A Night With Harry Carry & Garp

So here's the scoop. First, no we didn't buy the tix that came with autographed copies of the books. No way Jose, those suckers were expensive. We got great seats however. First row, first mezzanine so we saw everything. Plus, they had four humongous screens above the stage so all seats were great.

Whoopie Goldberg came out to introduce the evening. I kind of groaned inside when she strode to the podium because that lady would go to the opening of an envelope. But she did a great job, although reading from notes, she did some improv and was a great segue to the next guest, Kathy Bates.

Ms. Bates was absolutely charming, told some funny anecdotes of Stephen King, talked about the King movies she starred in. All around, she made the perfect intro to the man himself, who was initially presented in a video montage with movie clips and first person interviews while driving through his hometown.

After the video, Stephen King strode out and stood in his designated section of the stage, which was decorated as a farm house living room. The man was absolutely hilarious and really seemed natural when he spoke to the audience. He read aloud a great short story from Different Seasons called The Revenge of Lard *** Hogan, a hysterical story of small town retribution during the annual blueberry pie eating contest. It was as funny as I remembered, and more disgusting than I recalled.

Next up, Andre Braugher came onstage and gave one of the most painfully boring introductions I had ever had the misfortune of hearing and seeing. He zipped through his notes, never looked up at the audience, mubbled a few times, uttered some blather about reading and uttered John Irving's name. The he pointed up at the screens and hussled offstage. He was an insult to the evening if you ask me. He's on my list.

In any case, the video clips were pretty fascinating, illustrating the progression of John Irving from a wrestling coach to international best selling author. When he strode out, we expected this towering beast of a man. Have you seen his picture? Thick hair, chiseled jaw, intense eyes. Hottie McHotterson. What strode out was thick silver hair, chiseled jaw, intense eyes, in a two foot tall man. He is short short short. But still a serious Hot Guy. He walked over to his own set which was decorated with a fireplace, a true man's man's living room straight out of New Hampshire.

He seemed to be slightly stiff and I understood that he really didn't like to do public appearances too often because he was a bit shy. It came across initially but Mr. Irving definitely shines when he talks about his books! He quickly evolved into an animated presenter and had a great sense of humor. I was thrilled when he announced he has chosen to read aloud a chapter from A Prayer For Owen Meany, Joe's single favorite book of all time and one that's in my top 10 as well.

I had completely forgotten how funny the book actually was and soon remembered that little Owen Meany is truly one of the single greatest literary characters in recent times. Mr. Irving was brilliant in his reading, acting out the characters' parts with intensity, yet with tongue firmly planted in cheek. His "Meany" voice was amazing. How a man with such a deep gravelly voice can change the pitch into the high end of tomorrow, I'll never know.

Next up, John Stewart strolled onstage to much applause, which came as no surprise. He was absolutely great in his intro to the next author, JK Rowling. It was very clear he was a huge fan of her work, and really knew what he was talking about in terms of her characters and plot. He threw in his signature dry humor and was truly the funniest presenter of the evening. When he gestured to the video screens and introduced Ms. Rowling, the audience went absolutely insane. The only time I'd ever seen such a huge reaction was at rock concerts. Who knew that a WRITER could be such a huge star in her own right? Pretty amazing if you ask me.

When JK Rowling walked out onstage, the audience worship tripled. Very awesome! She walked over to the middle portion of the stage which was set up as a mini Hogwarts with a sorceror's throne, medieval touches all around. It took a few minutes for everyone to calm down, yet she sat smiling, if not beaming. I was astounded at the number of children who were in the audience. I hadn't realized how many because they were all so incredibly quiet for the entire evening. But not when Ms. Rowling came out, no sirree. One little boy that sat right by us was on his feet, hooting, stomping his feet, in absolute adoration of who was clearly his idol. His enthusiasm was one of hundreds, if not thousands.

Ms. Rowling was absolutely charming and had the entire audience enraptured. She spoke of the trials and tribulations in telling Harry's tale, about the difficulties involved in getting her books picked up. All while throwing in a very dry British wit. She was great! When she announced she was going to read a chapter from her latest book, the audience was completely in her thrall. Her use of voices and hand gestures, her facial expressions, I swear if she weren't an author, she should be an actor.

When she finished reading, she invited a few kids up to ask any questions and of course, they were all asking about Harry, Hermione and Ron's future relationships, who was going to die, what was the fate of Voldemort. It was so neat to see so many kids on the edge of their seats, all because of some dusty books.

Afterwards, Soledad O'Brien came onstage as moderator, with King and Irving in tow. The q&a continued, with selected audience members asking some pretty great questions. It was an inspiring, humorous, extremely rewarding night. Joe said afterwards that he was once again enthused to pick up the young adult novel he had started last year. And, due to the reaction of so many kids and teens in the audience, he was truly happy with his recent career switch to teach English.

Stephen King put it so well at the end of the evening. Last night, Radio City Music Hall wasn't packed to the rafters with concert goers or fans of show stopping musical extravaganzas. Radio City was filled with 6,000 readers. It was amazing.