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Greetings From Politics and Prose! Author Events with Antony Beevor, Barbara Ehrenreich, and more
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Shortcut Bar: Click below to skip to popular destinations |
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UPCOMING EVENTS - 10 DAY SUMMARY |
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Click here for our events calendar. |
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Thursday October 15 Friday October 16 Saturday October 17 Monday October 19 Wednesday October 21 |
Thursday October 22 Friday October 23 Saturday October 24 TICKETS ON SALE NOW |
LETTER FROM CARLA & BARBARA |
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DINNER WITH THE AUTHOR: Tom Gjelten -- Thursday, October 29, 7:30 p.m.
And speaking of the Children's Department, we would like to recognize Sylvan Bongi, whom many of you know from his skillful recommendations for young adult readers. He was recently interviewed by The Enchanted Inkpot, a website for
fantasy readers. He eloquently describes some of his favorite books and the experience of working at Politics & Prose. Read the interview by clicking here! THE ADVENT OF THE E-BOOK Two weeks ago we wrote about Politics and Prose's concerns and hopes vis-à-vis the new technology. We would like to quote from portions of letters from five customers who wrote thoughtful comments and provided us with invaluable feedback: Deborah Brightwell, Sue Murrin, Terri Dixon, Craig and Alison Field, and Philip Webre. We hope this discussion will continue. Write to 25@politics-prose.com and both of us will get your email. The question on everybody’s minds - authors, publishers, booksellers - is how the e-book will develop and how much of the market share it will represent in, say, a decade.Naturally, we think that the book – the codex – is the most perfect artifact ever invented - the most beautiful, the most convenient. We love our shelves lined with friends we have met and with whom we hope to reacquaint ourselves again on a rainy day in the future. But we do understand the environmental argument, as well as the convenience argument for the e-reader. What we don’t know yet is how quickly people will shift, whether readers will continue to read in both ways, or whether there are some books that will work better on e-readers than others. Click here for readers responses. VOTE FOR US! |
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CARLA COMMENTS | |
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On the table at the front of the store, we have a display of 50 of our favorite books during the past 25 years – 25 fiction and 25 nonfiction. There is also a list on the webpage. Our hope was that people would rediscover some of the books that we have loved, many of which only sell infrequently now. Some on our list have obviously piqued your interest and others have been less successful. So I want to say more about five of them today: George Packer -- Assassin’s Gate, David Remnick -- King of the World, David Maraniss – Clemente, Chang Rae Lee – A Gesture Life; and Ursula Hegi – Stones from the River. Click here for descriptions. George Packer’s Assassin’s Gate is the single best book about how the U.S. fell into the Iraq War and what happened when we got there. George is going to be at the store on November 18 for his new book of essays, Interesting Times. You can read Assassin’s Gate before he comes and ask him questions. Among our fiction selections, Chang Rae Lee’s A Gesture Life is very sad, yes, but also so very beautiful. Many Americans aren't aware of how the Japanese treated Koreans when they occupied Korea between 1905 and World War II. Lee’s book portrays with extreme sensitivity how that tragic time played out for an emigrant to Westchester County. (A lovely new novel, The Calligrapher’s Daughter by Eugenia Kim also concerns that occupation and Korean dignity). Chang Rae Lee has a new book coming out early next year. Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi was an enormous bestseller fifteen years ago, and not only because it was one of the first books adopted by Oprah for her book club. Hegi, who grew up in Germany, wrote about Nazi terror from the point of view of Germans. She’s written other good fiction, but none that so captured people’s imagination as this book about the residents of a small German town. | |
COMING NOW TO YOUR FAVORITE BOOKSTORE |
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If you can’t attend a talk, but would like to reserve a signed copy, or a recorded author talk,
Thursday October 15 7 p.m. Antony Beevor, the eminent World War II historian and author of Stalingrad, The Battle for Spain, and The Fall of Berlin 1945, here turns his attention to D-Day and the Normandy invasion. While military casualties were on a par with those of the Eastern front (Anglo-American losses were some 2,000 men per division per month after D-Day), Beevor notes that civilian deaths were also high, with more than 3,000 French civilians killed in the first 24 hours of Operation Overlord. This vivid account supplements its grisly statistics with many telling descriptions of the events from participants and frank assessments of the strategies and behavior of the military leaders involved. It continues the narrative through to the liberation of Paris. Friday October 16 4 p.m. Denis MacShane, a British MP and chairman of the All-Party Commission of Enquiry into Anti-Semitism, argues that we are now facing an ideological assault based on hatred of Jews that threatens universal values, world peace, and even anti-poverty programs and environmental change initiatives. MacShane considers how anti-Semitism has become a linking mechanism between different extremisms; how it operates in national party politics and in the European Parliament; and how Holocaust denial has hardened into an organized ideological position. Globalising Hatred is both a cri de coeur for a new tolerance and an attempt to throw light on a form of hatred that mobilizes politics across many continents. 7 p.m. Barbara Ehrenreich has turned American optimism on its head in this savvy piece of cultural criticism, Bright-Sided. She argues that optimism is "the American ideology" and is used to promote growth through capitalism. When institutions demand that their employees not dwell on bad news, real disasters can result from unreadyness. Examples of this are the warnings about terrorism before 9/11 and the reports of New Orleans's vulnerability to weather events. Ehrenreich blames the epidemic of positive thinking for our current economic woes. Saturday October 17 1 p.m. Rich Benjamin, a fellow at Demos, a nonprofit think-tank supporting an equitable economy and inclusive democracy, made a 27,000-mile journey around the United States to test the premise that America is a post-racial society. In Searching For Whitopia, he describes that his road-trip revealed a country more divided by class than by race, but still pervaded by structural racism. 6 p.m. Tim Flannery has been a leader in efforts to change human behavior to avoid planetary catastrophe. In Now Or Never, Flannery says, “In the next forty to ninety years humanity will exceed …the capacity of Earth to supply our needs, thereby greatly exacerbating the risk of widespread starvation.” In the coming decades, the Earth’s climate system will pass a point of no return. Why are we failing to cut back on consumption and live in a more sustainable manner?
