October Author Events at The Booksmith
TheBoo...@gmail.com
booksignings are a great opportunity to meet an author, hear them read
from their work, or purchase an autographed copy of their latest book.
As always, our events are free and open to the public. The Booksmith
is located at 1644 Haight Street (between Clayton & Cole) in San
Francisco's historic Haight Ashbury neighborhood. Check our
information page for directions and a map to the store. If you are
unable to attend an event and are interested in purchasing a signed
book (available at no extra charge), please please give us a call at
415-863-8688 or contact us via email at re...@booksmith.com. We're
happy to hold a book or ship it to you.
RUDOLPH DELSON
reading & booksigning for Maynard and Jennica
Tuesday, October 2 at 7 pm
Maynard is a defeated musician, and a reformed misanthrope. One
day, in the New York City subway, he meets Jennica, a nostalgic
Californian who calculates she has been lonesome 68.53 % of her adult
life. Rudolph Delson's debut novel, Maynard and Jennica (hardback,
$24.00), is the portrait (told in the voice of 35 narrators!) of a
pair of lovers who are both flawed and complex and at once eccentric
and deeply familiar.
Rudy Delson, a "recovering lawyer," quit his job on the eve of his
30th birthday to write Maynard and Jennica, his first novel. Delson
was raised in San Jose, graduated from Stanford, and currently lives
in Brooklyn.
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LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI
booksigning for Poetry as Insurgent Art
Tuesday, October 9 at 7 pm
>From the groundbreaking A Coney Island of the Mind to the
"personal epic" of Americus, Book I, Lawrence Ferlinghetti has, in
more than 30 books over 50 years, been the poetic conscience of
America. Now in the just released Poetry As Insurgent Art (hardback,
$12.95), he offers in prose his primer of what poetry is, could be,
and should be. The result is by turns tender and furious, personal and
political. If you are a reader of poetry, find out what is missing
from the usual fare; if you are a poet, read at your own risk.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti is not only a major American poet - he is an
international icon. In 1998 he was named Poet Laureate of San
Francisco. In 2005, he received the National Book Award's first
Literarian Award (recognizing an individual whose life's work has
enhanced the literary world as a whole). In 2006, he was named a
Commander in the French Order of Arts and Letters. Ferlinghetti has
read his poetry and shown his art around the world.
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ROBERT ALTMAN
talk, slideshow & booksigning for The Sixties
Wednesday, October 10 at 7 pm
Timothy Leary. Allen Ginsberg. Jim Morrison. Neil Young. Abbie
Hoffman. Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead. Janis Joplin. Ram Dass.
Dennis Hopper. Jane Fonda. Ken Kesey. Hippies on Mt. Tam. The March on
Washington. Anti-war demonstrations. People's Park. Berkeley. Haight
Ashbury. Robert Altman's just published book, The Sixties (hardback,
$39.95), brings together photographs of the people, events, culture,
rock stars, writers, and political figures who made the sixties the
most influential decade of the century.
Robert Altman is an internationally acclaimed photographer who studied
with Ansel Adams. He is best known today as a photojournalist for
Rolling Stone magazine - Cameron Crowe used many of his images in the
film Almost Famous. A leader in embracing digital photography,
Altman's recent work appeared in numerous publications including
Entertainment Weekly, Mojo, New York Times, People, and the San
Francisco Chronicle.
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WESLEY STACE
reading, a bit of ventriloquism, & booksigning for By George
Thursday, October 11 at 7 pm
By George (hardback, $24.99) is the new novel from Wesley Stace
(aka the singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding), which tells the story
of two boys named George Fisher, one flesh, one wood. Weaving the
boy's tale and the "memoirs" of a ventriloquist's dummy, Staces'
second novel unveils the secrets of four generations of entertainers.
Exquisitely tender, By George also tells the story of two boys
separated by years but driven by the same desires: to find a voice,
and to be loved.
Educated at Cambridge, Wesley Stace (also known as John Wesley
Harding) cut short his Ph.D. studies to pursue a music career. He has
released 8 solo albums and toured as the opening act for Michelle
Shocked, The Mighty Lemon Drops, and Bruce Springsteen. His
bestselling novel, Misfortune, was published to great acclaim in 2004.
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KEN FOSTER
talk & booksigning for Dogs I Have Met
Friday, October 12 at 7 pm
Ken Foster writes about the human/canine bond with wisdom, insight,
and a great heart. Now, this Booksmith favorite returns to our store
to speak about his new book, Dogs I Have Met (softcover, $14.95), the
follow up to the author's bestselling memoir, The Dogs Who Found Me:
What I've Learned from Pets Who Were Left Behind. If you love dogs, if
you love good writing, if you loved Marley and Me, don't miss this
very special event.
Ken Foster is the author of The Kind I'm Likely to Get, a New York
Times Notable Book, and the editor of two anthologies, including Dog
Culture. His writing has appeared in the New York Times Book Review,
The Village Voice, McSweeney's and The Believer. He lives in New
Orleans, where he and his dogs survived Hurricane Katrina.
