“Reading the paperback of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Forty Signs of Rain the week after Hurricane Katrina was eerie,” says former Amazon editor Ron Hogan. “I knew that the novel hinged upon the efforts of D.C. scientists and lobbyists to force the government’s hand on global warming issues, but I had no idea that its climax was going to be the arrival of a massive storm system which overflowed the Potomac and turned the streets of Washington into rivers. Some of Robinson’s descriptions of the storm’s impact seemed a little tame in light of what we’d just seen on TV, but other scenes—like the evacuation of the animals at the National Zoo—felt vividly authentic. I can’t wait to see how he plays out the aftermath in the upcoming sequel, Fifty Degrees Below.

“Science fiction has always had an apocalyptic streak running through it,” Hogan continues, “but there’s usually a sense that if we just listen to the scientists, everything will turn out OK. Robinson’s latest story seems to have that optimism, but there’s also a hint of fatalism, too—as if to say that things have just about hit the breaking point, and we’re going to have to start performing triage just to keep things going.”

Writers and book-lovers gathered in Bryant Park for the Great Read on Sunday. The goal was “A Celebration of Books,” but the theme should have been “Acting Classes For Authors.” I suggest shy or monotone authors hire appropriate people to impersonate them at readings: Chick lit writers can check Sarah Jessica Parker’s availability; sci-fi authors should use William Shatner.

A major highlight of the event was finding authors who made their work sound alive. Like Isabel Rose, who read dialogue from her novel, The J.A.P. Chronicles, in a thick New York accent. Wearing a tank top and jeans, the young author had the audience howling with her tale of a Jewish mother urging marriage and pregnancy. The protagonist protests that Madonna gave birth in her forties, until her mother tells her, “You’re not Madonna. And nice Jewish girls don’t get pregnant by their trainers!”

Rose receives the award for Funniest Excerpts, followed by L.A. Times reporter J.R. Moehringer. In a perfectly conversational tone of voice, the handsome Pulitzer Prize winner read about growing up fatherless in Manhasset. His memoir, The Tender Bar, told tales of a reclusive grandfather who suddenly “turned into Clark Gable.” Gigi Anders also poked fun at her family, with an air-piercing Cuban accent, entertaining the crowd as she read from Jubana!: The Awkwardly True and Dazzling Adventures of a Jewish Cubana Goddess. In her childhood, her mother took her to a mental hospital and told her to “play with the patients.” It was enough to make you want to cancel Mother’s Day.