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.

William Gordon discusses his new novel The King of the Bottom, in conversation with Isabel Allende
-- Monday, July 9 at 7:00 pm

Local writer William Gordon reads from and discusses his new novel The King of the Bottom (Bay Tree Publishing). On a cold and gloomy morning the mutilated body of a prosperous businessman is found hanging from the gate of his toxic dump. The finger of the law points one way, but crime reporter Samuel Hamilton uncovers a sordid world of ancient revenge and violence. To find out what happens….

William Gordon is an “international man of mysteries” – as well as an attorney with a law office in Sausalito, a father, photographer, and world traveler with his wife, author Isabel Allende.

Carlos Ruiz Zafón discusses The Prisoner of Heaven, in conversation with Isabel Allende
-- Thursday, July 12 at 7:00 pm

Carlos Ruiz Zafón discusses ThePrisoner of Heaven (Harper), in conversation with the international bestselling local author Isabel Allende. Once again, the internationally acclaimed and New York Times bestselling author of The Shadow of the Wind creates a rich, labyrinthine tale of love, literature, passion and revenge set in a gothic Barcelona both dark and threatening.

Carlos Ruiz Zafón is the author of six novels. His work has been published in more than forty different languages, and honored with numerous international awards, including the Edebé Award, Spain's most prestigious prize for young adult fiction. His break-out novel, The Shadow of the Wind, has been described as “Gabriel García Márquez meets Umberto Eco meets Jorge Luis Borges for a sprawling magic show." Zafón divides his time between Barcelona, Spain and Los Angeles, California.

Joshua Henkin reads from The World Without You
-- Friday, July 13 at 1:00 pm

Joshua Henkin reads from The World Without You (Pantheon). From the author of the Los Angeles Times Notable Book Swimming Across the Hudson and the New York Times Notable Book Matrimony ["Beautiful . . . Brilliant."—Michael Cunningham] comes a moving and mesmerizing new novel about love, loss, and the aftermath of a family tragedy.

“Like a more bittersweet version of Jonathan Tropper’s This Is Where I Leave You or a less chilly variation on Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections, Henkin tenderly explores family dynamics in this novel about the ties that bind, and even lacerate . . . .” — Publishers Weekly. Joshua Henkin's new novel has also been praised - and warmly so, by four authors familiar to those who attend events at Book Passage, Julia Glass, Heidi Julavits, Jim Shepard, Gary Shteyngart.

Joshua Henkin is the author of the novels two novels. His stories have been published widely, cited for distinction in Best American Short Stories and broadcast on NPR's Selected Shorts. He directs the MFA Program in Fiction Writing at Brooklyn College.

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.

An Interview with Isabel Allende by Lucy Hannau

By Lucy Hannau for Lost in Fiction


Lucy Hannau: Which of your characters do you feel more connected to? Why?

Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende: I heard once that the author is in every character and that every character represents an aspect of the author.  I don't identify with one character in particular but in most of my books the main female protagonist is a strong willed, independent and rebellious woman who struggles to beat the odds against her. She is also sentimental and passionate. I feel very connected to those protagonists.

LH: What does "writing" mean to you?

IA: Life. Telling stories is the only thing I want to do. Writing is like breathing. Literature has given me a voice, has given sense to my life and it has connected me with millions of readers worldwide.

LH: Getting published is always hard, how did you find Carmen Balcells?

IA: My first novel, The House of the Spirits,  was rejected by several publishing houses. One day the receptionist in one of those publishing houses told me that there was no hope of being published without a good agent and she mentioned Carmen Balcells. Later, Tomas Eloy Martinez, an Argentinian writer, gave me Carmen Balcells address in Spain and recommended her as the best agent for Latin American literature.

LH: In one of your interviews you said, you have a cinematographic vision when you write. New technologies are changing our lives today, almost everybody is on Facebook or tweets daily and then there is the e-book revolution: how do you relate to them both as an author and as a person? What do you think about e-books?

IA: I don't have Facebook and I don't tweet because I have no time: I am too busy writing. Usually I have a pile of books on my night table waiting their turn to be read. I like to touch and smell books, but I prefer e-books when I travel because I can carry as many as I want in my iPad. I think that in the future, books will be rare items for collectors and libraries and we will be reading everything on a screen.  

LH: It's been many years since you have been living in California where your "tribe" lives too. How do you keep your written Spanish so "polished," without even a minimal English interference in the vocabulary or in the syntax?