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DON LATTIN
talk & booksigning for Jesus Freaks
Tuesday, October 16 at 7 pm
After twenty-five years of reporting on religion in America,
journalist Don Lattin thought he'd seen it all. Yet, the San Francisco
Chronicle reporter was stunned by what he found inside one of the most
controversial sects he has encountered: the Children of God, aka
Family International. In the tradition of Under the Banner of Heaven,
Lattin's just released Jesus Freaks: The True Story of Murder and
Madness on the Evangelical Edge (hardback, $24.95) is a story of
revenge that left two people dead and shocked a nation.
Don Lattin is one of the nation's leading journalists covering
religion in America. His award-winning work has appeared in dozens of
magazines and newspapers, including the San Francisco Chronicle, where
he covered the religion beat for nearly two decades. Lattin authored
two earlier books, was a three-time nominee for the Pulitzer Prize,
and has broken several national stories including the Jim Jones/
Peoples Temple tragedy.
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FRANK WARREN ***
talk & booksigning for A Lifetime of Secrets: A PostSecret Book
Wednesday, October 17 at 6 pm
For the past three years Frank Warren has invited people of all
backgrounds to send creatively decorated postcards bearing secrets
they have never before revealed. Warren has shared these secrets on
his award-winning blog - www.PostSecret.com, in an internationally
traveling art exhibit, and in three bestselling books. Now, in A
Lifetime of Secrets (hardback, $27.95), "America's most trusted
stranger" again delves into our collective confessions, presenting a
never-before-seen selection of provocative post secrets.
Frank Warren is a small business owner who started postsecret.com as a
community art project. Since October 2004, he has received thousands
of anonymous postcards that have been featured in galleries, music
videos, and, most recently, in the bestselling book PostSecret. Ranked
by New York magazine as the third most popular blog on the Internet,
Warren's website has earned several awards and continues to attract
over 3 million visitors a month.
*** Please note special start time.
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HARRY SHEARER ***
reading & booksigning for Not Enough Indians
Wednesday, October 17 at 8 pm
Harry Shearer - the voice of the Simpson's - is an actor as well as
a satirist, musician, radio host, playwright, and now author. His
first novel, Not Enough Indians (softcover, $12.95), is a bitingly
funny satire about a down and out town that tempts fate by having
themselves declared a sovereign Indian nation - and opening a casino.
Funny, smart, antic and scathing, Not Enough Indians is also a
hilarious send-up of the American dream. Don't miss this special
event.
Harry Shearer is first and foremost an actor - as well as an author,
director, satirist, musician, radio host, playwright, and multi-media
artist. For nineteen years, he has enjoyed enormous success with his
voice work on The Simpsons, where he plays a stable of characters
including Mr. Burns, Smithers, Ned Flanders, and Rev. Lovejoy. He is
the host of the nationally syndicated NPR program, Le Show, and helped
create and also appeared in such films as This Is Spinal Tap and A
Mighty Wind.
*** Please note special start time.
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ALAN CHEUSE
reading & booksigning for The Fires
Thursday, October 18 at 7 pm
In the two novellas which make up The Fires (softcover, $10.00),
NPR book critic Alan Cheuse dissects the aftermath of two very
different deaths: one, of an American businessman traveling in Russia;
the other, a mother, jazz pianist and drug addict. The two novellas -
one of sorrow and one of radiance - are filled with characters trying
to maneuver the space between creation and destruction. Read them, and
weep.
Alan Cheuse is a longtime commentator on National Public Radio's "All
Things Considered" and the author of The Light Possessed and The
Grandmothers' Club. A teacher in the writing programs at George Mason
University and the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, Cheuse's short
fiction has appeared in The Antioch Review, The New Yorker, and
Ploughshares.
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ANN PACKER ***
reading & booksigning for Songs Without Words
Tuesday, October 23 at 7:30 pm
Ann Packer's debut novel, The Dive from Clausen's Pier, was a Bay
Area and nationwide best seller that established her as one of our
most gifted chroniclers of the interior lives of women. Now, in her
long-awaited second novel, Songs Without Words (hardback, $24.95),
Packer takes us on a journey into a lifelong friendship pushed to the
breaking point. Don't miss this special event.
Ann Packer received a Great Lakes Book Award and the Kate Chopin
Literary Award for The Dive from Clausen's Pier, a national best
seller that has been translated into ten languages. Also the author of
Mendocino and Other Stories, she lives in northern California.
*** Please note special start time.
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JEANINE BASINGER
talk & booksigning for The Star Machine
Friday, October 26 at 7 pm
From one of our leading film authorities comes The Star Machine
(hardback, $35.00), a penetrating look at the golden age of film. In
this new book, Jeanine Basinger offers us an immensely entertaining
look into the "star machine," examining how, at the height of the
studio system, the studios worked to manufacture star actors and
actresses. With revelatory insights and delightful asides, she shows
us how the machine worked when it worked, how it failed when it
didn't, and how irrelevant it could sometimes be.
