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INFO:
Check out our staff's
- We Accept AmEx, MasterCard, Visa and Discover
- Special Orders Welcome!
10% off all book purchases on your birthday
Senior Discount Tues before 4
Frequent Buyer Program - ask us for details
Free Gift Wrapping
National Gift Cards
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Don't miss the great annual LOS FELIZ VILLAGE
STREET FAIR
Sunday, June 8 (11am - 8pm)
on Vermont Avenue between Hollywood Bovd and Franklin (more info below)
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Kerry's View from the Skylight |
Dear wonderful Skylight Books supporters,
We have lots of news about the store to share with you this month:
BookExpo in Los Angeles
In the last week of May, our entire staff attended the big national book convention - BookExpo, which this year was held in L.A. Some attended seminars about better bookselling practices and ideas, some went to dinners with authors and publishers (our buyer Charles met Salman Rushdie and went to a special Prince concert at his L.A. mansion! -- Prince has a book coming out in the fall), all browsed the publisher aisles to see what hot books are coming out, and were able to talk with publishers and booksellers from around the country. They came back full of ideas and energy, so you can ask them all about it.
Staff Portraits
Check out the 'Skylight Staff Recommends" section of our website, and see Phase 1 of the terrific staff portraits done by artist Rama Hughes. There are still a few more he is working on, so the entire staff should be up soon. We are also putting them on the 'shelftalker' recommendations all around the store -- you may know someone's face, but not the name, so you can see whose recommendations most fit your personal interests.
Status - New Space Next Door
I expect by the end of June or so we will be opening the door of our new bookstore space next door! If you haven't heard, we are expanding to include a 1400 sq ft storefront next door, which will house our books on art, design, architecture, music, film, theatre, fashion, graphic novels, as well as our magazines. Next time you're in the store, ask us for a sneak preview.
LaVonne's the Zora Neale Hurston winner
at Naropa
We congratulate our staffmember, poet LaVonne Caesar, who is the recipient of the Zora Neale Hurston scholarship at the renowned 4-week Summer Writing Program at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, which awards full tuition and housing for a writer of color. Naropa was founded in 1974 by Chögyam Trungpa, Allen Ginsberg, Diane di Prima, John Cage, Jackson MacLow and current Director Anne Waldman. This year's writers include Amiri Baraka, Will Alexander, Aselm Hollo, Harryette Mullen, Daisy Zamora and more. While the scholarship covers LaVonne's tuition and living quarters for the program, she still needs to cover her own transportation, L.A. rent while on leave from the bookstore, etc. Some staffmembers did a little fundraiser for her recently, and we are also putting out a jar at the front desk to help with these expenses so she can fully participate in the program without concern.
We were on NPR's Marketplace
Hear our commentary about expanding the bookstore on May 29, 2008's "Marketplace Morning Report" on NPR: Skylight on Marketplace Morning Report! 
We thank you all for your continued support!
Kerry Slattery, General Manager
kerry@skylightbooks.com) | |
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VISIONARY HOLLYWOOD Bus Tour of Historic Spiritual Sites in the middle of L.A. |
Saturday, June 7
Departs from Skylight Books: 10:45 a.m.
Returns to Skylight Books: 3:45pm
Cost: $64 per person, lunch included
Esotouric, the bus adventure company, launches launches a new tour hosted by San Francisco-based writer Erik Davis and inspired by his acclaimed 2006 book The Visionary State. Copies of his book will be available for sale at the bookstore when the tour returns.
Visit five extraordinary destinations:
THE AETHERIUS SOCIETY, a center for cosmic consciousness and healing founded in 1955 by UFO contactee Dr. George King, where guests will hear actual recordings of an extraterrestrial voice conveying significant messages.
KROTONA APARTMENTS, a former Theosophical retreat fo, \ed in 1914, where guests will have a rare opportunity to visit the central courtyard and view the Rosicrucian window of this now-private residence.
THE MONASTERY OF THE ANGELS, a Dominican sanctuary in the Hollywood Hills, where guests will listen to the sisters' Liturgy of the Hours singing, then shop for homemade pumpkin bread, candy and crafts in their gift shop.
THE PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCH SOCIETY, founded in 1934 as a non-denominational repository for the wisdom of the world, where guests will be greeted by librarian, lecturer and author Maja D'Aoust and given a guided tour of the Society's remarkable library.
THE VEDANTA SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, founded in 1930 to bring sacred Hindu philosophy to the West, where guests will be given a presentation on the Society's history and programming, and browse in its fine gift shop.
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KING MIDDLE SCHOOL WRITERS CLUB
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Saturday, June 7 at 2:00 p.m.
Young student members of The Writer's Club of Thomas Starr King Middle School (led by teacher/poet Steve Abee) perform work here for the 12th year in a row. If you've never seen these young writers present their powerful and personal work, be sure to come. |
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JOHN DARNIELLE |
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Saturday, June 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Black Sabbath's Master of Reality (33 1/3 Series) 
JOHN DARNIELLE is the acclaimed songwriter and singer from The Mountain Goats. His column South Pole Dispatch runs monthly in Decibel magazine. This is his first novel, as well as a stunning piece of rock criticism and appreciation.book. 
Black Sabbath's Master of Reality has maintained remarkable historical status over several generations; it's a touchstone for the directionless, and common coin for young men and women who've felt excluded from the broader cultural economy. Darnielle hears it through the ears of Roger Painter, a young adult locked in a southern California adolescent psychiatric center in 1985; deprived of his Walkman and hungry for comfort, he explains Black Sabbath as one might describe air to a fish, or love to an android, hoping to convince his captors to give him back his tapes. |
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17th Annual LOS FELIZ VILLAGE STREET FAIR |
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Sunday, June 8 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The annual neighborhood street fair will be on Vermont Avenue (from Hollywood Blvd to Franklin) FREE!! 
