Archive
Friends,
below are some great events coming up at the Book Smith at 1644 Haight St. between Clayton & Cole (863-8688)
Thursday, June 7
7:30 PM
DANIEL WILSON
AMPED
What is in Owen Gray’s head…and who is trying to kill him for it?
Technology makes them superhuman. But mere mortals want them kept in their place. The New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse creates a stunning, near-future world where technology and humanity clash in surprising ways.As he did in Robopocalypse, Daniel Wilson masterfully envisions a frightening near-future world. In AMPED, people are implanted with a device that makes them capable of superhuman feats. The powerful technology has profound consequences for society, and soon a set of laws is passed that restricts the abilities—and rights—of "amplified" humans. On the day that the Supreme Court rules favorably on the first of these laws, twenty-nine-year-old Owen Gray joins the ranks of a new persecuted underclass known as "amps." Owen is forced to go on the run, desperate to reach an outpost in Oklahoma where, it is rumored, a group of the most enhanced amps may be about to change the world -- or destroy it.
Once again, Daniel H. Wilson's background as a scientist serves him well in this technologically savvy thriller that delivers first-rate entertainment, as Wilson takes the "what if" question in entirely unexpected directions.
Daniel H. Wilson earned a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. He is the author of How to Survive a Robot Uprising,Where’s My Jetpack?, How to Build a Robot Army, The Mad Scientist Hall of Fame, Bro-Jitsu: The Martial Art of Sibling Smackdown,and A Boy and His Bot.
Monday, June 11
7:30 PM
DAN ARIELY
THE (HONEST) TRUTH ABOUT DISHONESTY: How We Lie to Everyone---Especially Ourselves
With his game-changing books Predictably Irrational and The Upside of Irrationality, behavioral economist Dan Ariely established himself as the go-to authority when it comes to understanding how irrational behavior shapes every part of our lives in surprisingly predictable ways.
Ariely has long been fascinated with dishonesty and cheating, and now he explores these timely topics in his latest book, THE (HONEST) TRUTH ABOUT DISHONESTY. With his unique blend of intellectual curiosity, groundbreaking research, and down-to-earth appeal, Ariely investigates why we cheat, what causes our dishonest behavior, and how we can curb and limit it.
As he points out, cheaters are everywhere and constantly in the headlines, whether it’s the politician embroiled in an extramarital affair, the superstar athlete testing positive for banned performance enhancers, or the Ponzi schemer busted for stealing billions. In fact, from rounding up billable hours, recommending unnecessary medical treatments, and charging hidden fees, to defaulting on mortgages, claiming higher losses on insurance, and fudging golf scores, many businesses and individuals will cheat when the opportunity arises.
“I was shocked at how prevalent mild cheating was and how much more harmful it can be, cumulatively, compared to outright fraud.
This is Dan Ariely’s most interesting and most useful book.”
-- Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan
According to Ariely, the rational forces that we think drive our dishonest behavior don’t, and the irrational forces that we think don’t drive our dishonest behavior often do. Drawing from a wide-ranging series of experiments and his own insightful observations, Ariely discovers that, despite popular belief, dishonesty is not often an outcome of a deliberate cost–benefit analysis. Instead, we are likely to be guided away from honesty by hidden influences such as conflicts of interest, depletion, creativity, witnessing the dishonest acts of others, caring about our colleagues, and revenge.
Essentially, dishonesty is a prototypical example of our irrational tendencies: on one hand, we want to view ourselves as honest people; on the other hand, we want to benefit from cheating. So as long as we cheat only a little bit, we can both benefit from our dishonest acts and still look at ourselves in the mirror.
New York Times bestselling author Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University, with appointments at the Fuqua School of Business, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, The Medical School, and the Department of Economics. Ariely’s work has been featured widely in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Boston Globe among others. He has also made numerous appearances on CNN, CBS, and NPR. He lives in Durham, North Carolina with his wife and two children. We’re delighted to welcome him back to The Booksmith!
Tuesday, June 12
7:30 PM
LINDSEY HILSUM
SANDSTORM: Libya in the Time of Revolution
The Arab Spring is one of the most fascinating episodes in recent history. It led to the unthinkable: the downfall of longstanding autocratic regimes in the region, including the end of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s rule in Libya. Lindsey Hilsum, who has reported extensively on crisis and conflict the world over, offers the first on-the-ground account of the revolt, its aftermath; and explores what’s to come in SANDSTORM: Libya in the Time of Revolution.
In February 2011, Hilsum was reporting from Libya within a week of the uprising and remained there to see the defeat of Colonel Gadaffi nine months later. She visited the frontline every day, getting shelled and mortared alongside the rebels. In Tripoli, she found herself pinned down under small arms fire as she tried to enter the city with the rebels. The day after Colonel Gadaffi was killed, Hilsum went to see the men who had captured him, and was able to hold the satellite phone on which the dictator made his last defiant broadcasts, the amulet he had with him for luck, and the engraved golden pistol he carried with him to the end.
But, as Hilsum explains, maybe the most remarkable experience was listening to what Libyans shared about their lives. They had been silent for forty-two years and now couldn’t stop talking, and Hilsum was amongst the first to hear their stories. SANDSTORM reveals the stories of Libyans returning home from the Unites States and Europe to risk everything by providing secret intelligence, or to commit daring acts of civil disobedience to help topple the regime, even knowing the punishment if caught would be torture and death. We see the dynamics of the insurrection both from inside the regime and through the astonishing stories of the men and women who found themselves starting a revolution. Woven into Hilsum’s account is a revelatory exposé on the dysfunctional Gaddafi family, the scale of whose excesses almost surpasses belief.
