Archive
Friends,
below are some great events coming up at the Book Smith at 1644 Haight St. between Clayton & Cole (863-8688)
Wednesday, November 3
7:00 PM
QUIET LIGHTNING
For the first time, Booksmith hosts Evan Karp and Rajshree Chauhan’s Quiet Lightning.
Quiet Lightning is a monthly submission-based reading series that features an unpredictable mash-up of performance poetry, academic fiction, inspiring rant dreams, and original combinations thereof. It takes accepted submissions and put them in an order that weaves varying patterns of language into a compelling and oft-intoxicating double set of literary mixtape madness. And it prints it all in a monthly book called sPARKLE & bLINK (available at the show!)
There are no introductions. Authors can't even say their names.
Join the gang. It's cheap ($3 to the hosts) and you won't forget it. Promise!
Thursday, November 4
7:30 PM
ANNE GERMANACOS
In the Time of the Girls
"The beauty of this unconventional collection is in its details: each moment offers a glimpse at a larger story while giving the reader intimate, wry, and acute details about the narrator or her surrounding characters. This makes for a light and lively reading experience...." – Publishers Weekly
These stories navigate turbulent waters from American shores, Aegean islands, and both sides of the Bosporus. Each examines borders (religious, cultural, sexual, social, generational, psychological, and moral) while also crossing them. They're seductive and sly. Like poetry, the stories are highly concentrated and contain strong images. Like fiction, they narrate a movement through time. With nothing extraneous, they pack a hard punch.
There's a new version of the Adam and Eve story as well as a contemporary take on Ovid's songs; a woman with a birthmark in the shape of a map has a penchant for risky travel; lightning strikes, minds are lost to disease, new languages are invented; a contemporary Oedipus, living with his mother in a house full of cats, is cured of his blindness; Odysseus and Penelope contemplate the Trojan War of a long marriage from both sides of the Golden Horn; a herd of goats gnaw on notepads stolen from a NYC hotel; tourists stuff their bags with fiery food in an attempt to imbibe the land; lost empires are contemplated and mourned; a young woman starves herself while trying to follow her father toward sainthood; a girl named Hera buys junk food, another named Artemis drinks soy milk; both eat ice cream called "Nirvana."Born in San Francisco, as were three generations before her, Anne Germanacos has split her time between Greece and San Francisco for thirty years. Together with her husband, Nick Germanacos, she ran the Ithaka Cultural Studies Program on the islands of Kalymnos and Crete, and taught writing, literature, and Modern Greek. She holds an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars and has studied Greek, Turkish, Hebrew, Arabic, and Spanish. Her work has appeared in over sixty literary reviews and anthologies, including Dzanc's Best of the Web 2009.
Monday, November 8
7:30 PM
TOM HUDGENS
The Commonsense Kitchen
500 Recipes Plus Lessons for a Hand-Crafted Life
Equally at home on shelves urban and rural, The Commonsense Kitchenemphasizes sustainability, self-sufficiency, and American cuisine in a big way – literally. With 500 recipes that encompass the traditional dishes, regional specialties, and ethnic items that characterize America’s diversity, The Commonsense Kitchen also features lessons in life skills, from the proper way to wash dishes to how to make homemade soap.
The Commonsense Kitchen enjoys a fittingly unique heritage – originating in the mess hall of Deep Springs College, one of the toughest schools to get into in the United States (only 12 men are admitted each year). The curriculum includes supporting an organic farm and working cattle ranch in the high desert of California’s remote Sierra Nevada, where students participate in every aspect of maintenance.
The Commonsense Kitchen embodies the conscious approach to living espoused by Deep Springs, along with the fabulous food enjoyed there. From specialties such as Red Chile Enchiladas, Mama Nell’s Kentucky Bourbon Balls, Matzoh Ball Soup, My Mother’s Polish Sausage Stew, and Skillet Cornbread to basics likeBaked Salmon, four kinds of apple pie and some unbelievable pancakes, along with sophisticated indulgences including Black Truffle Risotto, The Commonsense Kitchen will quickly become your go-to source for smart, sensible and, most importantly, absolutely delicious dishes.
Tom Hudgens attended and cooked at Deep Springs Ranch, Chez Panisse, and Liberty Café in San Francisco. He teaches at College of Marin.
CROCHET FOOD DEMO, with cupcakes:
Tuesday, November 9
7:30 PM
TWINKIE CHAN
Twinkie Chan’s Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies
With Twinkie Chan's Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies, crochet aficionados can have their cupcakes and wear them, too. The founder of her own popular line of food-inspired fashions, Twinkie Chan has whipped up a feast of head-turning scarves, mittens, hats, and more so that her many fans can learn to make her culinary creations at home.