Jeanine Basinger is the chair of film studies at Wesleyan University
and the founder and curator of its cinema archives. She has written
nine other books on film, including A Woman's View: How Hollywood
Spoke to Women 1930-1960; Silent Stars, winner of the William K.
Everson Award for Film History; and American Cinema: 100 Years of
Filmmaking, the companion book for a ten-part PBS series.
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DIANA NYAD & BONNIE STOLL ***
talk & signing for BravaBody
Sunday, October 28 at 6 pm
With their just released DVD, BravaBody (dvd, $19.99/$39.99), two
world-class athletes become your personal fitness coaches. Join us as
world champion swimmer Diana Nyad pairs with professional racquetball
player Bonnie Stoll to discuss fitness for women over 40. Their new
program - inspiring women to embrace fitness as the foundation of well-
being - allows you work out in any small space with no equipment and
no gym membership.
A world champion swimmer of the '70's, Diana Nyad is still the world
record holder for the longest swim in history - 102.5 miles from the
Bahamas to Florida. Today, she can be heard on National Public Radio
and seen doing commentary on CBS Sunday Morning. A former #3 in the
world in professional racquetball, Bonnie Stoll has carved out a niche
as one of the most successful personal fitness coaches in Los Angeles.
*** Please note special start time.
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REBECCA CURTIS
reading & booksigning for Twenty Grand
JONATHAN SELWOOD
reading & booksigning for The Pinball Theory of Apocalypse
Monday, October 29 at 7 pm
The Booksmith is pleased to partner with Harper Perennial for "Take
a Stranger Home with You," a new program that celebrates debut authors
and invites readers to take a chance on an unknown writer! Join us as
Rebecca Curtis, author of the delightful and disturbing short story
collection Twenty Grand (softcover, $13.95) - and Jonathan Selwood,
author of the post earthquake, pre-apocalypse novel The Pinball Theory
of the Universe (softcover, $13.95) read from their new books. You
heard it here first!
Rebecca Curtis's writing has appeared in The New Yorker, including its
debut fiction issue, as well as in Harper's, McSweeney's, and n+1. She
is a recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award, and her work
has been selected for The O. Henry Prize Stories. She teaches in the
graduate writing program at Columbia University. Jonathan Selwood grew
up in Hollywood. He received an MFA from Columbia University and is
married and lives in Portland, Oregon
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JOSHUA HENKIN
reading & booksigning for Matrimony
Tuesday, October 30 at 7 pm
We began the month with a love story, and we end the month with a
love story, Joshua Henkin's second novel, Matrimony (hardback,
$24.95). It's 1987, and Julian Wainwright, aspiring writer and Waspy
son of old money, meets beautiful Jewish Mia Mendelsohn in the laundry
room at college. So begins a love affair that - spurred on by family
tragedy - takes the young lovers . . . . What happens to a marriage
confronted by betrayal and mortality? Will love survive the passing of
time?
Joshua Henkin is the author of the acclaimed novel Swimming Across the
Hudson. His short stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in many
journals and newspapers.
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PAUL DRUMMOND
reading & booksigning for Eye Mind
Wednesday, October 31 at 7 pm
The 13th Floor Elevators (who for a time resided in San Francisco)
released the first "psychedelic" rock album in America - and helped
transform pop culture in the 1960s and beyond. Eye Mind: The Saga of
Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators, The Pioneers of
Psychedelic Sound (softcover, $22.95) tells the remarkable and at
times tragic story of this trailblazing band. Join us for a special
Halloween event with author Paul Drummond and secret special guests.
The 13th Floor Elevators - incidentally, one of Thomas Pynchon's
favorite bands - are revered as a formative influence on Janis Joplin,
Led Zeppelin, Patti Smith, Primal Scream, R.E.M, and Z.Z. Top, among
others. Musician Julian Cope called Eye Mind "One of the most
exhilarating and important rock 'n' roll stories ever told." Paul
Drummond is a British journalist, set designer and art director. He
can be seen in the documentary, You're Gonna Miss Me: A Film About
Roky Erickson.
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Please join us for one or more of these upcoming events. Booksmith
author events are free and located at our San Francisco store (1644
Haight Street in San Francisco, between Clayton & Cole), unless
otherwise noted. Seating is offered on a first-come, first-served
basis, approximately 45 minutes in advance. For further information,
call 415-863-8688 or visit www.booksmith.com
We have a great line-up of author events scheduled for the next few
months. Coming to the Booksmith are music photographer MICK ROCK
(November 1), acclaimed author STEVE ERICKSON (November 7), legendary
NYC disc jockey COUSIN BRUCIE (November 12), graphic novelist ADRIAN
TOMINE (November 14), popular Salon columnist CARY TENNIS (November
15), Sesame Street's ROSCOE ORMAN (November 17), Joan Blondell
biographer MATTHEW KENNEDY (November 20), Dinotopia author JIM GURNEY
(December 4), local artist DANIEL MERRIMAN (December 6), novelist and
screenwriter JERRY STAHL (December 7), and many others.