"If you have never said 'Excuse me' to a parking meter or
bashed your shins on a fireplug, you are probably wasting too much
valuable reading time." ~Sherri Chasin Calvo
| April 7 2010
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Greetings!
Greetings loyal customers. This week, we try to get you out of your house and into the store by dangling in front of you some pretty interesting authors.
Now, Green Apple doesn't have the most consistent event schedule, due mostly to space limitations. But that also affords us the opportunity to be selective about which writers we invite, and this month's eclectic line-up reflects various aspects of Green Apple's overall attitude: there's laughs, philosophy, introspection, practical tips, and a little music. Details below.
Oh, and we're helping the Balboa Theater give away some tickets to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the Swedish adaptation of the bestselling mystery of the same name. Again, details below.
Next week, we'll present some good new books, including our Book of the Month, which is, only a week or so after its release, already in its fifth printing (so we're awaiting a new batch).
Oh, and our web site is here, our blog is here, we Twitter here, and our ebooks are here (for Palm, EPub for IPhones, and Adobe).
Thanks for reading.
Sincerely, Pete et al
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| Visit our new Kid's Section!
We're putting the finishing touches on our revamped children's book section on the mezzanine of the main store.
There's more space, a brand-new floor, a few kid-sized chairs and a table, and, of course, a well chosen and carefully presented selection of new and used books for young readers and those that read to them.
I have to say, spending money on a new floor is kind of counter-intuitive for Green Apple--we're not the most, ahem, aesthetically minded small business owners. So please all rush into the store at once saying how much you hate online booksellers and love Green Apple. Because really, that's our end game, here. Not just a nicer environment for the little ones. (I'd put an emoticon here, but I just can't bring myself to it).
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You're A Horrible Person but I Like You
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You're a Horrible Person but I Like You |
In association with the Believer magazine, Litquake, and the JCC, we're proud to present an evening of bad advice celebrating the publication of You're a Horrible Person, But I Like You--the Believer Book of Advice.
It's a new anthology
featuring horribly bad advice from renowned comedians from stage and
screen.
Among the
contributors appearing will be:
Larry Doyle - humorist (with the New Yorker,
Esquire and more), TV writer (The Simpsons, Beavis and Butthead),
and author (I Love You, Beth Cooper) Daniel Handler - author of three books for adults,
and a series for children under the name of Lemony Snicket. He also
plays a mean accordion. Marc Maron - Stand-up comedian who has appeared on
Conan and HBO among many other shows, radio host, author, top-rated
podcaster of WTF. Eugene Mirman - Named Best NY Comedian by the
Village Voice and one of the country's best by Paste. Has
appeared on Comedy Central as well as Flight of the
Conchords.
There will be a post-show wine reception in the atrium of the JCCSF.
Tickets are $20 and available online or by phone at 415.292.1233.
Thursday,
April 15, 8 pm
Jewish Community Center San Francisco (JCCSF)
3200 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94118
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Ten Walks/Two Talks
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Ten Walks/Two Talks | Praised by Time Out New York
as "philosophical, formally innovative and fascinating," Ten Walks/Two Talks combines a series of sixty-minute, sixty-sentence
walks around Manhattan and a pair of roving dialogues--one of which
takes place during a late-night ramble through Central Park. Join
authors
Jon Cotner and Andy Fitch as they perform excerpts from their exciting
debut. "No ordinary tour guide, Ten Walks/Two Talks
is an associative journey where scents, noises, people, and buildings
are meticulously described through the eyes of intensely attentive
explorers"
(The Architect's Newspaper).
Damion Searlswill also be on hand to read excerpts
from his profound, recently published anthology The Journal of Henry David Thoreau, 1837-1861. San Francisco's walkers and
poet-philosophers
must not miss this event!
Sunday, April 18 at 730pm
Green Apple's Granny Smith Room
506 Clement Street
SF, CA 94118
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Gonville--a memoir
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the book | In powerful and spirited prose, Peter Birkenhead recounts a childhood
spent trying to make sense of his father, a terrifying, charismatic
presence who brutalized his family physically and emotionally at the
same time that he enchanted them with his passion and whimsy. An avid
gun collector yet an anti-war activist, a popular economics professor
and a wife-swapping nudist, a leftist and a lifelong fan of the British
Empire who would occasionally don an authentic pith helmet and imitate
Michael Caine's performance as the heroic Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead
in the bloody war film Zulu, he was a man who could knock his
young son down the stairs one day and the next cry about putting the
family's aged dog to sleep.