This evening, Twinkie shares some visual demonstrations and inspirations. In her book, you'll find recipes for food-themed scarves that feature sushi, salad, gingerbread men, buttered toast, eggs and bacon, ice-cream cones, popcorn boxes, and more. You'll also learn how to make a pair of strawberry fingerless mittens, a chocolate cupcake hat complete with a cherry on top, and even a coconut-lemon cake tissue box cozy.
In three sections -- Sweet Things, Fruits and Veggies, and Savory Stuff -- and complete with an illustrated how-to section, lists of "ingredients" for each project, easy-to-follow, step-by-step directions, full-color photos and illustrations. Twinkie’s book gives both beginning and experienced crafters impetus to make these quirky, colorful, wearable confections.
Since the age of 10, Twinkie Chan (aka Stephanie Lee) has been crocheting zany goodies such as tiger-head Kleenex cozies, frog hats with dangly legs, and BBQ pork bun plushies for her friends and family. Fans are snapping up her crocheted goodies online at www.twinkiechan.com.
We’ll be showing a sample of her newest creations from her San Francisco-based Yummy You! Company –with a raffle for three Twinkie-crafted scarves! (Raffle tickets will be given to all those buying a copy of this book.) Plus: cupcakes!
Thursday, November 11
7:30 PM
SYED AFZAL HAIDER
To Be With Her
Of love and love lost, belonging and alienation, unflinching in its vision of the exile's American utopia, Haider offers a wise, poignant, often funny meditation on coming of age in his debut novel To Be With Her - a gripping, well-told tale, notable for its brisk, poetic style, and uniquely literate perspective on those who shuttle between cultures in our porous but volatile global community. With intellect and comic instincts Haider has created a seeker, a romantic, ardent moviegoer, who breaks from traditional Pakistani ways to be with the woman of his choice.
Syed Afzal Haider was born in India, grew up in Pakistan, and was educated in America, studying electrical engineering, psychology, and social work. After twenty plus years he forsook them all and escaped to writing. His short stories and essays have appeared in a variety of literary magazine including Saint Ann's Review, AmerAsia, Rambunctious Review, The Journal of Pakistani Literature, and Indian Voices. His short stories have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes and have won best short fiction awards; Oxford University Press, Milkweed Editions, Penguin Books, and Pearson, Longman Literature have anthologized Haider. He has stories forth coming in Marco Polo and Trajectory. He lives in Evanston, IL, with his wife and is the father of two wonderful, grown up boys.
To Be With Her is the first publication from Weavers Press, a new small publisher – which we also celebrate this evening -- helmed by San Franciscan Moazzem-Ahmed Sheik, who is also the author of The Idol Lover and Other Stories of Pakistan.
LA INK Superstar KAT VON D: BOOKSIGNING ONLY
Saturday, November 13
6:30 – 8:30 PM
KAT VON D
The Tattoo Chronicles
People can’t get enough of Kat Von D, the charismatic star of TLC’s LA Ink and one of the world’s most sought-after tattoo artists. In 2009 she released her first bookHigh Voltage Tattoo, which became an immediate New York Times bestseller. In her gorgeous new book, THE TATTOO CHRONICLES, Kat offers an intimate look at a pivotal year in her personal and professional life through an illustrated diary that begins in spring 2008 and ends in summer 2009.When Kat does a tattoo, she writes about it and draws sketches in a journal, creating an entry for each piece. She has hundreds of ledgers of these entries in her own writing, which reflect upon not only upon the significance of the tattoo for the person who is receiving it, but also how the experience of creating this tattoo affects her personally. In these entries—some poignant, some hilarious, some confessional—she lays it on the line about how the experience of creating these tattoos affect her personally. Here are the highs and the lows, the good, the bad, and the ugly—including her feelings about her fame, her family, her then-boyfriend Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe, her friends, and fans.
Visually stunning and unique in its design from page to page, THE TATTOO CHRONICLES is jam-packed with tons of Kat’s images, from sketches of her tattoos to the finished works, and candid shots of friends, family, and her many unusual personal collections—all photographed by Kat herself.
Kat Von D is a tattooer and the star of LA Ink. In 2007, she set the Guinness World Record for doing the most tattoos in a 24-hour period. She is the creator of an exclusive makeup and fragrance line for Sephora. Her tattoo shop, High Voltage Tattoo, is in Hollywood, where she lives.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a book-signing only; Kat will not be speaking. You must purchase a book, in advance or at the event, from The Booksmith in order to join the signing line. Signing line space will be available on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 5:30 PM.
Copies of The Tattoo Chronicles, as well as copies of High Voltage Tattoo, will be available on or around November 1. You may purchase your copies early in the store, by phone, at Booksmith.com, or via email (orders@booksmith.com). Kat will not have time to sign any memorabilia; please do not bring any.