Archive
Friends,
below are some great events coming up at the Book Smith at 1644 Haight St. between Clayton & Cole (863-8688)
Wednesday, November 11
Progress Now's MICHAEL HUTTNER
50 WAYS YOU CAN HELP OBAMA CHANGE AMERICA - 7:30 PMThe 2008 presidential election was historic in that it reflected Americans' overwhelming call for change in the United States. Now, the millions of people who worked hard to elect Barack Obama are asking themselves, “What's next? How do we keep the momentum going?” 50 Ways You Can Help Obama Change America by Michael Huttner and Jason Salzman answers those questions.
In his inauguration speech, President Obama said, “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.” Americans who want to do what it takes see a progressive agenda succeed will find an invaluable resource guide in 50 Ways You Can Help Obama Change America.
“This up-to-date guide for the hands-on activist is a must-have blueprint for every supporter who answered Barack Obama's phrase, `Fired up,' with `Ready to go!” -- Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, Founder, Daily Kos
“The last election was merely a first step. We must now bring that same enthusiasm and determination to bear in order to get our country back on the right track. This book is a road map for anyone looking to make a difference.” -- Senator Russ Feingold
“Electing Barack Obama to the presidency is the beginning of the journey, not the end. The real agenda is not to have a Democrat in the White House but to give ordinary Americans some say again. Huttner and Salzman show how we can do that.” -- Governor Howard Dean
“Barack Obama made public service `cool.' 50 Ways will help make it effective. Whatever your personal call to service, 50 Ways has the resources you need to make a difference.” -- Christine Pelosi, Campaign Boot Camp: Basic Training for Future Leaders
Michael Huttner is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ProgressNow, a network of state-based online organizations. In 2003, Huttner started ProgressNow in the back of his Denver law firm with his list of 600 e-mail addresses. The 12 ProgressNow partner states' combined membership now exceeds 2 million individuals.
Thursday, November 12
A Very Special Event for Kids (and Their Adults)!
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS with a mini-concert and signing the new KIDS GO! - Please note early time: 4:00 PMThe Grammy award-winning alternative rock band They Might Be Giants (John Flansburgh and John Linnell) present a new sing-along book and DVD for children of all ages!
They Might Be Giants is one of the most beloved underground bands in popular music, cited as the inspiration for many popular “alternative” groups such as The Barenaked Ladies, Weezer and Harvey Danger. Together for over 25 years, childhood friends Flansburgh and Linnell continue to create.
In KIDS GO!, their new sing-along story book (which follows the success of their first kids' book, Bed, Bed, Bed, TMBG's spirit of fun and adventure invites both parents and kids to share in the pleasure of the story of two kids who learn how to move like a monkey, shake like a jumping bean, throw their hands in the air, and go, go, go.
Throughout their 25+ year career, the band has racked up several charting albums and singles, as well as two Grammy awards -- one in 2002 for their song “Boss of Me,” (the theme song for Malcolm in the Middle) and the other in 2009 for their children's album Here Come the 123s. They also wrote the theme song to “Austin Powers,” and have appeared on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “Late Night with Conan O'Brien,” NPR's “This American Life,” “Nightline,” and countless radio, print and web interviews. They continue to record albums while branching out into the realm of children's music, and have sold over 4 million records in total.
Don't miss this late afternoon super treat -- grab the kids, the neighbors, and come have a whole lot of fun with us!
Thursday, November 12
WOODY TASCH
Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money (investing as if food, farms, and fertility mattered) - 7:30 PMInquiries into the Nature of Slow Money presents the path for bringing money back down to earth -- philosophically, strategically and pragmatically, and with an entrepreneurial spirit that is informed by the work of thousands of CEOs, investors, grant-makers, food producers and consumers who are seeding the restorative economy.
The months and years ahead will surely see a flood of books proposing micro- and macro-economic fixes to the financial crises of the day. Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money brings a different vision -- a meta-economic vision, looking above the top line and below the bottom line, a new way of seeing what is going on in the soil of the economy. This is the path towards a financial system that serves people and place as much at it serves industry sectors and markets.
JOHN BLOOM, director of Organizational Culture at RSF Social Finance, and the author of the new book The Genius of Money: Essays and Interviews Reimagining the Financial World, joins Woody Tasch in discussion this evening.
