Archive
Friends,
below are some great events coming up at the Book Smith at 1644 Haight St. between Clayton & Cole (863-8688)
Monday, July 12. 7:30 PM
HENRY LEE
Presumed Dead:
A True Life Murder MysteryComputer genius Hans Reiser married beautiful Russian pediatrician Nina Sharanova, moved with her to his native Oakland, and had two children. But bliss soon soured, and in the middle of a contentious divorce Nina simply vanished. One month later, Hans was charged with her murder. But that was just the beginning...
Henry Lee is a crime reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, and writes the “Crime Scene” blog at sfgate.com. Lee takes a thorough look at the entirety of the Hans Reiser case, from the exclusive vantage point of a long-time, on-the-ground field reporter.Wednesday, July 14, 7:30 PM
LARRY DOYLE
Go, Mutants!It came to earth . . . and now its’ kids go to high school.
The author of I Love You, Beth Cooper returns with another hilarious novel, this time with heroes and villains straight from classic sci-fi and teen movies of the ‘50s and ‘60s.
What if the movies that glowed from drive-in screens from the 50s and 60s weren’t fantasies but really happened? In Go, Mutants!, Larry Doyle has created a world populated with the monsters, aliens, and mutants of B-movie legend, with all the beach parties, dances, fist fights and hotrod races of classic teen dramas. An unforgettable era of pop culture is brought to life in an uproarious mash-up filled with Romance! Danger! Intergalactic Conspiracy! Molting!Earth has survived alien invasions, attacks by hordes of atomic mutants and the ravages of dinosaurs brought back to life. Now we’re in the blissful future. The grass is always green, freshly mowed by famous robots. Carhops in jetpacks deliver burgers and fries to your atomic coupe. And automatic sidewalks can take you anywhere: the Watch the Skies Drive-in, Crater Cove, and Manhattan High, where everybody roots for the Mutants.
J!m, the son of the alien who nearly destroyed the planet, is a brooding blue-skinned rebel with an enormous forehead and exceptionally oily skin. Along with Johnny, a leather-jacketed radioactive ape, and Jelly, a gelatinous mass passing as a fat kid, J!m navigates a scary adolescence in which he really is as alienated as he feels, the world might actually be out to get him, and true love is complicated by misunderstanding and incompatible parts. As harmless school antics escalate into explosive events with tragic consequences, J!m makes a discovery that will alter the course of civilization, though it may help his dating life.
Larry Doyle, a former writer for The Simpsons, works in showbiz and writes funny things for The New Yorker. He is the author of I Love You, Beth Cooper, which won the 2008 Thurber Prize for American Humor and was made into a major motion picture. He lives outside Baltimore with his wife, Becky, and their three children.Friday, July 16, 7:30 PM
SQUAW VALLEY COMMUNITY OF WRITERS BENEFIT POETRY READING
in honor of Lucille CliftonWith KAZIM ALI, author of The Far Mosque, The Fortieth Day, and Bright Felon;BRENDA HILLMAN, author of Pieces of Air in the Epic and Practical Water;FORREST GANDER, author of Eye Against Eye and A Faithful Existence; EVIE SHOCKLEY, author of A Half-Red Sea; and DEAN YOUNG, author of Primitive Mentor and Embryoyo. This annual gala reading benefits the Poetry Scholarship Fund.
First Unitarian Universalist, 1187 Franklin at Geary, San Francisco
Tickets $15-$30 at Brown Paper Tickets (or call 800-838-3006)
More information: squawpoet@ureach.com or 877-537-8073
The Booksmith is a supporter of this event, as are Hotel Rex, Rev. Audrey Gonzalez, and Deborah and Leo Ruth.Wednesday, July 21, 7:30 PM
KATE VEITCH
TrustWhat does it take to be a good woman – and what does it take from you?
Susanna Greenfield has given her all to being a good daughter, sister, wife and mother. Somehow, she’s maintained her profession as a college art teacher, as well as rearing two headstrong teenagers and nurturing a twenty-year marriage to Gerry, a confident, ambitious architect. She’s also the eternal peacemaker between her pretty younger sister, a single mother and former junkie turned born-again Christian, and their strong-willed mother. Just as Susanna is about to revive her long delayed creative artistic career, the unthinkable happens, ripping apart the fabric of her world, and revealing secrets which threaten to destroy both a marriage and a life.
Kate Veitch is a journalist and writer who grew up in Melbourne, Australia. She now divides her time between San Francisco (in our neighborhood!) and New South Wales, Australia. Her debut novel, Without a Backward Glance, received international praise, and was a bestseller in Australia and Germany.
“Similar to Anne Tyler in her wry affection for her characters and to Anita Shreve in her aptitude for creating compulsively readable plotlines…with its brisk pacing and compassionate take on human failing, this absorbing novel is sure to win many fans.” – Booklist
“Warm and always honest, Veitch manages to capture the ebb and flow of sibling dynamics and illuminate the mixed bag of emotions that comes with family life.” – Vogue (Australia)
Visit her at kateveitch.com.THE AUTHOR OF CLOUD ATLAS RETURNS TO THE BOOKSMITH:
Thursday, July 22, 7:30 PM
DAVID MITCHELL
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de ZoetA postmodern visionary, linguistic virtuoso, and sage of deep human feeling, David Mitchell has rightly earned international acclaim, a fireplace mantle of prizes, and a slavishly devoted readership. His fiction overflows with ecstatically rich language, dry humor, cliff hangers, plot twists, extraordinary characters, and imagination. All those pleasures and more await you in Mitchell’s long-awaited, hotly-anticipated new novel, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet.
