Authors that rock!

What kind of rock band gets up before noon? For that matter, what kind of band reads and writes? The Rock Bottom Remainders do both, and have also been known, while on tour, to tune in to “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer.” At a little after 6 on Thursday morning they turned up at the studio of “Good Morning America” to do a promotional spot for a Friday-night benefit coinciding with BookExpo America, the big publishing fair that took place in New York over the weekend. The green-room spread included, instead of greenies and quarts of Jack, platters of fresh fruit and, at the request of Roy Blount Jr., one of the band’s founding members, a big pan of grits.

Remainders is a booksellers’ term, used for books that languish on the shelves so long they have to be dumped at a discount. Most of the members of the band inhabit a different part of the literary universe, the loftier reaches of the best-seller list. Besides Mr. Blount, members include Amy Tan, Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Stephen King, Scott Turow and Mitch Albom. At least notionally Maya Angelou is also a member, but she has yet to show up for a gig — a word that members of the Rock Bottom Remainders delight in using whenever possible.