Here’s a roundup of excerpts from bloggers about recent events at the 92nd Street Y.

A Blog of One’s Own on Ian McEwan:

It didn’t surprise me that I enjoyed the reading, but what I didn’t anticipate was how funny McEwan would be during the Q&A. His sense of humor is a bit dry, soft pedaled, and thoroughly enjoyable. A few of McEwan’s thoughts…
On independent bookstores: “Intense outposts of civilization.”
On reading groups: “The lifeblood of literary fiction.”
On how much of his work is autobiographical (paraphrased): It wouldn’t be possible for a Martian to write about sex on earth without having experienced sex with an earthling. I freely admit to having had sex with earthlings.

Yet when the slight, somewhat soft-spoken Brit approached the podium and began to read from his just-published novel, On Chesil Beach, the audience – myself included – was immediately enraptured. The lilt of McEwan’s accent perfectly complemented the lyrical tone of his work, and hearing the author personally deliver scenes from his latest tome bestowed a sense of intimacy and privilege upon each member of the audience.

Sharing the gem that “there are idiots out there who think fatty pastrami is not good,” Schwartz kicked off a conversation about peoples expectations are out of whack with the oddly sounding in his accent “they want sex not food” on the plate. Mike Colameco continued similarly with the observation people “are looking for their palates to be wowed” and a fading appreciation of subtle flavors is being spurred by the amped up cuisines that followed after the initial French conquering of US cuisine. Gael calls it “sad that chefs want to pursue dishes that have never been made before,” continues by declaring that “Ferran’s food is not to be eaten more than once,” and ends with “people go to WD-50 to see the cutting edge, not to eat.”

After the event, we had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Rickles, the recent upload of outtakes from the Rickles/Richard Lewis sitcom Daddy Dearest was brought up. After asking if he’d ever be interested in doing a sitcom again, he said, “Absolutely.” To anyone out there with network power, MAKE THIS HAPPEN!

Tonight, catch comedy insiders David Steinberg and Susie Essman chat about their experiences in the business. See what else is coming up here.