Mark Twain House Benefit A Success!

On September 23, an all-star group of authors gathered at the financially-troubled Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, CT, to read their favorite Twain selections in support of this American landmark.

Appearing, shown from left to right, were Arthur Phillips (Angelica), Philip Beard (Dear Zoe), Amy Mackinnon (Tethered), Jon Clinch (Finn), David Gates (Jernigan), Tasha Alexander (Elizabeth: The Golden Age), Robert Hicks (The Widow of the South), Tom Perrotta (The Abstinence Teacher), Phillip Lopate (Two Marriages), Kristy Kiernan (Matters of Faith), and Stewart O'Nan (Last Night at the Lobster).

The evening raised nationwide awareness for the house's financial woes, with articles in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere. The authors hope that broad distribution of our appeal for help—including coverage on an upcoming edition of CBS Sunday Morning, for which Erin Moriarty interviewed Tom and Robert and Stewart and me—will help keep financial support pouring in.

To do your bit, please visit the house online and click to make a donation.

More on Writers Read For Twain

The benefit is coming up soon—Tuesday, September 23.

Detailed coverage of the circumstances that led up to the house's plight has appeared in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

For information and tickets—or to make a donation—visit the Mark Twain House on the web.

Update: Notable Books Video, Twain Benefit

Wow. It's been forever since I last checked in here. To those of you who visit regularly, a thousand apologies.

The latest news is that a video of the American Library Association's Notable Books Breakfast is up at this address. Note that you can watch the whole thing online—including readings by Lisa Margonelli, Joyce Antler, Ron Carlson, Patrick Rothfuss, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and me—or download any segment in a format that'll play on your computer or iPod.

I've been busy with the September 23 benefit at the Mark Twain House and Museum, Writers Read for Twain. Basic details are here. Just so you know, here's the final line-up of writers—and the Twain selections they'll be reading.

Stewart O'Nan - from "The War Prayer," and a letter on Jane Austen
Philip Beard - from The Prince and the Pauper
David Gates - Love letters
Philip Lopate - from Life on the Mississippi
Andrew Carroll - Letter about daughter's death, letter to the gas company
Jon Clinch - from Huckleberry Finn, and "Concerning Tobacco"
Tasha Alexander - "Fenimore Cooper's Offenses"
Arthur Phillips - from A Connecticut Yankee
Amy MacKinnon - "Amended Obituaries"
Tom Perrotta - no selection yet
Kristy Kiernan - from "Eve's Diaries"
Robert Hicks - from "Adam's Diaries"

It's going to be a great evening. Hope you can make it.