh, OK. I didn’t realize.
Katie, avid reader of all Felbers
August 23, 2006 at 1:00 pm
18hmmmmmmm….. Having just gone over to Amazon.com I see no apparent reason for the Pirate to be considered Purple. Enlightenment please?
Give the pirates an extra ration of rum. They’ll come around.
Harold
August 23, 2006 at 2:12 pm
19I direct your attention to this entry from last November…
http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/11/16/placeholders-and-pirates/
and this comment from Old Mother Felber herself!
http://fanaticalapathy.com/2005/11/16/placeholders-and-pirates/#commen t-11387
Chuggo
August 23, 2006 at 2:50 pm
20Adam,
Is Susie incredibly pregnant, or incredible and pregnant?
I think both.
Enjoyed the pictures lots. Too bad I couldn’t attend the party. I think I made sure Adam didn’t go into the wrong house back in 1975 at 4AM. I’m pretty sure that was me. Ok, maybe it wasn’t me. Or maybe it was a different Adam. I’m sort of unclear on the period from 1974 to 1978. Could someone help out here? Just what happened then?
Oh well.
cooper
August 23, 2006 at 2:52 pm
21Ann, Brenda the Bag Lady’s sex is publicly recognized… at last count, I think, by 19 scientists!
dee
August 23, 2006 at 3:42 pm
22Oh boy oh boy one week from today at this time I expect to be enjoying a beverage of my choice at some Days Inn in Pennsylvania.
It would probably help if I knew which one.
I’m so excited about meeting all (or many of you) I could just plotz.
Ann
August 23, 2006 at 3:49 pm
23Brenda? You’ve lost me. But Dee, I’ll be joining you at the bar, but I don’t get in until late Friday!
Murray
August 23, 2006 at 5:46 pm
24Dee, it would be the Town Hill/Breezewood Day’s Inn, just off I-70 perched high atop Town Hill and over looking the Vista Spa. (I’ll explain later what I found out there when I went to sign Jane up for a day’s massage. Gee, those prices are high).
Dee, if you’re coming in that early you should give me a call.
cooper
August 23, 2006 at 5:51 pm
25Ann, Brenda the Bag Lady, a homeless counter-historian … from Schodinger’s Ball. Oh, yeah, you were saving the book for the flight to Felberpalooza. Without giving much away, Brenda’s current fascination is to flash, shall we say, her loins to a particular type of scholar - scientists. She has no doubt noticed the predominance of pencil necks in this genre of students and feels they need a thrill of some sort in their boring and miserable lives. Her goal is 20 scientists and she is closing in on that number as the book begins.
Murray
August 23, 2006 at 6:21 pm
26Thanks a lot Coop, now you’ve spoiled it for me. So how exactly does she do this flashing thing?
cooper
August 23, 2006 at 6:27 pm
27Read the book, Murray!
SeattleDan
August 23, 2006 at 6:29 pm
28Books on the way, Murray. You can read it soon.
siobhan
August 23, 2006 at 7:07 pm
29Yeah, careful with those spoilers! I’m waiting to get mine after the signing at a certain Seattle bookstore.
hedera
August 23, 2006 at 8:17 pm
30Well, I’m still waiting to get time to go over to my local independent bookstore and see if he has it (Saturday, I hope); but if he doesn’t, I may try that certain Seattle bookstore online. After all, if it’s coming from cyberspace, who cares which part of same?
Katie, avid reader of all Felbers
August 23, 2006 at 8:22 pm
31Ahhhhhhh……. The Purple Pirate mystery is suddenly all too clear. Thank you for the enlightenment.
Unfortunately my free time at the computer has been erratic over the past year, and so I’ve missed several conversational threads. As soon as I finish the basement and sell this *#@*!#! house, finalize the divorce and get my job back from wrongful firing, I should be able to return to my more slothful, computer-filled days.
In re-reading that paragraph, I think I need a Pirate; Purple, But, or Otherwise to add a note of joy and adventure back into my life…. lol.
Dale
August 23, 2006 at 8:54 pm
32If you order it from SeattleDan, it comes with plastic bubble pop thingies! Hours of entertainment! (In fact, lasted longer than the book, which went quickly.)
siobhan
August 23, 2006 at 10:04 pm
33Hedera, do you know of any Bay Area signings or other such events? (Well, hell, I guess I could ask our host, for that matter….)
Murray
August 24, 2006 at 6:34 am
34Yes, I’m getting my copy from Seattle Dan, and those of you who can wait till Felberpalooza can do the same. He is sending 48 copies which will be available here, so if you want a truly special edition, signed by the master, his mother, and the odd gathering of his cyber family, much like a high school yearbook signing, you can either get it here in person, or order one and we will sign and send it to you.
