Quotes About Life from a Little Man Wearing a Bow Tie

I was in the parking lot at Book Passage in Corte Madera early Wednesday morning. I dropped my son off at school and was sitting in my car waiting to go into a yoga class.  As I ate my son’s toast crust, I could see Mt. Tam in my rear view mirror, tall and beautiful.

Twelve hours earlier I had been in the same parking lot trying to find a parking space.  Every space was taken and there was a long line for the complimentary valet.   The lot at the DMV was full next door.  I could see people pouring in from neighboring streets.  Eventually, with the help of an older man directing me, I parked parallel beside a dumpster.

People were flooding in­­– like sticks bouncing along a gentle stream.  They were already smiling and David Sedaris hadn’t even begun to speak.

David Sedaris was going to read from his new book Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls at Book Passage at 7 PM.  We parted seas and came, hundreds of us, from school, from work, from home. 

I’d heard David Sedaris read his work once before at Berkeley Rep. I was in the front row and was surprised at what a small man he was – his insights and humor were so big.

I decided that he was the kid who figured out how to spray paint the walls with, “I WAS HERE!”  But instead, he added, “I was here and this is what I saw…. This is what I noticed….”  And because he was quirky and bright and honest and very, very funny, we stopped and noticed too– absurdities, contradictions and moments of humanness.

Inside the store, we made conversation with each other while we waited for the reading to begin.  When you’re body to body with strangers it seems polite to introduce yourself.  Where are you from?  What book of his is your favorite? What do you think is a good book to read?

Every seat was taken.  A few children sat on parent’s laps. I was in the standing room only section that spilled into every aisle and poured out through the main door. We buzzed, the room buzzed, the store staff buzzed.

Hundreds of people hugged their new book anticipating his stories, eager to get his signature.  There were over 500 people there.

Kelly Corrigan who wrote Lift and The Middle Place was the perfect warm up band, getting the crowd laughing and ready with an introduction.  After listing David Sedaris’s stunning accomplishments, Kelly said, “And now, I’d like to introduce to you two-time college drop out, David Sedaris.” We cheered.

And David who was sweet waved to us, smiled and then began reading.  Of course he delivered, weaving stories about feeding a kookaburra that took us forward and back in time in a way that rocked us with laughter. We might as well have been swaying to the music.

David Sedaris reads during his event
at Book Passage on May 21, 2013.

He gave us stories and quotes about life.  As an audience, we were connected with quiet sounds of recognition, with big laughs we shared and in sighs we felt.  For such a little man wearing a bow tie and a funny jacket he told us he got in LA the other day, he had very, very long arms.  What I mean by this is that he held all of us– captive, laughing, standing, body to body.  And in his arms, we let go of our worries for an hour and enjoyed his storytelling.  In some odd way, we saw ourselves in his life and he mirrored back to us the same.  As a result, I think we each felt a little taller and a little more beautiful.

When I left, people were still in line. And David was still talking to each person who handed him a book.  I watched people as they left the store.  As they strolled to their cars, there was an ease to conversation, a gentleness to the walk, a surrender to this crazy thing we call life.  And everyone looked softer.  Maybe it was because the lighting was dim and gentle, but I don’t think so.  I think it was because when that little man with the bow tie finished reading, finished taking questions, he said, “I am happy to sign your book and I’ll stay here as long as it takes. If I’m here after midnight, it’s fine with me.”  With those words, his “I was here and I notice and I see,” was expanded.  The writing he wrote on the wall said, “I was here and I notice and I see you.” For such a funny guy, his last line felt like a prayer.

This blog appears courtesy of Kathleen Buckstaff. It originally appeared on her blog at www.kathleenbuckstaff.com. Kathleen is the author of The Tiffany Box: A Memoir. 

Community

I’ve been coming to Book Passage for many years. Often I came for the author events; sometimes the author was my brother Dave Barry, which meant Event Director Karen West would ask my late wife Kathi Kamen Goldmark and me to do the introduction. We, in turn, felt compelled to come up with ever-more absurd things to say (or sing) about Dave as the years went by, until finally we reached the point where even he felt it was time to get serious (not really).

