From book to film

Lots of literature on the silver screen this year—here are some of the latest book-to-film tidbits:

• Julia Child’s famous cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, has shot back to the bestseller list some 50 years after first being published. The film “Julie & Julia” reached #2 at the weekend box office.

• For all the romance lovers out there, “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” based on the bestselling novel by Audrey Niffenegger, hits box offices this weekend. (This means you male moviegoers who dragged your significant other to “G.I. Joe” last week have some payback coming. And his name is Eric Bana.)

• A new trailer has been released for director Spike Jonze’s interpretation of Where the Wild Things Are. Personally, can’t wait to see this one! Less CGI, more monster suits, I say.

• Have you seen the new trailer for the adaptation of The Lovely Bones? It’s directed by Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings notoriety, who introduces the trailer. If you ask me, any work of literature is safe in his hands.
  

• Speaking of Peter Jackson, he updated fans on the status of The Hobbit film at this year’s Comic Con. (It’s not quite green-lit, but the book will be translated into two films.)

• And the folks at GalleyCat report that Julia Roberts was seen at a Brooklyn bookstore yesterday filming scenes for the upcoming adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir, Eat, Pray, Love.

Sex in Another City

Like the lonely girl who didn’t get to go to the prom, I sat home this weekend watching a chick flick. No, I did not attend BEA. No, I did not see the bright lights and big city of Los Angeles. I shunned all books in protest, wiping my tears on a bone-and-ivory vintage Yves St. Lauren drape blouse. Didn’t sleep. Didn’t eat. (Unless you count reading this month’s Vogue, which fed me more than food itself).

Meanwhile, while I was wringing my hands – hands ensconced in Zac Posen distressed leather gloves - Samantha was relishing BEA's past. The place? BEA Manhattan. The crowd? Literati. My heart? Breaking. I mean, wasn't I the writer here? Why did she get to go mingle with all the hot literati? And, she went back in 2005! I never went! I was just about to go affix a nasty Post-It note to her high-rise loft door, when I remembered: I had a movie to see.

So that night, with the girls on-hand and Manolos on-foot, I was off. The theater was packed. Perhaps not quite the crowd at BEA, but then, this crowd was holding Cosmos, not galley books. (Take that, Samantha). True, there was nary a Y chromosome in sight - but then, who wants those eye-rolling, buzz-killing, one-thing-wanting men to ruin a perfectly good Ladies Night, anyway?

With the lights low and music cuing, I was happy as a Derek Lam. Here we were, out on the town! Four girls as fearless - and fierce! - as they come. And yet - as I looked around at the sea of pink, glitter, and Vera Wang clutches, a sea that was still just a drop in the bucket for BEA's crowds, I couldn't help but wonder: when it comes to sex, are books the new black?

Barbara Walters recently revealed her steamy affair with Senator Edward Brooke in her memoir Audition - not on TV. Prince just released 21 Nights - a book, not an album - and I don't think I have to tell you what he did on each of those nights. It seems that sex is between all the covers these days - and I don't mean just chick lit.

So during two of the biggest events of the year - BEA and Sex and the City film release, both held on a single, fateful weekend - it's clear that sex sells. But when the pink book is closed, the martini is put down, and this monologue finally comes to an end - the real question will be, "will sex continue to sell?"

Judging from the impressive Amazon rankings of this hardcover, movie tie-in book, it would appear so.