Where else can you get the autograph of Adam, Mother of all Felbers, and Cooper, (my guess is he is also Hot Tub Tommy, etc.) on one special book.
I’ll probably have to add pages to get the signatures of all the people I want to sign my copy.
dee
August 24, 2006 at 6:49 am
35I guess I should start practicing my little “heart dots” for i’s.
cooper
August 24, 2006 at 9:10 am
36Murray, that’s a viscous rumor and I absolutely deploy the unfounded premise of your suspectaculation. And I’ll suspend that statement to my debt.
siobhan
August 24, 2006 at 9:26 am
37Oh, gosh, can I have my Jackson Street Books order included in the Felberpalooza pile??
Harold
August 24, 2006 at 10:09 am
38Mother Felber, which new book are you referring to that has “lots of lovely beheadings and disembowelments”? Surely not “How to Seduce a Bride”, released June 1, 2006? ‘Cause last time I tried, my approach to that didn’t involve beheadings or disembowelments. (Maybe that’s what I’m doing wrong.)
SeattleDan
August 24, 2006 at 10:55 am
39Murray, if you could have a copy signed to siobhan that would be great. You can either send it back to me, or if it’s ok with s., I will send you her address by email to have it shipped direct. Thanks.
siobhan
August 24, 2006 at 11:05 am
40It’s okay (no - great!) to send Murray my email. He just has to promise to get some authentic Felberpalooza foodstains or bike dirt or beer splashes on it. Thanks Dan, thanks Murray, thanks all.
Even if I can’t be there, I can experience it vicariously through my book.
Ann
August 24, 2006 at 1:36 pm
41I’m still waiting to hear whether Adam’s sandwich ever showed up.
Murray
August 24, 2006 at 1:48 pm
42Sibohan, how about a bit of Screech Owl scat? I just cleaned Thicket’s flight cage and there is plenty to go around.
I will be glad to have others sign, stain, and otherwise foul anyone’s copy and then send it to them.
I can also send our official Grouseland, Felberpalooza, Schrodinger’s Ball, t-shirt if I can get it finished on time.
Coop, I thought so!
Other than Adam (and a few others), who writes as well as you? (That and you screwed up once and signed in as HTT while writing as yourself).
Ann
August 24, 2006 at 2:54 pm
43Ah, but how many OTHER personas does Cooper have on this blog? That’s the question!
cooper
August 24, 2006 at 3:43 pm
44Murray, for an old guy, you’ve got a good memory! I hoped I had tapped danced around that one enough to cover my trail. I guess not.
I, too, hope Adam’s tuna melt arrived and I also hope he tipped the delivery guy at least 20%. Otherwise, the guy may have shot out Adam’s tail light or radiator on the way out. Did anyone else hear Neil Conen’s discussion today about how we’re all skinflints when it comes to tipping? The new norm is 20%. Jeez, I remember when…
I went to an Indian vegetarian restaurant the other day and the food was good, no problem there, but the waiter (a newly arrived immigrant from the looks of it) needed to be flogged. He had to move my water glass to make room for the food and he did this by putting his thumb on the inside of the glass (and into my water) and pinching the glass between his thumb and index finger, lifting and moving it. He used his left hand to do this and anyone familiar with the third world habits of the great unwashed knows how they use the left hand and what they use it for. I asked the owner for a new glass of water. I won’t be back.
SeattleDan
August 24, 2006 at 4:33 pm
45I Am Not Cooper! I Am Spartacus!
siobhan
August 24, 2006 at 5:06 pm
46Hmmm… owl scat. He’s not one of them Owl Qaeda types, is he? (I let my birds “sign” cards by biting the edge of the paper, so if Thicket’s up for that…)
Ann, I’m not so sure how many there are, but I’m hoping all of them will sign my book.
Becca (and Brian)
August 24, 2006 at 5:25 pm
47Back in the States after more than 14 months adventuring around the globe! Whee! (Of course the fact that we landed in LA makes me still think we’re in a different country).
Staying in Santa Monica with my cousin and walking by the Borders on the 3rd St Promenade and what do we see? A sign for an Adam reading and signing on Sept 14th. Argh….it’s taunting me. Of course we’re missing it. (But any LA-types could head on over and I’m still rooting for a Powell’s signing somtime).
Adam…you should talk to them about the book placement though. The sign was prominent but we had to look long and hard to find your book and it was just on a table with other paperbacks (not necessarily new ones….).
I didn’t buy it however (which was difficult, since I’m itching to read it), as I am planning on picking it up at a certain indie bookstore in Seattle on my next trip north. At least I was, until I just read about the Felberpalooza signing bonus. Any chance I could still buy the book from Seattle Dan but also get to take advantage of the multiple Felber signings? Let me know.