I’ve played in bands at Book Passage; I’ve participated in terrific writer’s classes and conferences; I’ve enjoyed lunch, coffee, and wine with friends in the café; I’ve been the author presenting a book; and (oh yeah) I’ve browsed the shelves, looking for a good read. The staff is terrific. They are knowledgeable and friendly; I guarantee you’ll find the book(s) for you.

Now I am Book Passage’s marketing director, which means I just called myself terrific in the last paragraph. (That’s marketing.) It also means I am here a lot, which is apparently what people expect of you when you have a job, and I am struck by what a remarkable place this really is. I know, I know—you’re thinking “He’s the marketing director—they pay him to be enthusiastic.” That’s true. But it’s also true that Book Passage is an oasis of culture and kindness in a world that is in dire need of those qualities.

My office is near the young adult and children’s book section of the store. (Do you think the owners, Elaine and Bill Petrocelli, and General Manager Calvin Crosby are trying to tell me something?) Every day I hear parents reading to children and children reading to parents from books selected by our renowned children’s book buyer Susan Kunhardt; I hear teens talking about what they’re reading. I hear animated discussions in language and art classes. This place is alive. It is civilized. It is a community center for readers, writers, artists, artisans, for families, for people young and old. It is a place that cultivates and celebrates the best in human nature.

If you haven’t been here lately, come on by. If you’re a parent, bring your kids to Story Time with Christopher Smith. There’s no charge for most author events, but maybe you’ll decide to buy a book. Maybe you’re an aspiring writer who needs to get in the mix or some constructive feedback. Maybe you'd like to join one of the many book clubs. Maybe you’ll start your own. Our Signed First Editions Book Club has a record of picking future award-winners: one was Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and another was Paul Taylor's Tinkers, each of which were awarded the Pulitzer Prize.  Members of the Signed First Editions Club are reading tomorrow's classics today and filling their bookshelves with potential collector's items.

Whatever your reason for coming to Book Passage, you will probably discover something unexpected. That’s the joy of this place. And while you’re here, say hello. Tell me what you’re reading, or writing. See you soon.

Sam Barry

Andrew McCarthy Brings The Longest Way Home to Book Passage

Having previously visited Book Passage in conjunction with our annual Travel Writers & Photographers Conference, we are very excited to welcome back author/actor/director Andrew McCarthy as he talks about his new memoir, The Longest Way Home: One Man's Quest for the Courage to Settle Down. This revealing and insightful story tells of how travel helped him become the man he wanted to be. Andrew will be joined by travel writer and Travel Writing Conference chair Don George on Thursday, September 27 at 7pm to discuss The Longest Way Home.

The San Jose Mercury recently spoke with Andrew about his new book. To read the entire article, please click here. Below is an excerpt of the interview, conducted by Jessica Yadegaran:

Q. You started acting at 19. When did you start writing? 

A. I started writing when I started traveling about 10 years ago. I kept a journal and found the writing in it embarrassing and lame. So instead, since I'm an actor, I started writing down scenes from my travels. I found that it stabilized me and kept me grounded. 

Q. Is that how you got into travel writing? 

A. One day in Saigon, a young guy on a scooter offered to show me around, so I climbed on the back of his bike. I wrote down what happened the day we spent together, and it seemed to capture the essence of my experience in Saigon in a way my journal couldn't. I did that for years, until one day I met the editor of National Geographic Traveler magazine and asked him to give me a shot. 

Q. Where did the idea for this book come from? 

A. I was sitting in the back of a cab on my way to the airport going to Patagonia. My fiancee and I had just decided to get married, and I was so sad to be leaving her, I was practically in tears, but I was also thrilled to be going. I was like, "What is the deal with this?" On the road I took this issue to explore instead of a book.

The Longest Way Home was published by Free Press on September 18. Reviews have been extremely positive, including author Cheryl Strayed's (Wild, Tiny Beautiful Things) review for The New York Times. Read the full review here and an excerpt below:

McCarthy’s at his best when he’s describing his feeling of being at home in foreign worlds. His prose shines with intelligence and intimacy when he’s elucidating the challenges of hiking in the dense jungle of a Costa Rican national park or the pleasures of wandering in a Peruvian market: “The small stalls, one after the next, are lined with different herbs in bags or bottles. There are wooden bowls filled with roots and twigs. There’s abuta bark, for menstrual cramps; the vine of una del gato, for cancer; . . . the aphrodisiac maca root, to be boiled and made into tea. ‘Muy efectivo,’ the creased woman on a stool beside the display assures me.” In these solitary scenes, he lets the reader walk so closely beside him we feel as if we’re walking through that market and jungle too.

