“Lincoln in the Bardo” has just made a great leap, off the pages of George Saunders’ Booker Prize-winning 2017 novel onto the stage of the New York Metropolitan Opera, where the bold adaptation by composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek made its debut on Oct. 19. The New York Times gave it a rave review, calling it “as funny, strange and big-hearted as the novel, with a lavishly inspired production by Lileana Blain-Cruz to match.” A proud Saunders, who was in the audience with his family at the premiere, called it “truly an experience of a lifetime” and shared this reaction on “The Story Club with George Saunders,” a substack he maintains to communicate with fans: “It’s strange to have lived so deeply in that book for four years, and then moved on, and then be thrust back into it —like having a dream of a dream. Or a dream of a dream of a dream? All enabled by the collective genius of this wild group of artists at the Met.” Readers will recall that the story revolves around the mournful nights Abraham Lincoln spent at the tomb of his young son Willie in a cemetery populated by a wild host of disembodied spirits, some quite cantankerous, unknowingly caught between death and the afterlife. And while Lincoln in the novel was given no speaking parts, the opera has cast powerful baritone Peter Mattei in the role, with the Times calling his performance “a high point of the night.” Find a video excerpt here.
From page to screen: While we’re on the subject of novel adaptations, it’s appropriate to note that the Nobel Prize-winning Japanese author Kazuo Ishiguro’s “Klara and the Sun,” a dystopian sci-fi story from 2021, is now in theaters as a film from New Zealand director Taika Waititi, who won the best adapted screenplay Oscar for 2019’s “Jojo Rabbit.” The title character, the narrator, is not a human girl but a strangely appealing, sun-powered android, who, as the novel opens, is in a store awaiting to be purchased to serve as an “AF,” an artificial friend to a privileged human companion. The book explores themes of loneliness, empathy and the human tendency to junk technology that is no longer deemed useful. Though the novel received multiple prize nominations and was widely praised by critics who considered it a poignant work of literary art, the reception for the adaptation so far has been all over the map. Starring Jenna Ortega as Klara and featuring Amy Adams, Steve Buscemi and Natasha Lyonne, the film has been hailed as a “dazzling, heart-expanding, tear-inducing, solar-powered triumph of cinematic excellence” by one critic who rated it a 10 and a “snooze fest” by another bored observer. It’s probably safe to say the pace might be a bit, uh, contemplative. The trailer is here to help you decide.
Pinot noir and poetry: Care for a little verse with your Gewurtz? Solano Cellars of Berkeley is bringing back the Flight of Poets, an event that once was in the Litquake festival and is returning after a hiatus as an evening-long pairing of wine and poetry curated by poet Tess Taylor, one of its founders, and fellow East Bay poet Laura Vitcova, with sommelier MaryKate Spawn choosing wines complementary to works being presented. The next session takes place at the wine shop and bar at 1580 Solano Ave. at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 19, with Dorianne Laux, Joseph Millar and Chris Martin reading from their works. The cost will be $25 at the door, but $20 advance tickets are available online at www.vintageberkeley.com.
Award winners: Those who enjoyed the seven-episode adaptation of John Steinbeck’s 1952 novel “East of Eden” that dropped on Netflix in early October, as I have, will be pleased to note that star Florence Pugh and writer-executive producer Zoe Kazan are this year’s recipients of the John Steinbeck Award, being presented at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12 in the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco where the two will be in conversation about the show, co-sponsored by City Arts and Lectures and SFFilm. Find $68 tickets at cityarts.net. The event is a benefit for the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University. Rumor has it that Pugh, who plays complicated arch villainess Cathy Ames/Trask (later Kate Albey), is a strong candidate for a best actress Emmy.
And another award winner: I’m going to file this one under the dubious achievements category, but best-selling “The Fault in Our Stars” novelist John Green has just been recognized as the new Guinness World Records title holder for the most “tip-in” sheets signed by an author. His numbers are indeed impressive: 875,557 such sheets signed so far, as he has been passionate about delivering signed copies of his works into readers’ hands. A full 100,000 have been provided for the first edition of his newest novel, “Hollywood, Ending,” his first written for the adult market. Previously, he has put his signature on “Everything Is Tuberculosis,” “The Anthropocene Reviewed,” “Turtles All the Way Down” and, of course, “Fault,” which put him on the map back in 2012. Now you may well ask, as did I, what the heck is a “tip-in” sheet? It’s the industry term for the single, separate sheets publishers send to authors before their books are to be bound for sale. The author signs them at his or her own leisurely pace and sends them back, and they are thereupon glued into finished copies by bookbinders. It’s acceptable and above board, with the resultant signatures bearing the full stamp of authenticity. If you want to know if your signed copy is a tip-in, a couple of tells are: the signed page may be of slightly stiffer stock than the rest of the pages, and if you peel it back, you may see a thin line of transparent or amber adhesive attaching it to the page behind. I ran to examine my copy of Saunders’ latest novel “Vigil,” purchased from Dog-Eared Books in San Francisco’s Mission District a couple of months ago. Yup, it’s a tip-in!
Hooked on Books is a monthly column by Sue Gilmore on literary buzz and upcoming book events. Look for it on the last Thursday of the month.