The huge storm that has pummeled western New York State largely spared Buffalo, N.Y., where Talking Leaves Books has two locations. According to Talking Leaves' Jon Welch, the storm was "modest" in Buffalo, leading to "some shoveling, reduced store traffic, but basically a pretty easy and normal winter storm, a little earlier than usual." However, a few miles east or south, there was up to six feet of snow, with another two to three feet expected today. "When we look south and east, we see a curtain of dark clouds, on our side the sun, even blue sky," he wrote. "We all know people who live there, so we're as worried and amazed as everyone else."
The snow has led to the cancellation of two important events for the store--the annual Jewish Book Fair and the appearance of David Henry Hwang yesterday as part of Just Buffalo Literary Center's Babel reading series.
Welch recommended anyone interested in what it's like to be in a big storm like the one that hit New York "should rush out to their local independent bookstore and pick up a copy of Bill Roorbach's The Remedy for Love (Algonquin), set during a brutal storm in Maine. Ironically, we had an event with him and fellow Algonquineer Brock Clarke the night before the storm began wreaking its havoc. I think they both got out before the burial began."
In Algonquin style, the press had some fun with Roorbach's book, coming up with variations on the title for New York as well as Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. As Craig Popelars wrote: "Lake effect snow? Cabin fever? Frostbite? No milk? No eggs? We get the drift, so stay inside and warm up with Bill Roorbach's The Remedy for Love."