Over at Omnivoracious, hosted by Amazon.com. Only one post is up so far and it's annoyingly music-centric. Why all the flashing lights and filler for your readings, James Frey? Why can't you just get up there and, um, READ? We have grown grumpy and tired of you, sir. We don't care what you think of Ozzfest, we would rather hear some things about your forthcoming book and your deal with HarperCollins and maybe, erhm, advice for writers who fucked up and are still trucking along and biding their time and doing their thing, maybe? Please show us what you're actually made of or go away.

James Frey will read from his new novel Bright Shiny Morning on May 28th at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. Tickets are $5 and they're not sold out yet. Head to the Brookline Booksmith for more info.

5/5/2008 11:36:39 AM by Sharon | Comments [0] |  

Every L-train-riding Brooklynite’s favorite author, JONATHAN LETHEM, is back on tour for his follow-up to 2003’s Fortress of Solitude. You Don’t Love Me Yet is a departure from the author’s native New York: this time around, the setting is the smoggy sparkle of Los Angeles, but Lethem’s hipster fan base won’t be disappointed by his choice of character archetypes. Lucinda (bass guitarist) and Matthew (frontman) are in an unstable relationship with each other, not to mention members of a band without a name and only a few half-finished songs. Can they pen a great pop song and still sleep together? Can Lethem write a comic novel with as much authority as a three-decade narrative on race relations? Find out when he reads and signs at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Boston | March 27 at 6 pm | $2 | 617.566.6660.

ELSEWHERE: Sound of the City is offering a pretty mp3 of Hallelujah the Hills' version of "Monster Eyes," one of Lethem's fictional rock songs in Love Me. It's so Brooklyn, it isn't even on Stereogum yet. Sucker. They played in NYC yesterday, but you can still download, listen, and read.

3/27/2007 11:21:16 AM by Sharon | Comments [1] |  

Mrs. Andy Richter, a/k/a actress and writer SARAH THYRE, was dubbed the “family liar” by her father almost as soon as she learned to talk. In her attempt to live up to this infamous nickname, high jinks and hilarity ensued, and she resurrects all her old raunchy anecdotal ghosts in the new memoir Dark at the Roots, which comes packaged with breathless plugs by the likes of David Sedaris and David Rakoff. Take an absurd trip down memory lane with Thyre at Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St, Boston | March 26 at 7 pm | free | 617.566.6660 | or at the Harvard Coop, 1400 Mass Ave, Cambridge | March 27 at 7 pm | free | 617.499.2000.

Emerson creative writing teacher and Post Road co-founder JAIME CLARK once went through a phase where he believed himself to be Ferris Bueller. He’s come full circle in editing Don’t You Forget About Me: Contemporary Writers on the Films of John Hughes, which includes essays by Elizabeth Searle and John McNally. Clarke appears at the Coolidge Corner Theatre for a signing event that includes a screening of FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF and a panel discussion with his Molly Ringwald–obsessed contributors | 290 Harvard St, Boston | 7 pm | $9 | 617.566.6660.

3/26/2007 12:37:57 PM by Sharon | Comments [1] |  

The author of The Piano Tuner, DANIEL MASON, follows up his bestselling debut with yet another journey story. The Harvard grad’s second book, A Far Country, trails 14-year-old Isabel on her voyage from a rural area of her impoverished country to the outskirts of a city. After her brother goes missing, Isabel does exactly what most confused teenagers would do in her place: she tries to find him on her own. Mason will expand on Isabel’s search when he reads and signs at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Boston | 7 pm | $2 | 617.566.6660.

3/19/2007 12:43:11 PM by Sharon | Comments [0] |  

Political satirist and diehard libertarian P.J. O’ROURKE, author of such self-explanatory gems as Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts To Explain the Entire U.S. Government and Peace Kills: America’s New Fun Imperialism, winds up for a new round of economic bitch slapping in his latest, On the Wealth of Nations. Here he cuts to the concepts and makes Adam Smith’s long-winded manifesto against mercantilism seem like an accessible bit of light reading. He’ll read, sign, and make figurative love with the free market at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline | January 29 | 6 pm | $2 | 617.566.6660.

1/29/2007 3:14:27 PM by Sharon | Comments [0] |  

SMELL THE GLOVE

An economically depressed small town in New York lobbies to be recognized as a Native American tribe (the Filaquonsett) so it can build a casino to bring in revenue. This pisses off the neighboring Native American tribe and casino, who then build a toxic-waste dump next to the Filaquonsett joint. Hilarity ensues. The rest of HARRY SHEARER’s Not Enough Indians is pretty much as bat-shit crazy as the man himself. Originally scheduled for sometime in September, Shearer will actually read tonight at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline | 6 pm | $2 | 617.734.2501 or www.coolidge.org.

