Fair Faring in Moscow

I honestly could not count the number of book fairs I have been to in the last 15+ years of working in this business. Book fairs sound like wonderful and exotic adventures, traveling off to distant places and meeting with interesting thinkers and people from all over the world, which is partially true. However, the reality is that book fairs are marathons of work, cramming months of planning into scores of meetings that will exponentially multiply with the inevitable follow up and effort to bear fruit from the meetings that originate at these various fairs. That is the wonder of any book fair - the ability to efficiently meet with the key players from all over the planet in one place at one time.

Now that I have prattled on about the fantastic but grueling world of book fairs, I wanted to selfishly share the fun I had last night attending a reception hosted by the Mayor of Moscow at the Pushkin Museum. What a stunning venue! I was lucky enough to be included to attend an event hosted at by the Ambassador from Italy at the Italian Embassy in Moscow - reportedly one of the finest homes in Moscow. It was here where Trotsky assassinated the German Ambassador - the rug has been removed in case any one was curious.