Don't miss what is sure to an incredible evening of discussion and reflection with Andrew McCarthy! Join us Thursday, September 27 at 7pm in Corte Madera, and be sure to order your copy of The Longest Way Home.

Book Passage Heads to Telegraph Avenue

Book Passage may be across the bay, but we feel like we’re smack dab in the middle of Telegraph Avenue these days. That’s because Pulitzer winner (and Book Passage favorite) Michael Chabon’s newest novel, Telegraph Avenue, hit our shelves this month.

To celebrate its publication, Mr. Chabon and his wife, author Ayelet Waldman, have offered to match any donations made to the Scholarmatch website through Thursday, September 25. Simply enter the code “BROKELAND2012” when making a donation. By donating you will not only be helping students achieve their dreams of going to college, you’ll also be entered to win a one-of-a-kind Telegraph Avenue 8-Track mixed tape and player. Click here to learn more and submit your donation.

And if that’s not enough musical inspiration for a book about a record store, Book Passage is also jamming to the incredible Telegraph Avenue Spotify playlist. Featuring tracks like “Trespasser” by Bad Medicine and “No Thing On Me” by Curtis Mayfield, this collection of tunes is the soundtrack of choice for reading your new copy of Telegraph Avenue. You can access the playlist by clicking here or listening to the tracks embedded below (please note: you open the playlist externally, you must have Spotify, which can be downloaded for free here).

Finally, Mr. Chabon may make his home in Berkeley, but we asked him to brave the bridge and give us a taste of Telegraph Avenue here in Corte Madera. Mr. Chabon will read, answer questions and sign books at our Corte Madera location on Monday, September 24. To learn more about reserving a seat for this event, click here. To request a signed copy of Telegraph Avenue, buy a copy from Book Passage and be sure to note your autograph preference in the comments field.

And remember, books are like vinyl: they never die.

Book Passage Awaits the Return of Captain Underpants!

We have spent many moons staring out at the night sky, looking up in hopes of seeing a glimpse of red cape or a brief flash of starch white briefs. Now, finally, ten years removed from his last public tour, superstar children's author and Captain Underpants creator Dav Pilkey visits Book Passage on Oct. 23! 

Publisher's Weekly ran a profile on an event Mr. Pilkey recent held in Lincolnshire, Ill., where 500 fans were treated to Captain Underpants book trailers, trivia videos, scrapbook drawings and of course, the chance to get their books signed. 

Bay Area fans will have a chance to get in on the fun next month, when Mr. Pilkey visits Book Passage in Corte Madera in conjunction with the release of Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers ($9.99). 

A Dav Pilkey fan in Lincolnshire, Ill.
(photo courtesy of PW)

In this ninth epic novel of the Captain Underpants saga, Dav Pilkey takes readers back in time to the carefree days of kindergarten, when the worst thing George and Harold had to face was NOT evil mad scientists or alien cafeteria ladies but a sixth-grade bully named Kipper Krupp. 

Book Passage is delighted to be hosting Mr. Pilkey for a 6pm signing on Oct. 23. To learn more about the event and to order your copy of Captain Underpants and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers, click here. Until then, we'll be watching the stars, waiting for a chance to witness our favorite pantsless superhero.

The Week Ahead at Book Passage

Among Bay Area bookstores, Book Passage in Corte Madera has one of the most active schedules going of author events, readings, classes and other literary happenings. In fact, it’s not uncommon for more than one or two author talks to take place at the store on just about any given day. Additionally, many of these events have a local connection. Looking at the week, here are two great events readers won’t want to miss.

Gerald and Janice Haslam discuss In Thought and Action: The Enigmatic Life of S.I. Hayakawa
-- Sunday, August 26 at 1:00 pm

At this not-to-be-missed event, Gerald and Janice Haslam discuss In Thought and Action: The Enigmatic Life of S.I. Hayakawa (University of Nebraska Press), a detailed and synaptically stimulating biography of the one-time Mill Valley resident and eminent linguist, semanticist, writer, professor, President of San Francisco State University, United States Senator, and believe-it-or-not organizer the Anti-Digit Dialing League. If you remember Hayakawa (1906-1992) and his days as a controversial and colorful public figure, then you want to miss what promises to be a fascinating event.

