Sept author events @ Booksmith
Booksmith
Author events are free and located at our San Francisco store (1644
Haight Street in San Francisco, between Clayton & Cole), unless
otherwise noted. For further information, call 415-863-8688 or visit
www.booksmith.com /// If you can't attend an event and would like
to purchase an autographed book, please telephone or email the
Booksmith.
Jim Steinmeyer
talk & book signing for "The Glorious Deception"
Tuesday, September 6th at 7:00 pm
--- He was one of history's greatest - and oddest - performers. He
mystified his contemporaries, including Houdini. He was never who he
appeared to be. "The Glorious Deception: The Double Life of William
Robinson, aka Chung Ling Soo, the 'Marvelous Chinese Conjurer'" unveils
the many secrets behind the enigmatic magician whose infamous death
stunned the world. Acclaimed magician and author Jim Steinmeyer will
speak about his enthralling new book. /// The New York Times has
called Jim Steinmeyer the "celebrated invisible man - inventor,
designer and creative brain behind many of the great stage magicians of
the last quarter-century." Steinmeyer has worked with everyone from
Orson Welles, Harry Blackstone, and Doug Henning to Ricky Jay,
Siegfried and Roy, and David Copperfield. More about the author may be
found at www.jimsteinmeyer.com
Kim Addonizio
reading & book signing for "Little Beauties"
Friday, September 9th at 7:00 pm
--- With a poet's ear for fresh, evocative language and a deft humor
that exposes her character's many foibles, Kim Addonizio captures the
messiness and unexpected beauty of life. In "Little Beauties," this
acclaimed poet and short story writer has authored a debut novel filled
with hope for finding meaning and love in the maddening muck of
everyday existence. /// Kim Addonizio is the author of four books
of poetry, including "Tell Me," which was a finalist for the 2000
National Book Award. She is also the author of a book of short stories,
"What Is This Thing Called Love." With Dorianne Laux, Addonizio
co-authored "The Poet's Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing
Poetry." Addonizio, who lives in the East Bay, co-edited "Dorothy
Parker's Elbow: Tattoos on Writers, Writers on Tattoos."
Charles R. Cross
reading & book signing for "Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi
Hendrix"
Tuesday, September 13th at 7:00 pm
--- Since his death in 1970, Jimi Hendrix - who is still revered by
many as the greatest electric guitar player of all time - has sold over
50 million records. Coinciding with the 35th anniversary of Hendrix's
death, Charles R. Cross' has authored "Room Full of Mirrors: A
Biography of Jimi Hendrix." Meticulously researched and based on more
than 300 interviews, this landmark book recounts the entire arc of
Hendrix's legendary life. /// Charles R. Cross is the author of the
New York Times bestseller "Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt
Cobain" and three previous books. Cross writes for numerous newspapers
and magazines, and was editor of The Rocket, the Northwest music and
entertainment magazine, from 1986 through 2000.
Annie Proulx and Julie Orringer ***
reading & book signing for "The Paris Review Book of People with
Problems"
Thursday, September 15th at 7:00 pm
--- The new, addictively clever Paris Review anthology is not a
self-help manual - rather, it is a wicked elaboration on the human
effort to overcome - and instigate - trouble. Who hasn't survived a tax
audit, a snowstorm, a break-up, or presided over a murder? Join
contributors Annie Proulx and Julie Orringer as we celebrate the
publication of "The Paris Review Book of People with Problems." ///
Annie Proulx is the author of numerous books, including "The Shipping
News" (1994), for which she won the National Book Award and the
Pulitzer Prize. Julie Orringer is the author of "How to Breathe
Underwater" (2003), which was a New York Times notable book and was
awarded the Northern California Book Award for Best Short Fiction.
*** This Booksmith sponsored event will take place at the All Saints
Church (1351 Waller) in San Francisco.