Sunday October 18 1 p.m. Allison Silberberg has worked unceasingly to bring wider attention to the stories of courageous and innovative Visionaries In Our Midst who have made a big difference in their communities. She hopes that sharing the experiences of people who have made “something happen…who innovate and work to build a better life for others,” will inspire and guide those also working for community change. 5 p.m. Since the release of I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets, Paul Karasik has archived even more of Fletcher Hank’s brutally surreal comics. In You Shall Die By Your Own Evil Creation, he presents a second sampling of Hank’s work. An expansive introduction offers details on the artist’s personal life and includes some of the incredible early drawings Hank made as assignments for a cartooning correspondence school. Monday October 19 7 p.m. Robert Lacey’s Inside The Kingdom is a firsthand modern history of Saudi Arabia. He lived there during the 1970s, during which he witnessed the growth of the oil boom and a developing clash of modernity and technology with traditional ways of life. Lacey offers insight into a complex country. How the Saudis resolve the tension between their particular heritage and a rapidly changing world has wide-reaching consequences. Tuesday October 20 7 p.m. The music critic for The New Republic, David Hajdu joins Leon Wieseltier, the magazine’s literary editor, for a discussion of jazz, pop, movies, comics, and all manner of things cultural. As in Hajdu's books The Ten-Cent Plague and Positively 4th Street, this wide-ranging collection of essays, Heroes And Villains, combines deep knowledge of popular art with its socio-historical context. Along with pieces on Elmer Fudd, Woody Guthrie, Ray Charles, and others, the book features a profile of Billy Eckstine which celebrates not just his talent but the daring presentation of sex appeal and black machismo that tested the limits of a racially-segregated country and transformed American music. Wednesday October 21 10:30 a.m. Now in London, Sophie, Josh, and the immortal Nicholas Flamel have barely escaped capture by Machiavelli and John Dee. Meanwhile, the Sorceress Perenelle is still a prisoner on Alcatraz, about to undergo a deadly test of her powers. Flamel seeks the only man with the knowledge necessary to save himself and the Twins of Legend from the plots of Machiavelli, Dee, and the Dark Elders: Gilgamesh, the 5,000-year-old King of Uruk. Ages 11-16. 4:30 p.m. at Bethesda Library If you can't attend in the morning, Michael Scott will also offer an afternoon reading and signing.
7 p.m. In America's Prophet, Bruce Feiler (Walking the Bible) traces the importance and the influence of Moses on American politics and rhetoric from the founding fathers to Martin Luther King, Jr. Among the many instances of the influence of Exodus on American thought, he points to the pilgrims’ taking inspiration from 40 years in the wilderness and to the words engraved on the Liberty Bell. Thursday October 22 4:30 p.m. A DUAL AUTHOR EVENT FOR TEENS In a world populated with both mechanical and organic people, Lia must find her place. Crashed follows Skinned as the second book by Robin Wasserman in a futuristic series featuring an alternative society that sets new rules about the ethics of life and death. Ages 14-18. 7 p.m. Judith Jones, the great Knopf editor who played an instrumental role in bringing Julia Child’s recipes to American cooks, follows her memoir, The Tenth Muse, with a useful cookbook, The Pleasures Of Cooking For One, about taking care of and nurturing yourself. After her husband died, Jones taught herself how to cook and savor a good meal for one. "This book is for those of you who want to roll up your sleeves and enjoy, from day to day, one of the great satisfactions of life." Friday October 23 10:30 a.m. Deborah Heiligman tells the story of Charles and Emma. Charles Darwin and Emma Wedgwood were a devoted married couple who had ten children. Emma was devoutly religious and worried that she and Charles would be separated in the afterlife. Her fundamentalism, and the similar beliefs of others at the time, made Charles reluctant to publish his On the Origin of Species. It wasn't until an American wrote an essay with a theory similar to his theories that Charles realized he must publish his controversial ideas. Ages 12-16.
