Magic City Books’ Adult Book Fair
NEFF Brewing
Sept. 21, 2023
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I arrived at Magic City’s Adult Book Fair. Like many Americans who attained consciousness in the early ’90s, I have strong sense memories tied to the idea of the “book fair”: towering shelves, snap bracelets that could be “bought” with points I had earned for being a good little schoolchild, the drooling sensation of capitalism unbuckled from its usual necessity of cash. Sadly, we are adults now, and must do things in an adult way. (Usually that means: with money, but also: with beer!)
The event was, essentially, “Magic City Books if Magic City Books existed in a smaller form on a few tables in NEFF Brewing’s parking lot,” which, as it turns out, is not a bad way to sell a ton of books (and support MCB’s nonprofit mission, my thoughtful editor reminds me).
I caught up with Magic City’s co-founder Jeff Martin outside the event, and he confided that their first Adult Book Fair, in February of this year, was pure chaos: no timed entry, crowds lined up down the block, a bookish bloodbath for people who were likely described as “a joy to have in class.”
This year, all 1,400 of the RSVPs signed up for a time slot: 250 people per hour. Worked fine. I personally think it would have been fun to see a huge, overwhelming crowd clamoring at books, but I’m a little chaos goblin, so don’t pay any attention to me when it comes to event planning.
The book selection itself was noteworthy: the titles were mostly literary and new, a compliment to the intelligence of the average book fair attendee. I spied a copy of Liz Blood’s Creative Field Guide to Northeastern Oklahoma and snagged a copy. Nostalgia is a funny thing; people are, I’ve found, more likely to spend money if their childhood wonder is evoked. That’s a thing I just made up, but it feels true, doesn’t it?
I didn’t need to buy anything; I was there on assignment. But I felt the buzz of the event doing its work on me. Maybe it was the DJ playing Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me,” or maybe it was the “pointy S” that was drawn over everything. (I still wonder why MCB couldn’t have sprung for non-hand-drawn signs, but in an event like this, maybe the homespun element is the point.) Ultimately, I bought a book, five stickers and, oops, a few snap bracelets, because I’m only human.
So, yes, you could buy all these books at Magic City if you wanted to. But you wouldn’t have gone to the Book Fair. And sometimes, as an adult who hungers for a return to childhood’s intoxicating comfort, the important thing is that you go to the Book Fair.
Next for Z. B. Reeves: LIT: A Concert by Candlelight ft. Barron Ryan at Guthrie Green
Next at Magic City Books: Poetry Book Launch with Quinn Carver Johnson