Martha Southgate
reading & book signing for "Third Girl on the Left"
Wednesday, September 21st at 7:00 pm
--- The New York Times hailed Martha Southgate's previous novel, "The
Fall of Rome," as "powerful," while Essence lauded it as "a bracingly
honest look at race, class, and self-acceptance." With "Third Girl from
the Left," Southgate brings her acute vision and emotional scope to a
even larger canvas - the story of African-American women struggling
against all odds to express what lies deepest in their hearts. ///
Martha Southgate has been an editor at Essence, a reporter for Premiere
and the New York Daily News, and a contributor to the New York Times.
"The Fall of Rome" won the American Library Association's Alex Award,
and "Another Way to Dance" won the Coretta Scott King Genesis Award for
Best First Novel for Young Adults.
Terry Pratchett ***
reading & book signing for "Thud!" and "Where's My Cow?"
Thursday, September 22nd at 7:00 pm
--- Koom Valley? That was where the trolls ambushed the dwarfs, or the
dwarfs ambushed the trolls. Anyways, it was long ago and far away. Sam
Vimes, however, is going to see the battle fought again if he doesn't
solve the murder of a dwarf. Unfortunately, Vimes must go home to read
"Where's My Cow?" to his little boy. There are some things you simply
have to do! One of them is experiencing Terry Pratchett read from
"Thud!," the 30th Discworld novel.
*** The Booksmith sponsored event will take place at the Park Branch
Library (1833 Page Street) in San Francisco.
Tom Robbins ***
reading & book signing for "Wild Ducks Flying Backward"
Saturday, September 24th at 7:00 pm
--- Unconventional, unclassifiable, and sometimes controversial, Tom
Robbins is a writer unlike any other. "Wild Ducks Flying Backward: The
Short Writings of Tom Robbins" collects various works (some never
before published) including essays, travel articles, short stories,
tributes to actors, musicians, sex kittens, and thinkers, song lyrics,
poems, and musings on subjects ranging from the joys of eating tomato
sandwiches to the merits of Picasso's Guernica. /// Known for his
offbeat plots and inventive style, Tom Robbins is the author of eight
novels, including such celebrated bestsellers as "Even Cowgirls Get the
Blues" and "Still Life with Woodpecker." Hailed as "a world-class
storyteller" by Thomas Pynchon and selected as "one of the best writers
of the 20th Century" by Writer's Digest, Tom Robbins has earned a
special place among America's literati.
*** This Booksmith sponsored event will take place at the All Saints
Church (1351 Waller) in San Francisco. This is a ticketed event.
Tickets are FREE with purchase of Tom Robbins' new book from The
Booksmith. Books may be purchased at our store starting August 30th, or
at All Saints Church on the day of the event. Doors open and books go
on sale starting at 5:30 pm on the day of the event.
Alan Lew
talk & book signing for "Be Still and Get Going"
Tuesday, September 27th at 7:00 pm
--- For the past ten years, Rabbi Alan Lew - cofounder of the country's
first meditation center connected to a synagogue - has been teaching
his congregation how two ancient traditions can shed light on each
other in electrifying ways. His work with these practices - classical
Jewish observance and Zen-style mindfulness meditation - is now
available in "Be Still and Get Going: A Jewish Meditation Practice for
Real Life." /// Rabbi Alan Lew has been the spiritual leader of
Congregation Beth Sholom in San Francisco since 1991. He is the author
of the San Francisco Chronicle bestseller "One God Clapping: The
Spiritual Path of a Zen Rabbi," which won the PEN Josephine Miles Award
for Literary Excellence, "This is Real and You Are Completely
Unprepared," and numerous works of poetry. " Rabbi Lew shows very
elegantly that the combination of inner stillness and dynamic activity
is a formidable formula for success in all areas of life." - Deepak
Chopra.
THE BOOKSMITH - an independent bookstore serving San Francisco since
1976 !
The Booksmith
1644 Haight Street
San Francisco, California 94117
415-863-8688 or 1-800-493-7323
www.booksmith.com