Doing lines is a way of life; film festivals, the corner store, movie theaters, restaurants, bathrooms, and readings (?).

Tonight Cooper Union sponsored an event at their Great Hall, which seats 900, and is located on 7th St & Third Avenue. I have to admit they had one of the most outstanding lines I've ever seen.

Between the two major party conventions, PEN American Center presented STATE OF EMERGENCY: Unconventional Readings in support of free expression and America's core freedoms.

A distinguished lineup of writers - including Laurie Anderson, Paul Auster, Russell Banks, Michael Cunningham, Don DeLillo, Kurt Vonnegut, Salman Rushdie, Ariel Dorfman, Eve Ensler, Jonathan Safran Foer, Barbara Goldsmith, A. M. Homes, A. E. Hotchner, Margo Jefferson, Edward P. Jones, Walter Dean Myers, Francine Prose, Monique Truong and others came together to read and raise awareness about grave threats to essential freedoms in the United States.

The free event was open to the public and was on a first-come, first-served basis.

I read they opened the doors at 6:30pm, but when I passed by at 7pm, the line must have been at least 8-10 blocks long.

This has always been a common problem with The Reel Roundtable's readings, once the word gets out it's always difficult to keep the lines under ten blocks. Especially because we simply do not like to turn people away.