A crowd estimated at between 450 and 550 packed A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books in San Francisco on Friday night to raise funds to help pay the legal fees of Denver's Tattered Cover Book Store, which has challenged a court order requiring it to turn over information about a customer's book purchases. Bestselling authors Lemony Snicket, Michael Chabon, Dave Eggers, and Dorothy Allison were among more than a dozen writers and illustrators who were present to sell autographed books and to pose for pictures with their fans in return for contributions. Eggers even auctioned the shirt off his back. (It was one of two he had designed for the event.) Neal Sofman, the owner of A Clean Well-Lighted Place, reported that it was one of the biggest events ever held at the store.

In her remarks, Allison said that she believed that the Tattered Cover was fighting for an almost sacred principle. "This [bookstore] is our church ... where we are responsible to no one but our own consciences," she said.

The Tattered Cover fundraiser was organized by Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket), who proposed the idea to Wendy Sheanin, the events coordinator at A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books. When Sheanin and Sofman responded enthusiastically, Handler sent out an e-mail to a large group of Bay Area writers. The response was so strong that Handler had to turn down a number of authors because of space and time limitations. Soon publishers and other bookstores in the area were calling to volunteer help. Books were donated by Random House, HarperCollins, Ten Speed Press, VHPS, Little Brown, Chronicle Books, Penguin Putnam, University of Nevada Press, and McSweeney's. Green Apple Books provided some of the staff for the event.

From Denver, Tattered Cover owner Joyce Meskis expressed deep gratitude to everyone involved. Meskis said the fundraiser had accomplished something that was even more important than raising money by "demonstrating our solidarity in supporting the freedom to read." The other participating authors and illustrators were Susie Bright, Laura Frazier, Caroline Paul, Karl Soehnlein, Mollie Katzen, J. Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh, Ayelet Waldman, Louise Rafkin, Gail Tsukiyama, Sylvia Brownrigg, and Howard Junker.

A California school district has ordered a high school principal to return William Styron's novel "Sophie's Choice" to the shelves of the school library. La Mirada High School Principal Andrew Huynh had removed the acclaimed novel after a parent complained that the book contained sexual material that was inappropriate for minors. Students protested the banning and were soon joined by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and several national groups. On January 4, ABFFE, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Association of American Publishers and PEN American Center criticized the decision in a letter to the superintendent of the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District. The letter noted that the principal had violated the district's policy on selecting material for use in the schools. The American Library Association also participated in the protest.

Following last year's sold-out benefit starring Wynton Marsalis, the Book Industry Foundation will host the return of the book industry's favorite band, the Rock Bottom Remainders, whose stars include Mitch Albom, Dave Barry, Roy Blount Jr., Kathi Goldmark, Greg Iles, Barbara Kingsolver, James McBride, Ridley Pearson, Amy Tan and Scott Turow. Standing room only crowds danced to the music of the Remainders at the American Booksellers Conventions in Los Angeles, Miami, and Anaheim back in the 90's. This year, the Remainders will rock historic Webster Hall (125 East 11th Street) in Greenwich Village on Saturday, May 4, from 9 to 11 p.m. Built in 1886, Webster Hall was the scene of the famous costumed balls that raised money for progressive causes advocated by Emma Goldman, Marcel DuChamp and Margaret Sanger. Eugene O'Neil described it as "the jewel of the village." All proceeds will benefit ABFFE and the Association of American Publishers' Get Caught Reading literacy campaign. Tickets: $25 per person; $45 for two; $100 for five. For further information, contact Tim Eubanks, tim@abffe.com, (212) 587-4025.