Friday, November 13
Co-sponsored by Environmentalists Against War
MARK DANNER
Stripping Bare the Body: Politics, Violence, War - 7:30 PMStripping Bare the Body is the much-anticipated new work from award-winning journalist Mark Danner, informed by his reporting from some of the world's most troubled regions -- Haiti after the fall of the Duvalier; the Balkans during the bloody dissolution of Yugoslavia; and from Iraq and the US during the war on terror. The book presents a moral history of American power during the last quarter century, told in powerful narratives of politics and violence and war. Stripping Bare the Body is a chronicle of what Danner calls a “grim age, still infused with the remnant perfume of imperial dreams,” and tells the tale, from bloody ground to air-conditioned office, of the final years of the American Century.
Mark Danner has written about foreign affairs and American politics for more than two decades, covering Latin America, Haiti, the Balkans and the Middle East among other stories. He was for many years a staff writer atThe New Yorker and contributes frequently to The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine and other publications. He teaches at the University of California and at Bard College and speaksand debates widely about America's role in the world.
Later this month, we'll be presenting ROMESH RATNESAR, AMY BACH, NANI STEELE, and our final BOOKSMITH BOOKSWAPfor this year. We'll be at the JCC of San Francisco for AMOS OZ's talk, and our affiliate Berkeley Arts & Letters will be presentingORHAN PAMUK and MARY KARR in Berkeley. Stay well and keep reading!
DAVID THOMSON
THE MOMENT OF PSYCHO
Thursday, December 3 - 7:30 PMIt was made like a television movie, and completed in less than three months. It killed off its star in forty minutes. There was no happy ending. And it offered the most violent scene to date in American film, punctuated by shrieking strings that seared the national consciousness. Nothing like Psycho had existed before; the movie industry—even America itself—would never be the same. In The Moment of Psycho, film critic David Thomson situates Psycho in Alfred Hitchcock’s career, recreating the mood and time when the seminal film erupted onto film screens worldwide. Thomson shows that Psycho was not just a sensation in film: it altered the very nature of our desires. Sex, violence, and horror took on new life. Psycho, all of a sudden, represented all America wanted from a film—and, as Thomson brilliantly demonstrates, still does.
English-American writer David Thomson is the author of many books on film, including “Have You Seen...?” A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films, which the New York Times called, “passionate, illuminating, rich, and eccentric”; and the massively influential Biographical Dictionary of Film called “the best book on the movies ever written in English” (The New Republic). He lives in San Francisco with his family.
FIRST FRIDAY on HAIGHT STREET
Friday, December 4 - Stop by for some hot cider and holiday cookies this evening, from 5:30 to 8.It is quite possible you’ll encounter some zombie caroling, too.
SCHOOL BENEFIT DAY on HAIGHT STREET
Sunday, December 6The Booksmith will donate 20% of your designated purchases today to Grattan and New Traditions elementary schools. If you haven’t received a voucher from your local schools to bring in for this benefit, just ask one of our booksellers for one!
We’re delighted that our neighbor merchants are joining this much-needed benefit this year; each is offering our neighborhood public schools a donation, so in addition to visiting The Booksmith, you may also want to check out FTC/SFO; Offbeat on Haight; Soul Patch Tattoo; Ben & Jerry’s; Ambiance; Mendel’s; Kids Only; Coco-Luxe; Amoeba Music; Haight Street Market.
JOANNA MACY and ANITA BARROWS
A YEAR WITH RILKE:
Daily Readings from the Best of Rainer Maria Rilke
Tuesday, December 8 - 7:30 PMOne of the most widely read modern poets, Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926) has influenced generations of writers and served as a trusted guide for countless others on the importance of looking within to find peace in a hectic world. From The Book of Hours to hisclassic Letters to a Young Poet, his writings have only gained more relevance with time, and his observations are amazingly prescient.
Now, for the first time, A Year with Rilke provides a reading from Rilke for every day of the year. From his luminous poetry, to his piercing prose, and even his intimate letters and journals, editors Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows provide new translations in a collection that reveals the depth and breadth of Rilke’s acclaimed work.
Including the last lines found in Rilke’s journal before he died as well as the epitaph he requested be carved on his gravestone, A Year with Rilke is an intimate window on the work on an unparalleled writer, providing daily meditations on themes such as impermanence, the beauty of creation, the voice of God, and the importance of solitude.
This evening is an opportunity to hear a selection of these daily readings, and to celebrate a lovely book that will make a wonderful gift this holiday season.