“In Thought and Action: The Enigmatic Life of S. I. Hayakawa traces the fascinating life of an iconic American writer, teacher, politician, and family man. In the process, authors Gerald W. Haslam and Janice E. Haslam tell us a lot about the culture wars of the 20th century—and of American identity itself.”— Jonah Raskin, Sonoma State University professor and author of American Scream: Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” and the Making of the Beat Generation

Gerald W. Haslam, a former student of Hayakawa, is a professor emeritus of English at Sonoma State University and the author and editor of numerous books, including Workin’ Man Blues: Country Music in California and the seminal anthology Many Californias: Literature from the Golden State. Janice E. Haslam is the coauthor, with her husband, of the fiction collection Manuel and the Madman and An Instructor's Guide to Many Californias.

Gregg Hurwitz reads from his new thriller The Survivor
-- Monday, August 27 at 7:00 pm

Gregg Hurwitz, the #1 international bestselling author of You’re Next, unleashes his most accomplished, compelling thriller yet, The Survivor (St. Martin's Press). It's a roller coaster ride of a read populated by masked gunmen, an escaped killer, Russian mobsters and the threat of losing everything. The Survivor is guaranteed to grab readers by the throat and not relinquish its grip.

Gregg Hurwitz is the author of twelve novels. His books have been nominated for numerous awards, shortlisted for best novel of the year by International Thriller Writers, nominated for CWA's Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, chosen as feature selections for all four major literary book clubs, honored as Book Sense Picks, and translated into twenty languages. He's currently developing his Tim Rackley series for TNT/Sony. He is a producer and writer for television and films and has written characters ranging from Wolverine to Batman for both Marvel and DC comics. Originally from the Bay Area, he now lives in Los Angeles.

Robert Hass talks about What Light Can Do: Essays on Art, Imagination, and the Natural World
-- Tuesday, August 28 at 7:00 pm

Pulitzer Prize-winner and former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass talks about What Light Can Do: Essays on Art, Imagination, and the Natural World (Ecco Press), a wide-ranging collection of considerations on topics including writers (ranging from Jack London to Allen Ginsberg); the art of photography; California, and much else. At this very special event, Robert Hass will be introduced by poet Giovanni Singleton.

Robert Hass' books of poetry include Time and Materials, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 and the National Book Award in 2008; Sun Under Wood, for which he received the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1996; Human Wishes; Praise, for which he received the William Carlos Williams Award in 1979; and Field Guide, which was selected by Stanley Kunitz for the Yale Younger Poets Series.

Hass, who teaches at the University of California in Berkeley, has also worked with Czeslaw Milosz to translate a dozen volumes of the Nobel Prize winner's poetry. While his translations of the Japanese haiku masters have been collected in The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, and Issa. Hass' other books of essays include Twentieth Century Pleasures: Prose on Poetry, which received the National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism in 1984, and Now and Then: The Poet's Choice Columns, 1997-2000. From 1995 to 1997 Hass served as poet laureate of the United States.

MORE INFO: Unless otherwise noted, all events take place at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., in Corte Madera. Call (415) 927-0960 or visit www.bookpassage.com for details.

The Week Ahead at Book Passage

Among Bay Area bookstores, Book Passage in Corte Madera has one of the most active schedules going of author events, readings, classes and other literary happenings. In fact, it’s not uncommon for more than one or two author talks to take place at the store on just about any given day. Additionally, many of these events have a local connection. Looking at the week, here are three events readers won’t want to miss.

Fault Lines Poetry Reading
-- Sunday, August 19 at 4:00 pm

Marin County poet Terri Glass hosts the first Bay area reading of Fault Lines, a new West Coast journal which includes work from 70 poets from British Columbia to San Francisco. Among those participating in this special event are editor Tony Pfannenstiel and Bay Area contributors Samuel Iniguez, Trina Drotar, Lenore Wilson, Suzanne Brooks, and Patrick Cahill.

