In addition to the standard venues for literary readings—bookstores, bars, libraries, and coffee shops—casinos are becoming attractive locations for authors who want to take a gamble on scheduling nontraditional appearances while on book tours.
This summer, the Foxwoods casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, which has been lining up a schedule of author appearances since last fall, will present a booksigning by Augusten Burroughs, author of the memoirs Possible Side Effects (St. Martin’s Press, 2006) and Running with Scissors (St. Martin’s Press, 2002). Another Connecticut casino, the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, will feature an appearance by Erica Jong, author of the novel Fear of Flying (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973) and, most recently, the essay collection Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life (Tarcher, 2006).
The scheduled appearances are part of an effort by the casinos to add restaurants, retails stores, and other forms of entertainment to traditional gaming activities.