In another week or so we should finally make it back home to Portland to end this chapter in our lives. Thanks to all you who followed along on the blog (it will probably continue documenting our attempts to re-enter the ‘real world’). Anybody know anybody looking for a house in Minneapolis?
Becca
cooper
August 24, 2006 at 6:16 pm
48Becca, your adventure is not over. Since you’re fixing to have younguns (as we say in the South), the ride is just beginning. Best of luck to you two. I’ve lived vicariously through your travels. Thanks for sharing.
dee
August 24, 2006 at 6:31 pm
49I’m thinking that traveling the world, trying to communicate depite the language and cultural barriers was fine preparation for dealing with buying and selling a house.
Welcome back, both of you.
David
August 24, 2006 at 7:14 pm
50Didn’t I finger Cooper as HTT a while back? Cooper’s silence closed the case for me. So when you gonna start throwing a few more episodes FA way, Coop? Condi on a Middle Eastern capital concert tour cries out.
SeattleDan
August 24, 2006 at 7:45 pm
51Welcome back, Becca and Brian. I’m sure the culture shock must be much. I know how travelling abroad for three weeks can be something upon returning, not to say 14 months. I’m sure we can arrange something about getting a Felberpalooza signed copy. Trying to reach me through the website at the moment is a problem as I’m between sites. Hope to have the new one up in the next couple of days. This one will feature an address and a phone number,even.
I finished Adam’s book and will review it in my upcoming newsletter, read by thousands. Or hundreds, at least.
It is one of the most delightful books I’ve read. Like Dee, Tammy and I were reminded of the early (and good) Tom Robbins. I think Adam dips into the fount of Thomas Pynchon, James Joyce as well as Rube Goldberg. The paradoies of Elizabethan drama and the King James Bible are brilliant. But above all, it is all Felber. I hear Adam’s comic voice throughout. I, obviously, read a lot of books, but I cant think of one in which I’ve had so much fun in such a long time.
Becca (and Brian)
August 24, 2006 at 8:01 pm
52A one (and most likely only) post from the other half. Becca’s keen attention to detail has taken a bit of a beating in the Santa Monica sun. For those of you in the area, Adam will be signing at the Barnes and Noble on 3rd St. Promenade on Sept. 14th. Here endth the public service announcement.
Brian
BA Political Science/Political Economy
Washington University ‘96
(hence the one post: once you’ve seen the sausage made…)
Katie, soon to be a Homeless Minnesotan
August 24, 2006 at 8:33 pm
53Becca -
Where abouts in Minneapolis??
dee
August 25, 2006 at 5:50 am
54Because of time zone differences, and since it may be a while before Becca or Brian is up a the crack of early, allow me:
The Davis Estate, currently for sale
Edith, Mother of all Felbers
August 25, 2006 at 7:07 am
55Harold, the novel with the beheadings and disembowelments and other loverly ways to end it all, will be in QUEEN OF SHADOWS, a trade paperback coming in November from NAL by one Edith Felber. It’s about Isabella, Queen of England, wife to Edward ll.
Meanwhile, Edith Layton will have a book with pirates! out in December.
(You know us Felbers, under any name we choose, there’s something about pirates…)
Murray
August 25, 2006 at 7:49 am
56Becca, getting your copy from Felberpalooza IS getting it from Seattle Dan. He has sent 48 copies on consignment, so you get the best of all worlds.
Hurray! Rick Schmitz the creator of Fanny has saved the day! Using Seattle Tammy’s idea he created an original drawing using both Fanny and Elvis. Coming to a t-shirt on you soon.
(We will raise more than one glass of Yinglings and Maker’s Mark in his honor!)
waterfowler
August 25, 2006 at 9:16 pm
57Welcome Home Becca & Brian.
Katie, soon to be a Homeless Minnesotan
August 26, 2006 at 3:16 am
58OMG!!! I LOVE the house! Do you know what elementary school it falls under?
Katie
Becca (and Brian)
August 26, 2006 at 9:51 am
59Katie…we’ll try and figure all that out for you. Wanna continue this conversation off of FA? (our email should be on the house listing).
:-) Becca
Neocleo
August 28, 2006 at 11:05 am
60Wow, your mom is gorgeous!!
westernclothingusa
September 28, 2006 at 1:36 am
61Just stopping by to say hi
this site rocks!
[url=http://www.western-clothing.us]western clothing[/url]
siobhan
September 28, 2006 at 5:35 am
62Do you think that westernclothing wanted to followup “Notes on the Fly” with a few comments on the hem - some off-the-cuff remarks, as it were?
FANNY PLEASE HELP!
September 28, 2006 at 7:19 am
63Great. More comment spam. Fanny, don’t you like to eat spam?