Mitchell has spent the past four years in Japan and Holland researching and writing this novel, so it is no surprise that it is chockablock full of gorgeous historical detail intertwined with his boundless imagination. Set in the mysterious, atmospheric coastal Japan of 1799, this tale follows an earnest, nerdy Dutch accountant fresh off the boat as he loses himself in a swirling, silken world of Japanese intrigue and danger – dangers that only grow stronger and more ethereal as the novel unfolds.
With superstitions, samurai and swamp fever, kimonos, crocodiles and courtesans, the brutal but dazzling world of feudal Japan is brought to life, as are Dutch ships, the royal court, forests, temples, and shrines. As with all Mitchell novels, fates intertwine, human choices and mistakes shift the course of events in unexpected ways, and delicate questions of identity, foreignness, and interconnectedness are raised.
David Mitchell is a two-time Booker Prize finalist, a Time magazine 100 Most Influential People, and a Granta Best Young British Novelist. His first novel,Ghostwritten, was awarded the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for the best book by a writer under 36 and a Guardian First Book Award finalist. His second novel, Number9Dream, was a finalist for the Booker Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. His third novel Cloud Atlas was short-listed for the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was an international bestseller. His most recent novel, Black Swan Green, was long-listed for the Booker Prize and named a Times Best Book of the Year. He lives in Ireland with his wife and two children. It is our great pleasure to welcome David Mitchell back to The Booksmith.
Preferred seating vouchers available with the purchase of The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet at The Booksmith, beginning June 29. There are a limited number of seating vouchers; we suggest purchasing your copy early if you would like one.Tuesday, July 27, 7:00 PM
FOUND IN TRANSLATION Book Group
Eugénie Grandet by Honoré de BalzacIn July we're going classic with a novel by Honoré de Balzac, one of France's most important writers and a major influence on Proust, Dostoyevsky, Faulkner, and others. Eugénie Grandet's father is a rich miser, making life unbearably dull for the young lady. One day she discovers salvation in her dashing, orphaned cousin Charles, but there's one catch: Charles is penniless, and he needs a fortune to satisfy Eugénie's father. So off to the West Indies for Charles . . . We'll be discussing Romanticism, fraught love, the origins of the novel, and Balzac's epic, 100-book series Comédie humaine, an immense panorama of post-Napoleon France--of which Eugénie Grandet forms one of the most important, most acclaimed, parts.
Join us on the fourth Tuesday of every month for spirited conversation about some of the newest writing hitting the U.S. from all over the globe. No foreign language knowledge necessary and no continental savvy required (but will be appreciated!) -- just bring your desire to read some excellent new books, hand-selected for you byScott Esposito, of the Center for the Art of Translation and The Quarterly Conversation, who also fearlessly leads the discussion, brilliantly.. You'll also meet some great new people and chat with them about the best new fiction from around the world.Saturday, July 31, 7:30 PM
TONY O’NEILL
Sick City“Tony O’Neill is a man who has taken the term rock & roll poet to its furthest edges…” – The Guardian
The latest page-turning romp from Tony O’Neill, author of Down and Out on Murder Mile and Hero of the Underground, Sick City is an outrageous adventure of one legendary sex tape, two desperate dope fiends, and all the trouble in the world.
Jeffrey has nowhere to go when his sugar-daddy boyfriend, Bill, croaks. But before Jeffrey sets off into the glare of LA, he grabs a few parting mementos: two grand in cash; a handgun; Bill’s police badge; a wild assortment of drugs; and a film canister that contains a treasure greater than all the rest combined: a reel featuring Steve McQueen, Mama Cass, Yul Brynner, and Sharon Tate in a never-before-see, drug-fueled orgy.
Randal is the fallen scion of a great Hollywood family. His drug addiction and his rehab bills have been long overlooked by his indulgent father; however, with him no dead and gone, Randal’s left to the zealous sanctimony of his younger brother who has admitted him to Clean and Serene, a celebrity treatment center run by TV personality Dr. Mike, which is where Randal meets Jeffrey.
Together the new friends scramble to unload the sex tape before their pasts, and a killer, catch up with them. Sick City rollicks in the absurdities of celebrity culture, entertains from first to last, and reads as if Elmore Leonard co-opted the métier of Irvine Welsh.
Tony O’Neill’s books include Digging the Vein, Down and Out on Murder Mile, andHero of the Underground. He is also the co-author of Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway by Cherie Currie. O’Neill’s essays, poems, and short stories have appeared extensively online and in print. He is a survivor of heroin addition, crack abuse, rehab, fatherhood, and stints in the Brian Jonestown Massacre, Kenickie, and Marc Almond’s band. He lives in New York with his wife and daughter.
"Sick City is a disturbingly twisted ride through Hollywood's underbelly with a degenerate cast of colorfully interwoven characters. I loved the whole fucked up journey." -- Slash, rock'n'roll legend
"Sick City is fun, twisted and brutal. One of the best books written about LA in a long time. O'Neill could be our generation's Jim Thompson." -- James Frey, author of A Million Little Pieces, Bright Shiny Morning
"…this ensemble of grotesques stumbles through skid-row L.A. like a Robert Altman film scripted by Charles Bukowski and William S. Burroughs … the characters are unforgettable; they live and breathe, and you sure as hell wouldn't want them to breathe on you. Sick City is appealing in its unsentimentalism, disgusting in its details—and almost unbelievably funny." -- Booklist