Thankyouthankyouthankyou (the Quill Awards)

In recent weeks, we asked you to consider voting for Freakonomics as Best Business Book in the inaugural Quill Awards. (We know, we know: it’s not a business book, but it apparently didn’t fit any other category.) Well, the event was held a couple of nights ago and … we won. So to all of you who voted, or who tried but were stymied by the gnarly Quill website, or who were required to enter a Zip code but, living as you do in Australia or India or the U.K. didn’t possess one: THANKS. The award ceremony was a black-tie thing in New York and I got to say hello to Jon Stewart again (he is funnier than the next ten funny people combined) as well as Maria Bartiromo (who presented our award) and a variety of other news, TV, and book people.

I sat at the HarperCollins table, right in front of the stage. The worst thing about this seating assignment was that one of the wandering TV-camera operators kept training her camera on me, hoping for goofy or scandalous B-roll, I imagine, or inappropriate laughter. The best thing was that Michael Morrison (Harper’s publisher) and I had a really good view of the TelePrompTer, which meant that we could figure out who was going to win an award a second or two before the presenter announced it. I have to say, when I saw the word “Freakonomics” scroll up there before Bartiromo announced it, I think I yelped a bit. Then I kissed my wife, jumped on the stage, shook Bartimoro’s hand (I don’t think I kissed her also, though I’ll have to watch the tape to be sure), gave an acceptance speech (I have no idea now what I actually said), and was then ushered, Oscars-like, down a long hallway to the winners’ pen, where Al Roker stuck a very long microphone in my face (Roker owns a company that produced the awards for TV) and asked me a variety of questions; again, I have no idea now what I actually said to him.

Here is a list of all the Quills winners. The event will be broadcast on some but not all NBC stations on Sat., Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. As they say, check your local listings. Most of all, THANKS FOR THE VOTES.