Pay-Bas, slow bus

So I took a little trip to Amsterdam to fête my friend Nina Siegal's brand new novel, A Little Trouble With the Facts, a noir mystery set in pre-9/11 Manhattan, based in part on Nina's adventures working at the NY Times, but oh-so-much-more, besides. She read to a sold-out room. Before this, I'm not sure I even knew a reading could be standing room only. The book is out in English now, will be out in Dutch soon (her Dutch publisher is launching a whole new genre around the book, "Chick Noir"), and while I was there, she got the news that the French want it, too. Basically, Nina is a genius. I advise you to read this love letter to New York, let lines like "It was the high mercury end of July and no one was doing any dying" roll around on your tongue, and be funnier and smarter than you were before. Also, I recommend the experience of standing in line for the autograph of someone you know and love. I think maybe we should do that for each other more often. Blush a little, hold out your newly purchased copy: um, please make it out to your friend, your fan...