In a year replete with extraordinary changes, the fall of Gaddafi is among the most fascinating stories of them all. In Lindsey Hilsum, it has found its definitive chronicler.
Lindsey Hilsum is Channel 4 News (UK) International Editor. In addition to reporting from Libya, she also reported the "Arab Spring" from Egypt and Bahrain; from Belgrade in 1999 when NATO bombed Serbia, from Baghdad during the 2003 US invasion, and covered the Fallujah assault in November 2004. Her reports from Africa, the Middle East and Russia have earned her several awards. From 2006-8 she was the Channel 4 News China Correspondent, based in Beijing. In 1994, she was the only English-speaking journalist in Rwanda when the genocide started.
Wednesday, June 13
7:30 PM
STEPHANIE REENTS
THE KISSING LIST
Experience an inventive debut that recalls the imagination of Aimee Bender and the sardonic wit of Lorrie Moore.The interlocking stories in THE KISSING LIST feature an unforgettable group of young women – Sylvie, Anna, Frances, Maureen – as their lives connect, first during a year abroad at Oxford, then later as they move to New York on the cusp of adulthood. We follow each of them as they navigate the treachery of first dates, temp jobs and roommates, failed relationships and unexpected affairs – all the things that make their lives seem full of possibility, but also rife with potential disappointment.
Shot through with laugh-out-loud lines, yet still wrenchingly emotional and resonant, THE KISSING LIST is about women who bravely defy expectations and take outrageous chances in the face of a life that might turn out to be anything less than extraordinary.
“Nothing you’ve read before will prepare you for these sly, funny, beautifully off-kilter stories. In Reents’s hands, tragedy and comedy aren’t so much related as indistinguishable, and the only happy marriage is between romance and despair. I guarantee The Kissing List will occupy a place in your heart.” -- Eric Puchner, author of Model Home
Stephanie Reents's fiction has been included in the O. Henry Prize Stories,
noted in Best American Short Stories, and has appeared in numerous journals.
Stephanie has been a Bread Loaf Conference Scholar, a Stegner Fellow, and a
Rhodes Scholar. She is an assistant professor at the College of the Holy Cross in
Worcester, Massachusetts.
Friday, June 15
8:00 PM
LITERARY CLOWN FOOLERY: Theater Pub Edition
Books & Burlesque
Welcome to the lighter side of literature!
If you've not heard of Theater Pub, now's the time. Basically, they take over local bars on weeknights and re-imagine classics by performing them entirely within the bar space.
For June's LCF, our clown foolery players will team up with Stuart Bousel and Co. to create a theater takeover the likes of which The Booksmith has never seen. Performances by Bay Area cabaret players, lovely free drinks, humor that pushes the boundaries of good taste, and live music, all for $10 at our monthly 90-minute show!
Tickets $10, in the store or at Brown Paper Tickets
Monday, June 18
7:30 PM
AN EVENING ALL ABOUT OBSESSION WITH
SARAH TEREZ ROSENBLUM and ANNA PULLEY
Sarah Terez Rosenblum is a writer whose work has been featured in Pop Matters, The Chicago Sun Times and The Shepherd Express. When not writing, Sarah supports herself as a figure model, spinning instructor, and creative writing teacher at Chicago’s Story Studio. Rosenblum’s debut novel is HERSELF WHEN SHE’S MISSING.
Meet Andrea: tightly wound, hotter than she gives herself credit for, mid-20s, teacher. Meet Jordan: a liar who believes her own lies, LA skinny, ocean eyes, early-40s, perpetual undergraduate student. When the two meet outside a concert, their connection is instantaneous -- and Andrea can’t believe her luck. But some things are indeed too good to be true, and it’s not long until Jordan’s secrets (for starters: she’s married, she routinely steals money from her places of employment, she’s never told the story of her past the same way twice) begin to
undermine Andrea’s own identity.
Andrea is fully aware of the farce -- the beguiling, attractive, spellbinding farce -- that is Jordan, and goes so far as to dub her “the Criminal Mastermind.” And yet, in spite of everything, she can’t seem to let her go. The first time Jordan leaves her, Andrea’s so broken up she flees Los Angeles for Chicago, swearing she’ll never look back. But when Jordan makes her way to the Midwest, plopping herself at Andrea’s door and claiming she’s become selfless, they go to the movies.
Told in lists, 3x5 note cards, and even the occasional screenplay, HERSELF WHEN SHE’S MISSING is a quirky, utterly memorable tale of a girl desperate to be loved. By the time we realize Andrea’s version might be unreliable, we’re too caught up to care. Andrea is as endearing as she is unstable, as charming as she is obsessive, and we can’t wait for her next list.
Hailing from the rough-and-tumble deserts of southern Arizona, where one doesn’t have to bother with such trivialities as “coats” or “daylight savings time,” Anna Pulley is a freelance writer living in San Francisco. She tends to put quotes around things unnecessarily and spends altogether too much time justifying the artistic merit of limericks. She has written reviews of everything from bars torestaurants to films to theater to sex toys, in addition to writing several different sex and relationship columns for the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye, AfterEllen, Centerstage Chicago, and Chicago Now. She also writes a weekly social media etiquette column for SF Weekly,and her work has appeared in Mother Jones, The Bay Citizen, Salon, and The Rumpus. She was recently a guest on Dan Savage’s podcast, talking about why lesbians are so confusing. Plus, one time Amanda Palmer asked her out on Twitter, with Neil Gaiman’s blessing.