IA: Oh! I wish that were true! My Spanish has deteriorated gravely. Willie, my American husband, thinks that he speaks Spanish but his syntax sounds like Polish and when he doesn't know a word, he makes it up. After 25 years in his company I am writing the way he speaks. A young man in Spain, Jorge Manzanilla, corrects my manuscripts to eliminate Willie's pernicious influence.

The Week Ahead @ 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 just about every day. Additionally, many of these events have a local connection. Looking to the week ahead, here are three events you won’t want to miss.

Sebastian Junger talks about War
-- Monday, February 20 at 7:00 pm


Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm, turns his attention from man’s struggle with nature to man’s struggle with man. In War, Junger turns his empathetic eye to the reality of combat — the fear, the honor, and the trust among men whose survival depends on their absolute commitment to one another. His on-the-ground account follows a single platoon through 15 months in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley.

Junger is an American author, journalist and documentarian most famous for the best-selling book The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea, which was made into a feature film in 2000 starring George Clooney and Mark Walhberg. He also self-financed and directed a documentary movie Restrepo (2010). It was nominated for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Documentary.

Due to the expected popularity of this event, priority seating will be allotted to those who purchase a copy of Junger’s book from Book Passage.

Meredith Maran & Johnny Symons present
-- Thursday, February 23 at 7:00 pm

Meredith Maran will read from her just released novel, A Theory of Small Earthquakes (Soft Skull Press), and filmmaker Johnny Symons will show a brief clip from his award-winning 2002 film, Daddy and Papa, and together they’ll discuss the challenges and joys of portraying non-traditional families in books and film.

Maran’s earlier books include Class Dismissed: A Year in the Life of an American High School, A Glimpse into the Heart of a Nation and Dirty: A Search for Answers Inside America's Teenage Drug Epidemic. Her new book, a debut novel, has been praised by publications ranging from Reader’s Digest to Vanity Fair. Marin writer Anne Lamott called it "A smart, sexy, funny, wrenching, delicious story of lust and trust and love and family."

Symon is an Emmy-nominated documentary film and video maker based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His film Daddy and Papa (2002), about the personal, cultural, and political impact of gay men raising kids, premiered at Sundance, won more than 15 major festival awards, and aired nationally on PBS. His other documentary credits include 1995’s The Celluloid Closet for HBO.

Eve Ensler & Isabel Allende in conversation
-- Friday, February 24 at 7:00 pm

Activist Eve Ensler sits down with writer Isabel Allende to talk about activism, women and girls, and the power of stories. The event is described thus: “Eve will blow you away and Isabel will get you through it. And together they will fill you with hope.” The event also includes a sneak peak at Ensler's latest theatrical work, the stage adaptation of Emotional Creature, which will premiere at Berkeley Rep this June.

The former Louise Brooks-bobbed Ensler is the Tony Award-winning author of The Vagina Monologues and founder of V-Day, the global movement to end violence against women and girls. Her most recent book is I Am an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World (Villard). Allende is a Chilean writer and now longtime resident of Marin. She is the author of  The House of the Spirits, an international bestseller which was made into a film, and more than a dozen other works. Allende’s books have been published in more than two dozen countries. In 1998 she was awarded the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, and in 2011 she was given the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award.

This event is a benefit for V-Day, the global movement to end violence against women and girls. It takes place at Dominican University of California, Angelico Hall, in San Rafael. Tickets are $35.00 and include a copy of Ensler’s book I Am an Emotional Creature. A book signing follows the presentation.

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.

CNN en Español visits Book Passage

CNN en Español recently paid a visit to Book Passage. The occasion was the release of the new Isabel Allende novel, El Cuaderno de Maya. Allende is a longtime friend of the store, and CNN was here to interview Book Passage President Elaine Petrocelli about the celebrated author and her new book.

The CNN visit was also also occasioned by the recent announcement that Isabel had been given Denmark's Hans Christian Anderson Award for her many splendid contributions to literature for children and young people. To celebrate, Book Passage put up a display.

So far, El Cuaderno de Maya is only available in the United States in Spanish. (It is due to come out in English, as Maya's Notebook, in 2012.) To mark the occasion, Isabel Allende will be reading from her new novel at Book Passage on September 18th. Please note that this is a Spanish-language event.

For those who can't make it, Isabel recently signed a few copies of El Cuaderno de Maya (hardback, $26.95) at Book Passage. These are, we believe, some the very first signed copies in the United States. To place an order for a 1st edition hardback, please visit this link.blogged by thomas gladysz