12/11/2006 4:15:18 PM by Sharon | Comments [0] |  

SO LONG, AND GOOD LUCK

Edward R. Murrow hosted the first This I Believe radio program in the 1950s, which he introduced by musing, “What truths can a human being afford to furnish the cluttered nervous room of his mind with, when he has no real idea how long a lease he has on the future?” So very Murrow. The program asked Americans to explain their most closely held beliefs; it was recently resurrected by public-radio guru JAY ALLISON and his producer, Dan Gediman. Allison solicits submissions from ordinary folks rather than limiting it to household names. The result is This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women — the NPR junkie’s version of Chicken Soup for the Soul. New essays are interspersed with original compositions, so the stories range from statements by a Burmese immigrant to a piece by Hellen Keller. WGBH’s TONY KAHN and author ALAN LIGHTMAN join Allison for a Books & Brews reading at Newtonville Books, 296 Walnut St, Newtonville | 7:30 pm | free | 617.244.6619.

WHY SHE WAKES EARLY

Anyone who has ever hugged a tree seems to lurve MARY OLIVER, and who can blame them, considering her Pulitzer Prize winning poetry pays tribute to the natural world in a manner that has earned her comparisons to Whitman and Thoreau. There’s a wild mix of beauty and terror in all of her confessional verses, from the quiet serenity of her morning walks in Provincetown and her observations of wild geese, to the way she compares death to a hungry bear. In Thirst, Oliver’s latest collection, grief over her longtime partner’s passing and a strong sense of spirituality figures prominently, but she has never stopped looking at the world with the eyes of a writer amazed by its organic wonders. We're told tickets are sold out, but there will be a waiting line outside the theatre for stragglers/desperate Oliver-heads. Let her guide you to the forest and back when she reads at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline |Nov 29 @ 6 pm | $2 | 617.566.6660.

11/28/2006 1:24:21 PM by Sharon | Comments [0] |  

It’s not that THOMAS CAHILL writes the Reader’s Digest version of history, but he does have the ability to cut through the doldrums of thesis speak and sprinkle in more than a few pop-culture comparisons. Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe offers an accessible journey through the development of early Roman Catholic thought. Scholarly without being stuffy is a tough line to draw — the book’s sweet color illustrations certainly help. Screw Medieval Times (the restaurant) — just grab a bloody leg of lamb and go hang out with Cahill at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline | 6 pm | $2 | 617.734.2501.

11/27/2006 3:03:06 PM by Sharon | Comments [0] |  

Morgan Spurlock did it with Super Size Me and later 30 Days on FX. Now, rather than gorging on McDonalds to see if it has adverse effects, Seattle public radio commentator JON MOE decided to hang out with a bunch of Republicans for a month straight. Conservatize Me: How I Tried to Become a Righty with the Help of Richard Nixon, Sean Hannity, Toby Keith, and Beef Jerky is the result of his month-long immersion in Conservative Country. Moe visited a trancendentalist church, discussed issues with National Review editor Rich Lowry, and spent down time at the Regan museum and a gun-range to discover whether his decidedly liberal values are capable of a sudden turnaround. There’s no shock-and-awe transformation here, but Moe will share what he learned at Barnes & Noble at Boston University, 660 Beacon St, Boston | 7 pm | Free | 617.267.8484.

Also tomorrow, and also free, a panel talk at the Coolidge Corner Theatre and the Brookline Booksmith: (via Coolidge.org)

"Ever wonder what authors think about movies based on their books? Or, why moviemakers took your favorite novel and turned the girl into a boy, killed the dog, or added a love interest? Do authors get any say in the matter? Well, they're about to, albeit after the fact. And a moviemaker will tell us why changes are made when a story moves from one medium to another.

The NO, BUT I SAW THE MOVIE panel will be moderated by Lois Lowry, author of The Giver, which is currently being adapted for film. The panel will include two other children’s authors whose books have been portrayed on screen -- Phyllis Naylor, Newbery Award winning author of Shiloh, and Newbery Honoree Natalie Babbitt, author of Tuck Everlasting -- along with Randy Testa of Walden Media LLC, the company that has produced such adaptations as Beacuse of Winn Dixie, Hoot, Holes, How to Eat Fried Worms, and The Chronicles of Narnia, among others."

