Archive
Friends,
below are some great events coming up at the Book Smith at 1644 Haight St. between Clayton & Cole (863-8688)
Tuesday, March 11
7:30 PM
SHAHAN MUFTI
THE FAITHFUL SCRIBE: A Story of Islam, Pakistan, Family, and WarShahan Mufti’s family history, which he can trace back fourteen hundred years to the inner circle of the prophet Muhammad, offers an enlightened perspective on the mystifying history of Pakistan. Mufti uses the stories of his ancestors, many of whom served as judges and jurists in Muslim sharia courts of South Asia for many centuries, to reveal the deepest roots -- real and imagined -- of Islamic civilization in Pakistan.
More than a personal history, THE FAITHFUL SCRIBE captures the larger story of the world’s first Islamic democracy, and explains how the state that once promised to bridge Islam and the West is now threatening to crumble under historical and political pressure, and why Pakistan’s destiny matters to us all.
“If you want to understand Pakistan and the Pakistani-American relationship, read this book. Mufti combines the personal, familial, national and international, narratives in a uniquely revealing manner. He is Pakistani and an American. And he brings that special blend to a brilliant work.” —Ryan Crocker, American Ambassador to Pakistan, 2004-2007
Shahan Mufti is a journalist who has contributed pieces on Pakistan and the political evolution of Islam to Harper’s, Atlantic Monthly, New York Times Magazine, Boston Sunday Globe, The Nation, Bloomberg Businessweek, Columbia Journalism Review, and many others. Between 2007 and 2009, Shahan reported from Pakistan as a correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor. He later joined the team of journalists that launched GlobalPost, an online portal for international news, for which he reported from South Asia and the United States. He teaches journalism at the University of Richmond and splits his time between the United States and Pakistan.
Wednesday, March 12
7:30 PM
RABIH ALAMEDDINE
AN UNNECESSARY WOMANRabih Alameddine’s internationally bestselling novel The Hakawati established him as one of the Middle East’s most celebrated voices, hailed as “absolutely original” (The Washington Post) and a “wonder of a book” (The New York Times Book Review). His latest novel, AN UNNECESSARY WOMAN, is a love letter to literature and its power to define who we are.
The prodigiously gifted Alameddine has delivered a nuanced rendering of one woman’s life in the Middle East. Aaliya Sohbi lives alone in her Beirut apartment, surrounded by stockpiles of books. Godless, fatherless, childless, and divorced, Aaliya is her family’s “unnecessary appendage.” Every year, she translates a new favorite book into Arabic, then stows it away. The thirty-seven books that Aaliya has translated over her lifetime have never been read -- by anyone. After overhearing her neighbors, “the three witches,” discussing her too-white hair, Aaliya accidentally dyes her hair too blue.
In this breathtaking portrait of a reclusive woman’s late-life crisis, we follow Aaliya’s digressive mind as it ricochets across visions of past and present Beirut. Colorful musings on literature, philosophy, and art are invaded by memories of the Lebanese Civil War and Aaliya’s own volatile past. As she tries to overcome her aging body and spontaneous emotional upwellings, Aaliya is faced with an unthinkable disaster that threatens to shatter the little life she has left.
"An Unnecessary Woman dramatizes a wonderful mind at play. The mind belongs to the protagonist, and it is filled with intelligence, sharpness and strange memories and regrets. But, as in the work of Calvino and Borges, the mind is also that of the writer, the arch-creator. His tone is ironic and knowing; he is fascinated by the relationship between life and books. He is a great phrase-maker and a brilliant writer of sentences. And over all this fiercely original act of creation is the sky of Beirut throwing down a light which is both comic and tragic, alert to its own history and to its mythology, guarding over human frailty and the idea of the written word with love and wit and understanding and a rare sort of wisdom." -- Colm Tóibín
"With An Unnecessary Woman, Rabih Alameddine has accomplished something astonishing: a novel that is at once expansive and intimate, quiet and full of feeling. Aaliya is one of the more memorable characters in contemporary fiction, and every page of this extraordinary novel demands to be savored and re-read." -- -Daniel Alarcón
Rabih Alameddine is the author of the novels The Hakawati, I, The Divine, Koolaids, and the short story collection, The Perv. He divides his time between Beirut and San Francisco and was a 2002 Guggenheim Fellow.
Thursday, March 13
7:30 PM
MASHA GESSEN
WORDS WILL BREAK CEMENT: The Passion of Pussy RiotOn February 21, 2012, five young women entered the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. In neon-colored dresses, tights, and balaclavas, they performed a “punk prayer” beseeching the “Mother of God” to “get rid of Putin.” They were quickly shut down by security, and in the weeks and months that followed, three of the women were arrested and tried, and two were sentenced to a remote prison colony. But the incident captured international headlines, and footage of it went viral. People across the globe recognized not only a fierce act of political confrontation but also an inspired work of art that, in a time and place saturated with lies, found a new way to speak the truth.
Masha Gessen’s riveting account tells how such a phenomenon came about. Drawing on her exclusive, extensive access to the members of Pussy Riot and their families and associates, she reconstructs the fascinating personal journeys that transformed a group of young women into artists with a shared vision, gave them the courage and imagination to express it unforgettably, and endowed them with the strength to endure the devastating loneliness and isolation that have been the price of their triumph.