Fault Lines is a journal of West Coast poetry. Terri Glass is a poet and writer who has been teaching poetry writing in the Bay Area for twenty years. She studied poetry writing at the University of Washington and Portland State University, and mentored with the Pulitzer Prize winning poet William Stafford. Glass currently coordinates the Marin program for California Poets in the School and served as their statewide director from 2008-11.

Selden Edwards reads from The Lost Prince
-- Monday, August 20 at 7:00 pm

Selden Edwards reads from The Lost Prince (Dutton), a sequel to his beloved, more than 30-years-in-the-making, New York Times bestselling novel, The Little Book. Like its predecessor, Edward’s magical new work is an irresistible triumph of the imagination, and a story of love capable of bridging unfathomable distances. 

Pat Conroy, the bestselling author of The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini, said this: “I loved Selden Edwards’s first novel The Little Book and told everyone I knew about it.  I just read his second novel The Lost Prince and think that Mr. Edwards has written his finest work so far. Once again, Selden Edwards demonstrates his mastery in blending together philosophy and art with the help of wonderful characters you fall in love with. The Lost Prince is a terrific second novel.”

Selden Edwards began writing The Little Book as a young English teacher in 1974, and continued to layer and refine the manuscript until its completion in 2007. It was his first novel. He spent his career as headmaster at several independent schools across the country.

Susan Kirsch and Jane Mellor Poetry Reading
 -- Saturday, August 25 at 1:00 pm

Poets Susan Kirsch and Jane Mellor read from their recent books. Kirsch will read from Simply Go*D - Praise Poems Celebrating The Divine In Daily Life (Lulu.com). And Mellor will read from Delicate Availability: Prose and Poetry (FriesenPress). Each is an evocation and a celebration of life through poetry. Susan Kirsch was raised in the Midwest. Jane Mellor was raised in the Bay Area.

MORE INFO: Unless otherwise noted, all events take place at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., in Corte Madera. Call (415) 927-0960 or visit www.bookpassage.com for details.

The Week Ahead at Book Passage

Among Bay Area bookstores, Book Passage in Corte Madera has one of the most active schedules going of author events, readings, classes and other literary happenings. In fact, it’s not uncommon for more than one or two author talks to take place at the store on just about any given day. Additionally, many of these events have a local connection. Looking at the week, here are three events readers won’t want to miss.

Jennie Fields reads from The Age of Desire
-- Tuesday, August 14 at 7:00 pm

Jennie Fields reads from her new novel, The Age of Desire (Pamela Dorman Books), a sparkling glimpse into the life of Edith Wharton and the scandalous love affair that threatened her closest friendship. Wharton’s real letters and intimate diary entries are woven throughout this richly nuanced novel, which takes us on a vivid journey through the Gilded Age.

Jennie Fields received an MA in creative writing from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is the author of the novels Lily Beach, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, and The Middle Ages. An Illinois native, she spent twenty-five years as an advertising creative director in New York and currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Laura Lippman reads from her new novel And When She Was Good
-- Friday, August 17 at 7:00 pm

Laura Lippman reads from her new novel, And When She Was Good (William Morrow), the gripping, intensely emotional story of a suburban madam, a convicted murderer whose sentence is about to be overturned, and the child they will both do anything to keep. Lippman has been described as “a writing powerhouse.” Here’s why.

Laura Lippman grew up in Baltimore and returned to her hometown in 1989 to work as a journalist. After writing seven books while still a full-time reporter, she left the Baltimore Sun to focus on fiction. She is the author of eleven Tess Monaghan books, five stand-alone novels, and one short story collection. Praised as “a writing powerhouse” (USA Today) and “among the select group of novelists who have invigorated the crime fiction arena with smart, innovative, and exciting work” (George Pelecanos), this New York Times bestselling author is constantly sending reviewers back to their thesauruses in search of new and greater accolades. Her new stand-alone novel, And When She Was Good, reinforces the fact that she stands among today’s bestselling elite—including Kate Atkinson, Tana French, Jodi Picoult, and Harlan Coben (who raves, “I love her books!”). Lippman has already won virtually every prize the mystery genre has to offer—the Edgar®, Anthony, Agatha, and Nero Wolfe Awards, to name but a few.