Seriously great line-up of YA authors. This is not to be missed, especially if your copy of The Giver is as well-worn as ours. Or if you get really pissed off about movie adaptations of incredible YA/children's lit books. Tuck Everlasting, a gut-wrenching YA novel that somehow involved a very adult-ish love story, did not a have fantastic book-to-film adaptation (though, we enjoyed it anyway -- Alexis Bledel was a really good Winnie). Hopefully The Giver will fare better, because we totally heart that book like whoa.

10/23/2006 3:53:42 PM by Sharon | Comments [0] |  

Don't be jealous!

Why. Does. She. Have. SOMUCHFUCKINGHAIR?!

STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND
We’re tearing through NELL FREUDENBERGER’s debut novel, The Dissident, at a crazy pace, pausing only to marvel at how this white, Harvard educated, ex-New Yorker editorial assistant managed to capture the voice of Yuan Zhao, a Chinese performance artist and political firecracker spending a year in Los Angeles teaching at the St. Anselm’s School for Girls. Alternating with his narrative is a third-person POV that circles around the dysfunctional Traverses, the family hosting the Yuan’s stay. Gawker may have slammed Freudenberger for inspiring the ire of the literary world when her gorgeous face helped make her award-winning short story collection, Lucky Girls, even more palatable to the industry, but her good looks have nothing to do with the fact that she’s one of the most compelling young voices around. She’ll read at the Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St, Cambridge | Oct 77 @ 6 pm | $3 | 800.542.READ. If you miss Nell tomorrow, you can haul it over to Newtonville books and see her on Wednesday 18 @ 7:30 pm for free.

A BLUE-EYED BEAUTY
Yes, Baby Suri lives, except by our calculations she looks about a year older than she’s supposed to be. In fact, we’re convinced Mr. and Mrs. Cruisazy bought her — there’s got to be a Scientology-approved baby-black market squirreled away somewhere. Celeb photog ANNIE LIEBOVITZ was the lucky lady to snap TomKat in all their domestic bliss, and her A Photographer’s Life: 1990-2005 is packed with provocative portraits (a fetal and stripped John Lennon wrapped around Yoko, a naked and knocked-up Demi Moore) culled from her career at Rolling Stone, Vogue, and Vanity Fair. Famous people really enjoy being naked and with child, don’t they? Someone please ask if Suri’s was wearing a tot-toupee when Liebovitz speaks at the Coolidge Corner Theatre | Oct 17 @ 6 pm | 290 Harvard St, Brookline | $2 | 617.566.6660.

Just make it happen.

 

10/16/2006 10:00:59 AM by Sharon | Comments [0] |  

Eve Ensler + Salma Hayek: "Valentine's Day is stupid."

EVE ENSLER of The Vagina Monologues brings us her equally provocative and politically charged memoir, Insecure at Last: Losing It in Our Security-Obsessed World. That would be a post-9/11 where, awash in Code Red security precautions, she weaves her personal history of an abusive childhood with stories of other women — Afghanis forced into burkas, female prisoners in upstate New York. Go egalitarian when she reads tomorrow at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline | 6 pm | $2 | 617.566.6660.

10/4/2006 5:48:09 PM by Sharon | Comments [0] |  

Four out of fourteen of the stories in All Aunt Hagar’s Children have already been published in The New Yorker; and no wonder given that Edward P. Jones won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for his first novel, The Known World. That one was set in antebellum Virginia; this collection of short fiction takes place in modern Washington, DC, where his characters struggle to adapt from the routines of the rural south to city life. Jones captures the African-American experience with a wide angle lens -- he writes about the young, the old, male, and female with the same effortless sophistication of tone that leaves no room for overblown sentiment. Hear the highly praised author read from his work tomorrow the Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline | 6 pm | $2 | 617.566.6660.

9/11/2006 4:04:34 PM by Sharon | Comments [0] |  

Nora Ephron: Rocking the '80s 'do

Q: Can they be friends? A: NO.

We have no idea how many times we’ve seen . . . When Harry Met Sally. Seven? Fifty? Does it matter? Woody Allen may have perfected the romantic comedy, but Nora Ephron revamped the genre into chick-flick status — and there are a million single girls who love her for it. Screenwriter, director, and novelist, Ephron is a triple threat when it comes to conveying the highs and lows of getting older and falling in love. Her new essay collection, I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman, is a wry, analysis-free retrospective on her own life, embodying the idea that it’s okay to have hope while acting as if everything were utterly hopeless. She’ll read tomorrow at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline | 6 pm | $2 | 617.566.6660.

UNRELATED (To Literature); HIGHLY RELEVANT TO LIFE:
* SuriWatch 2006: WAY too much hair for a 4 month old. TomKitten, where'd you buy that baby?!

9/6/2006 3:27:14 PM by Sharon | Comments [0] |