National Book Festival

An article (National Book Festival Planned for September, July 29) by Vanessa de la Torre for the Washington Post got me interested in this year's National Book Festival (scheduled for September 24). The event has been hosted by the Library of Congress here in Washington every year since 2001, when it was inaugurated just a few days before the September 11 attacks. The list of writers who will attend is impressive, and I expect fisticuffs or pistols at dawn when Dana Gioia and E. L. Doctorow have that friendly chat about the Bush administration. Also, Second Lady Lynne Cheney will be studiously avoiding questions about her racy first novel. Don't miss any of the action, tomorrow, on the National Mall.

UPDATE:
This is a reminder from Mark Barry, that the Baltimore Book Festival is also this weekend.