Literary Luncheon with Gail Tsukiyama
 -- Saturday, August 18 at 12:00 noon

Join Book Passage for lunch as Gail Tsukiyama celebrates the publication of her new novel, A Hundred Flowers (St. Martin's Press), a powerful story centering on the misfortunes which befall a family at the start of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. With this new work, Tsukiyama once again brings us a powerfully moving story of ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances with grace and courage.

The year is 1957, and Chairman Mao has declared a new openness in society: “Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend.” Many intellectuals fear it is only a trick, and Kai Ying’s husband, a teacher named Sheng, has promised not to jeopardize their safety or that of their young son, Tao. One July morning, just before his sixth birthday, Tao watches helplessly as his Father is dragged away and sent off to a labor camp for “reeducation” after writing a letter criticizing the Communist Party.

Gail Tsukiyama is the bestselling author of six previous novels, including The Street of a Thousand Blossoms, Women of the Silk and The Samurai’s Garden, as well as the recipient of the Academy of American Poets Award and the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award. She lives in El Cerrito. Book Passage hosts literary luncheons with celebrated authors at its Marin store. These events are catered by Insalata’s Restaurant of San Anselmo.

MORE INFO: Unless otherwise noted, all events take place at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., in Corte Madera. Call (415) 927-0960 or visit www.bookpassage.com for details.

The week ahead at Book Passage

Among Bay Area bookstores, Book Passage in Corte Madera has one of the most active schedules going of author events, readings, classes and other literary happenings. In fact, it’s not uncommon for more than one or two author talks to take place at the store on just about any given day. Additionally, many of these events have a local connection. Looking at the week, here are three events readers won’t want to miss.

Barry Kraft reads from the poetry of Philip Larkin
-- Tuesday, August 7 at 7:00 pm

Shakespearean actor Barry Kraft reads from The Complete Poems (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) of Philip Larkin. Regarded as one of the great English poets of the latter half of the 20th century and called "the saddest heart in the post-war supermarket," Larkin (1922–1985) wrote of diminished expectations in work marked by a glum accuracy about emotions, places, and relationships.

Barry Kraft has been a professional actor for 45 years. He has acted in all 38 of Shakespeare's plays, playing more than 100 roles in 85 full productions. In addition to many seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, he has had seasons with San Diego’s Old Globe, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespearean, and our own Marin Shakespeare.  Barry is also a dramaturg, guest lecturer and, of course, a poetry lover.

An Evening with Andrew McCarthy
-- Friday, August 10 at 8:30 pm

Andrew McCarthy is a busy guy. An actor (St. Elmo's Fire, Pretty in Pink, and Less Than Zero), director, and travel writer – he is recognized in the field as a two-time Lowell Thomas Award winner who has, as well, been twice cited for “notable” work in the Best American Travel series. McCarthy is also a contributing editor at National Geographic Traveler. And if that is not enough, last year he helped edit, with Don George, Lights, Camera... Travel!: On-The-Road Tales from Screen Storytellers (Lonely Planet).

Andrew McCarthy will be in conversation with local travel writer Don George. McCarthy and George are on the faculty of the 21st Annual Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference, which takes place August 9-12 at Book Passage. This event is part of the Conference. Tickets are $10.00 for the public, free for conference participants.

An Evening with Susan Orlean
-- Saturday, August 11 at 8:30 pm

Susan Orlean has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1992. She is the author of seven books, including My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who's Been Everywhere, and The Orchid Thief, which was made into the Academy Award–winning film Adaptation. Her most recent book is Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend (Simon & Schuster). She lives with her family and her animals in upstate New York (with occasional stints in Los Angeles and in New York City).

Susan Orlean will be in conversation with local travel writer Don George. Orlean and George are on the faculty of the 21st Annual Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference, which takes place August 9-12 at Book Passage. This event is part of the Conference. Tickets are $10.00 for the public, free for conference participants.

MORE INFO: Unless otherwise noted, all events take place at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., in Corte Madera. Call (415) 927-0960 or visit www.bookpassage.com for details. If you can't attend an event and would like a signed copy of an author's book, please place your order using one of the above links and note "signed copy" in the comments field.

The week ahead at Book Passage

Among Bay Area bookstores, Book Passage in Corte Madera has one of the most active schedules going of author events, readings, classes and other literary happenings. In fact, it’s not uncommon for more than one or two author talks to take place at the store on just about any given day. Additionally, many of these events have a local connection. Looking at the week, here are three events readers won’t want to miss.