Such is the contradictory figure at
the center of this astonishingly candid and shocking memoir. As a young
adult, Birkenhead reacted to his volatile childhood by forgetting its
worst moments. He adopted all the trappings of normalcy, threw himself
into a career as an actor, landing parts in Broadway plays like Brighton
Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound, both by Neil Simon, and
found himself often playing characters who were angry at their fathers.
Yet he discovered that he was sleepwalking through life, on occasion
falling into rages that reminded him of his father.
Then at
thirty-one, eleven years after his parents' divorce, Birkenhead told his
mother about his recurring dream of flying down the stairs of their
house as a young boy. She revealed that it wasn't a dream, but a memory
from his early childhood of being carried rapidly down the stairs by his
mom after his father had pointed a gun at them. The revelation about
the dream sparked the painful yet necessary process of examining his
childhood and of ultimately moving beyond it, forcing Birkenhead to
finally confront his father in a way that released him and his family
from this complicated legacy.
Gonville is light on its feet even as it deals in the darkest of family
tales. A harrowing and often humorous story of a son coming to terms
with his alternately charming, cruel, generous, and violent father.
Friday, April 30 at 7:00 pm
Green Apple's Granny Smith Room
506 Clement
SF, CA 94118
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| Fix It, Make It, Grow It, Bake It
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the book | In this D.I.Y. guide to the good life, readers learn how to
edit their lives, since in the long run, less is more -- pedal now or paddle
later! Readers and their families can live more joyfully and far more
creatively, all on a dime. The best things in life are free -- or very nearly
free -- and author Billee Sharp shares her freecycling, budget-savvy,
barter-better wisdom.
Based on a sensible foundation of global responsibility
and foresight for the next seven generations, Billee Sharp's philosophy is compelling.
From the radical common sense introduction to the practical how-to's and yummy
recipes, Fix It, Make It, Grow It, Bake It is a step-by-step handbook to
revolutionizing spending habits and reclaiming quality of life in the process.
Learn how to start a community garden and to seed share, ditch the grass and
raise organic veggies in the front lawn, eco-clean the house with lemons and
lavender, cure minor maladies from the kitchen cabinet, organize a
trade-for-what-you-want free flea market, and cook meals for pennies.
Saturday, May 1 at 2:00 pm
Green Apple's Granny Smith Room
506 Clement
SF, CA 94118
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Lean On Pete
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the book |
Co-owner Kevin Ryan says, "I have been a big fan of Willy Valutin's since his first
book, Motel Life. His third book, Lean on Pete, is his best (it arrives Tuesday, April 13). It is the
harrowing and heartbreaking story of a high school-aged boy in the
Portland
area who is set adrift when his father dies. With no resources and
nowhere else to go, he sets out to find an aunt who may or may not still
be in
Wyoming. Vlautin's prose is skillful without artifice, telling the
story directly and cleanly, and we ache as our protagonist tries to make
his
way in an indifferent and sometimes dangerous world."
Don't believe Kevin? How about Barry Gifford? "I love
Willy
Vlautin's novels. Downbeat and plaintive as they are, the tenderness
holds on
like the everlasting arms. Lean On Pete reminds me of the best
parts of Gus Van Sant's beautiful film My Own Private Idaho.
Willy's voice is pure and his stories universal. He never loses hope or
heart
and I believe every word he's written." Willy Vlautin is also a talented musician (a member of the indie band Richmond Fontaine). He'll bring his guitar.
Finally, I just have to say that the last time we hosted Willy Vlautin, it was the most sublime literary event I've ever attended. This promises to a be a rich Monday evening, even if you don't normally go to author events.Monday, May 3 at 7pm
at the Edinburgh Castle
950 Geary (@ Polk)
SF, CA 94109
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Movie ticket giveaway
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 Thanks to our friends at the Balboa Theater, we're giving away several pairs of tickets to a screening of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (trailer here). The tickets can be used whenever you want, as long as that movie is playing at the Balboa.
To enter, drop your name, phone number, and email address in the box at the front counter of the main store. Sorry, you can't enter electronically. No purchase necessary, of course. (But we have plenty of copies of the book and its sequel in paperback).Winner will be chosen Sunday night, April
11. Deadline to enter is 6pm that day. |
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Upcoming JCC events
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We sell books at many JCC events, and their Arts & Ideas series is a pretty reliable source of thoughtful discourse. Here are a few upcoming events at which we'll be selling books. Each date has a link to more info and tickets.
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Thanks for reading!
Sincerely,
Pete et al
Green Apple Books and Music
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