Attractions include: 2 stages of Live musical entertainment, performing street artists, wine and beer gardens, delectable food from village restaurateurs and a midway featuring an array of colorful, eclectic, one-of-a-kind merchandise from local artists and exhibitors.
Returning for the second year in the row will be the "Green Scene" , a special interest pavilion showcasing environmentally friendly, eco-conscious and sustainable products. For the kids, there will be plenty of rides, games,moon bounces, and a magician and storyteller.
For more info, and a schedule of the performance lineup on the 2 stages: http://www.losfelizstreetfair.com/index.php
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JANELLE BROWN |
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Tuesday, June 10 at 7:30 p.m.
All We Ever Wanted Was Everything (Spiegel & Grau)
"Brown's hip narrative reads like a sharp, contemporary twist on The Corrections."
-- Publisher's Weekly
This is the first novel by essayist and journalist Brown. Her writing appears regularly in Vogue, The New York Times, Elle, Wired, Self, The Los Angeles Times, and numerous other publications. Previously, she spent five years as a senior writer at Salon, covering a diverse range of subjects -- from Internet culture to the war on drugs, pop culture to style, public policy issues and the digital music movement-- and began her career as a staff writer at Wired, working on seminal Web sites like HotWired and Wired News during the heydey of the dotcom boom. In the 1990's, she was also the editor and co-founder of Maxi, an irreverent (and now, long-gone) women's pop culture magazine. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, filmmaker Greg Harrison, and their very spoiled dog, Guster.
(photo by Margo Silver) |
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JULES ASNER |
Saturday, June 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Whacked! (Weinstein Books)
A fun summer read from Asner, who is widely recognized for her many years as the face of E! Entertainment Television, where she hosted the award-winning Revealed with Jules Asner, the Wild On! travel series, and E! News Live. She lives in New York City and Los Angeles with her husband, Steven Soderbergh.
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SKYLIGHT LITERARY SALON |
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Saturday, June 21 at 4:00 p.m.
Independent Presses Meet Independent Minds at the Skylight Salon
Yearning for witty repartée and intellectual stimulation? How about wine and hors d'œuvres? Come join us for our new monthly series, Skylight Salon, where our staff shares their faves from small presses and independent publishers. A modern-day mixer for the literary minded.
This month we feature:
Monica highlights the Europa Editions, a truly translatlantic publishing house making big lit waves.
 Justin gives much love to the Port Townsend, WA, publishing house, Feral House Press. Feral House puts out kickass, high quality non-fiction on forbidden topics.  Charles straps on some combat boots to tout the gritty wares of AK Press. Corporations stay away!
For More Info... |
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DIMESTORIES LIVE/ L.A. |
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Sunday, June 22 at 6:00 p.m.
DimeStories Live is an open mic reading of 3-minute prose pieces. It is the Live arm of the National Public Radio show DimeStories that will premiere this summer. The radio show is produced by Atlantic Public Media, the executive producer is Jay Allison, the host of This I Believe on NPR. At the Live events, the entire evening is recorded. It is impossible for all the pieces to make it on the radio show, but all the pieces will be posted as MP3s on the website www.dimestories.org.
Everyone is welcome to read at DimeStories Live. The only rules are: Each prose piece must be read by its original author, and MUST be no longer than 3 minutes. This last rule is VERY strictly enforced. Don't think of it as 3 minutes, think of it as 180 seconds.
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JONATHAN MILES |
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 Tuesday, June 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Dear American Airlines (Houghton Mifflin)" A flinty, funny, irreverent, and heartbreaking first novel. The writing reminded me of brilliant, early-days Martin Amis--except with redemption and hope."
--Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love
"There are a few simple rules for writing an effective letter of complaint. Keep it simple and straightforward. Never apologize. Include a possum-trapping scene. And always make it novel length. Anyone can do this, but only Jonathan Miles can also make it boozy and profane, honest to the glorious wretched bone, and beautiful, just beautiful."
--John Hodgman, author of The Areas of My Expertise
Jonathan Miles is the cocktails columnist for the New York Times, and his journalism, essays and literary criticism have appeared in many publications including the New York Times Book Review, GQ, the New York Observer, the Oxford American, and Men's Journal, where he is a contributing editor. His work has been included numerous times in The Best American Sports Writing and Best American Crime Writing anthologies.
Photo: Leah Overstreet |
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DOMENIC PRIORE |
Thursday, June 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Riot on Sunset Strip: Rock'n'Roll's Last Stand In Hollywood (Jawbone Press)
Domenic Priore is a writer and television producer specialising in pop culture and music. He is the author of Beatsville (with Martin McIntosh) and Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece (with forewords by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks), and was the main writer on the AMC documentaries Hollywood Rocks The Movies: The Early Years 1955-1970 (hosted by Ringo Starr) and Hollywood Rocks The Movies: The 1970s (hosted by David Bowie).
On the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles in 1965 and 1966 an electrifying scene appeared out of nowhere, exploded into creativity, and then, just as suddenly, vanished. So much remarkable music, art, and social revolution came from one place at one time, it's difficult now to grasp how it all happened. In that moment, rock'n'roll displaced movies as the centre of action in Hollywood. This book tells the story of that astonishing time. | |