Ken Weaver raises a toast to The Northern California Craft Beer Guide
-- Thursday, August 2 at 6:00 pm

Ken Weaver presents The Northern California Craft Beer Guide (Cameron & Company), the definitive handbook to the artistry, people, and culture of the region's craft beer scene. Encompassing breweries, beer bars, restaurants, bottle shops and homebrew shops, this new book highlights the best the region has to offer. Thirsty? This special event includes a beer tasting.

Ken Weaver is fiction writer and technical editor based in Northern California. Previously, he has worked as a particle physicist, a renewable energy consultant, and a creative writing professor in a remote Miskito village in Nicaragua. He believes beer people are good people, and he's happy to be among them. Ken received his MFA in creative writing from the University of Maryland, and his M.S. in physics from Cornell. He's a Certified BJCP beer judge and a frequent contributor to All About Beer.

Mick LaSalle discusses The Beauty of the Real
-- Friday, August 3 at 7:00 pm

Mick LaSalle talks about The Beauty of the Real: What Hollywood Can Learn from Contemporary French Actresses (Stanford General Books). In this new book, the film critic for the San Francisco Chronicle offers an informal and fascinating exploration of contemporary French cinema and its brilliant array of female actors – actresses with a difference.

"LaSalle understands how women in French movies are allowed to be deeper, older, and more real than most Hollywood characters."—Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Mick LaSalle has been the film critic for the San Francisco Chronicle since 1985. He is the author of Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood (2000) and Dangerous Men: Pre-Code Hollywood and the Birth of the Modern Man (2002), both of which were named "Book of the Month" by Turner Classic Movies. LaSalle has been a panelist at the Venice and Berlin Film Festivals and has served on the jury for the Cinema for Peace Gala in Berlin.

M.L. Stedman reads from The Light Between Oceans
-- Saturday, August 4 at 4:00 pm

M.L. Stedman reads from her debut novel The Light Between Oceans (Scribner), the story of a lighthouse keeper and his wife who make one devastating choice that forever changes two worlds. Stedman’s compelling characters, still trying to make sense of life in the wake of so much death in WWI, are imperfect people seeking to find their north star in a world of incomprehensible complexity.

M.L. Stedman was born and raised in Western Australia, and now lives in London. The Light Between Oceans is the Indie Next List pick for August, 2012.


MORE INFO: Unless otherwise noted, all events take place at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., in Corte Madera. Call (415) 927-0960 or visit www.bookpassage.com for details.If you can't attend an event and would like a signed copy of an author's book, please place your order using one of the above links and note "signed copy" in the comments field.

The week ahead at Book Passage

Among Bay Area bookstores, Book Passage in Corte Madera has one of the most active schedules going of author events, readings, classes and other literary happenings. In fact, it’s not uncommon for more than one or two author talks to take place at the store on just about any given day. Additionally, many of these events have a local connection. Looking at the week, here are three events Patch.com readers won’t want to miss.

Anne Mendel reads from Etiquette for an Apocalypse
-- Monday, July 23 at 7:00 pm

Anne Mendel reads from Etiquette for an Apocalypse (Brackets Press), which, no kidding, is a post-apocalyptic comedy. Its story focusses on the struggle to survive and bring some order, not to mention good manners, into a less than brave new world defined by the grueling, sometimes strangely amusing, realities of starvation and violence.

Anne Mendel grew up in Arkansas and attended Miss Ashleigh’s Charm School, where she learned absolutely nothing about dealing with disasters (unless breaking a high heel counts as a disaster). Before she began writing full time she used her Master’s Degree in Community Organizing to advocate for women and girls.

Lawrence Baldassaro presents Beyond DiMaggio: Italian Americans in Baseball
-- Friday, July 27 at 7:00 pm

Lawrence Baldassaro presents Beyond DiMaggio: Italian Americans in Baseball (University of Nebraska Press). Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, Tommy Lasorda, Joe Torre, Tony Conigliaro. Casual fans know these names not as Italian Americans, but as some of the most colorful figures in baseball history. From Joe DiMaggio to A. Bartlett Giamatti, this is their story, a social history of America’s pastime.
Lawrence Baldassaro is a professor emeritus of Italian at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. He is the author of numerous articles on baseball, coeditor of The American Game: Baseball and Ethnicity, and editor of Ted Williams: Reflections on a Splendid Life.