“Urgent … damning … Much here will be new to the American reader. All of it is infuriating.” -- Alexander Nazaryan, The New York Times
“The fullest account so far of the Pussy Riot story… A moving object lesson in the power of art — perhaps especially messy and exuberant art — to rise above repression and have the last, cement-breaking word.” -- Sara Marcus, Los Angeles Times
"Valuable for its insights into the modern cultural history of Russia, with all its idealistic muddles, dead-ends and false starts … ideal for those curious about the country behind the Games.” -- The Economist
Masha Gessen is a journalist and the author of several previous books, most recently Perfect Rigor and Blood Matters, as well as The Man without a Face: The Rise and Rule of Vladimir Putin. Deputy editor of the Russian-language Snob magazine, she has contributed to Vanity Fair, The New Republic, Granta, and Slate, among other publications.
Friday, March 14
7:30 PM
HELEN OYEYEMI
BOY, SNOW, BIRD
“Helen Oyeyemi is a freaking genius. Her books are so bizarre and brilliant…Write this one down somewhere you’ll remember – like your forehead –because you don’t want to miss it.” -- Bookriot
In 1953, young, blonde, and beautiful Boy Novak arrives in the small New England town of Flax Hill by chance. Not long after arriving she meets and marries Arturo Whitman, a local widower, and becomes stepmother to his exquisitely charming and pretty daughter, Snow, much loved by all who behold her. The two are content to play family until Boy gives birth to her own daughter, Bird, whose dark skin reveals the Whitman family secret: they are light-skinned African Americans who have been passing for white. Boy loves Bird deeply, but her arrival serves to destabilize the fragile bond between mother and step-daughter.Becoming a wicked stepmother is not a straightforward process for Boy; it’s painful, it divides her from herself, and she wants to find her way back to a time when her reflection was someone she relied upon rather than someone whose gaze she avoids. Her instincts lead her to wonder about Snow; is there something dangerous, a by-product of the special way that people have treated her all her life, lurking just beneath the surface of the perfect girl?
With breathtaking feats of imagination, Helen Oyeyemi masterfully recreates an electric and turbulent time in American history and offers a penetrating look at the shamefulness of classifying people by their appearance. Dazzlingly imaginative and powerfully moving, BOY, SNOW, BIRD is an astonishingly accomplished novel, the Snow White fairy tale brilliantly recast as a story of family secrets, race, beauty, and vanity.
Helen Oyeyemi is the author of five novels, most recently White is for Witching, which won a 2010 Somerset Maugham Award, and Mr. Fox, which won a 2012 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. In 2013, she was named one of Granta's Best Young British Novelists.
Monday, March 17
7:30 PM
ROBIN ELLIS
HEALTHY EATING FOR LIFEPoldark returns! When British actor Robin Ellis' excellent first cookbook, for diabetics, first came out, we had a marvelous evening with the man who is perhaps best known for playing Ross Poldark in the classic BBC series. Robin is not only returning to San Francisco to celebrate his new cookbook...but it looks like he'll be involved with the scheduled BBC's remake of Poldark (Downtown Abbey, watch out!) -- even though he's said "I spend all my time writing, cooking, and eating in a healthy Mediterranean way; it's one of the great joys of life."
HEALTHY EATING FOR LIFE is a collection of simple and tasty recipes including Chilled Curried Apple Soup; Sweet Potato, Fennel and Smoky Bacon au Gratin; Cauliflower Roasted with Garlic and Coriander Seeds; Turkish Spinach with Rice; Smoky Spanish Fish Stew; Chicken and Leeks with Lemon; Pork Chops Braised with Rosemary, Garlic and Thyme; Hazelnut Pasta; Chickpea, Leek and Fennel Curry; Peaches in Honey and Lime; and much more.
Now living in southwestern France, Robin Ellis runs occasional cooking workshops, and writes a wonderful blog, jammed with recipes (and photos) that inspire a quick trip to the market and thus into the kitchen, In addition to the successful Poldark series, he appeared in many other classic TV series and had a long career in British theatre, including a stint with the Royal Shakespeare Company. His most recent role was in the original Swedish version of the detective series, Wallander. He also starred in the Merchant Ivory film The Europeans and can been seen in Fawlty Towers, The Good Soldier (based on the Ford Madox Ford novel) and Elizabeth R.
Join us to celebrate both cook and actor this evening with a small taste from the book and a glass of something lovely!
Tuesday, March 18
7:30 PM
GALADRIELLE ALLMAN
PLEASE BE WITH ME: A Song for My Father, Duane AllmanA revelatory meditation on the impact of her father, the legendary guitarist Duane Allman, PLEASE BE WITH ME is both the definitive biography, with never-before-seen stories, photos, and primary source interviews, and a touching and beautifully written story of a daughter searching for her father in the memory of others.
Galadrielle Allman went to her first concert as an infant in diapers, held in her teenaged mother's arms. Her father was playing -- -Duane Allman, founder of the legendary Allman Brothers Band, who would become known as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. Just a few short years into his remarkable career, he was killed in a motorcycle accident at the age of 24. Galadrielle was two years old. She was raised in the shadow of his loss and his fame. Her mother sought solace in a bohemian life, and friends and family found it too painful to talk about Duane. Galadrielle listened intently to his music, read articles about him, and yet the spotlight rendered him too simple and too perfect to know. She felt strangely akin to the fans who longed for him, but she needed to know more. It took her many years to accept that his story and his legacy is hers, so she began to ask for stories -- -from family, bandmates, friends -- -and they began to flow. The result, as her uncle Gregg Allman says, is a “deep and insightful book;” one that, “came as a revelation to me, as it will to everyone who reads it.”
This year marks the 45th anniversary of the band's founding, and with the recent news that two members, Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes, will depart the band at the end of the year, Allman’s book presents a moment to appreciate once again their remarkable contribution to American music.