Deanne Stillman talks about Desert Reckoning: A Town Sheriff, a Mojave Hermit, and the Biggest Manhunt in Modern California History
-- Saturday, July 28 at 7:00 pm

Deanne Stillman talks about Desert Reckoning: A Town Sheriff, a Mojave Hermit, and the Biggest Manhunt in Modern California History (Nation Books), which ends in a Wagnerian firestorm under a full moon as nuns at a nearby convent watched and prayed. How things got to this point, a point of no return, is the subject of this riveting, exploratory work.

Deanne Stillman is a widely published writer. Her books include Mustang: The Saga of the Wild Horse in the American West, a Los Angeles Times "Best Book 2008," and winner of the California Book Award silver medal for nonfiction, and Twentynine Palms: A True Story of Murder, Marines, and the Mojave, a Los Angeles Times "Best Book 2001" which Hunter Thompson called "A strange and brilliant story by an important American writer." Now a cult classic, it's out in a new, updated edition with a foreword by T. Jefferson Parker and preface by Charles Bowden.

MORE INFO: Unless otherwise noted, all events take place at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., in Corte Madera. Call (415) 927-0960 or visit www.bookpassage.com for details.

The week ahead at Book Passage

Among Bay Area bookstores, Book Passage in Corte Madera has one of the most active schedules going of author events, readings, classes and other literary happenings. In fact, it’s not uncommon for more than one or two author talks to take place at the store on just about any given day. Additionally, many of these events have a local connection. Looking at the week, here are three events readers won’t want to miss.

Douglas Brinkley discusses Cronkite
-- Sunday, July 15 at 3:30 pm

Douglas Brinkley discusses Cronkite (Harper), the definitive biography of the television journalist known as the "the most trusted man in America." Drawing on unprecedented access to Cronkite's private papers as well as interviews with his family and friends, an acclaimed historian now brings this American icon into focus as never before.

Douglas Brinkley is a professor of history at Rice University and a contributing editor to Vanity Fair. His most recent books are The Quiet World, The Wilderness Warrior, and The Great Deluge. Six of his books have been selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year. Earlier this week, the New York Times announced that Brinkley and actor Johnny Depp would be editing a previously unpublished novelby folk-singer Woody Guthrie.

Karen Thompson Walker reads from her novel The Age of Miracles
-- Tuesday, July 17 at 7:00 pm

Karen Thompson Walker reads from The Age of Miracles (Random House), a luminous, haunting, and unforgettable coming of age novel set against the backdrop of an utterly altered world….  On a seemingly ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, Julia and her family awake to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow.

“The Age of Miracles spins its glowing magic through incredibly lucid and honest prose, giving equal care and dignity to the small spheres and the large. It is at once a love letter to the world as we know it and an elegy.” — Aimee Bender
Karen Thompson Walker is a graduate of UCLA and the Columbia MFA program and a recipient of the 2011 Sirenland Fellowship as well as a Bomb magazine fiction prize. A former editor at Simon & Schuster, she wrote The Age of Miracles in the mornings before work.

Dave Eggers booksigning A Hologram for the King
-- Thursday, July 19 at 12:00 noon

Marin author Dave Eggers visits Book Passage to sign copies of acclaimed new novel, AHologram for the King (McSweeneys). Carmela Ciuraru, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, called Eggers' book “An extraordinary work of timely and provocative themes.... This novel reminds us that above all, Eggers is a writer of books, and a writer of the highest order….An outstanding achievement in Eggers's already impressive career, and an essential read.”

“Mr. Eggers uses a new, pared down, Hemingwayesque voice to recount his story... he demonstrates in Hologram that he is master of this more old-fashioned approach as much as he was a pioneering innovator with A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.... A comic but deeply affecting tale about one man’s travails that also provides a bright, digital snapshot of our times.” — Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

Dave Eggers is the bestselling author of Zeitoun, winner of the American Book Award and Dayton Literary Peace Prize. His novel What Is the What was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and won France’s Prix Medici.

MORE INFO: Unless otherwise noted, all events take place at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., in Corte Madera. Call (415) 927-0960 or visit www.bookpassage.com for details.