1 p.m. Come meet Tina Wasserman, food columnist for Reform Judaism magazine, who will be in the store signing copies of her Entrée To Judaism Cookbook and discussing ways food informs the histories and traditions of the great Jewish Diaspora communities. Tina will provide complimentary sweet treats to accompany coffee. 7 p.m. Steven V. Roberts, a journalist, explores the experience of immigration by tracking the fortunes of thirteen families who have recently come to the United States From Every End Of This Earth. He captures the voices of those living the promise of a new land—and the difficulties of starting over among strangers whose suspicions increasingly outweigh their open-armed acceptance. The impetus for Roberts’s book is his own immigrant roots; he talks about his Grandpa Abe, who arrived almost 100 years ago and writes that today, "America is still renewed by fresh transfusions of foreign blood." Saturday October 24 1 p.m. With his co-author, Senator Christopher Bond, Lewis M. Simons, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, argues in The Next Front that Southeast Asia, and especially Indonesia, will be the next hot spot in the war on terror. The authors propose that the U.S., having lost credibility with failed military efforts in the Middle East deploy “smart power” - civilians, instead of soldiers - to defuse anger and create alternatives to violent movements. 6 p.m. Haleh Esfandiari’s 2006 visit to her mother in Tehran turned into a harrowing eight months of interrogations, phone taps, and solitary confinement in Evin Prison as Iranian authorities tried to prove she was part of an American conspiracy working for regime change. In My Prison, My Home, Esfandiari, Director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center, interweaves her experience as a political prisoner with the larger history of relations between America and Iran, and speculates on what may lie ahead for Iran. Sunday October 25 1 p.m. Now in its third edition, Paul Dickson’s compendium THE Dickson Baseball Dictionary is the authoritative guide to the language of our national pastime. What’s the difference between a “cut fastball” and a “four-seam fastball”? Where did “fungo” come from? Dickson traces sources, first usages, and etymologies of familiar (and not so familiar) baseball terms, with many insights into the game’s history along the way. Including more than 10,000 definitions and 250 photographs, the current volume has doubled in size from the original. 5 p.m. In The Dead Hand, David Hoffman, a Washington Post journalist, tells the gripping story of the secret negotiations and diplomatic maneuvers between Washington and Moscow to end the arms race. Together, the United States and the Soviet Union recognized it was in their common interest to keep nuclear and biological weapons out of the hands of rogue states. TICKETS ON SALE NOW: Thursday, November 5 7 p.m. at GW Lisner Auditorium - Former vice president and environmental leader Al Gore has conducted "Solutions Summits" with top scientists, engineers, and policy experts to search for ways of dealing with the climate change crisis. OUR CHOICE draws on conclusions developed through those summits as well as on extensive research, describing how the choices necessary to save the Earth can be the foundations of policies to create new jobs and stimulate sustainable economic progress. Click here to buy the book and receive 2 free tickets or purchase individual tickets for $10 each. To see the complete schedule in calendar form, click here, |
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P&P CUSTOMERS ARE ALSO INVITED TO... | |
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Thursday, October 15, 2:30 p.m.
Thursday October 15, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 15, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, October 16, 7:30 p.m.
October 18 - 28
On Thursday, October 22nd at 7:30 p.m., Past Imperfect: New Jewish Fiction - will feature acclaimed novelists Binnie Kirshenbaum, Jonathon Keats and Norah Labiner. The Literary Festival is offering FREE TICKETS to the first 5 people who send an email to litfest@washingtondcjcc.org with the name of their favorite Jewish novelist. Sunday, October 18, 3 p.m.
Monday, October 19, 7 p.m.
Monday, October 19, 7 p.m.
Monday, October 19, 7:30 p.m.
National Geographic Live Tuesday, October 20, 7 p.m. Friendship Heights Village Center Tuesday, October 20, 7:30 p.m. National Geographic Live Wednesday, October 21, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, October 21, 7 p.m.
Monday, October 26, 7 p.m. Washington Post Conference Center Monday, October 26, 7:30 p.m. Folger Shakespeare Library Wednesday, October 28, 7:30 p.m.
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P&P BESTSELLERS | |
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#1 FICTION: THE CHILDREN'S BOOK by A.S. Byatt
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NEW IN PAPERBACK | |
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Click FICTION or NON-FICTION to browse a complete list of recent paperback releases. LOVE IN INFANT MONKEYS by Lydia Millet
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FROM THE CHILDREN AND TEENS' DEPARTMENT | |
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Stop by the store to see our wide selection of Halloween books.
Lisa Chapin-Hobbes hosts story time for young children every Monday morning at 10:30 a.m.
BOOKMARK CONTEST WINNERS For October events and more from the Children and Teens' Department, click here. | |
MARKDOWN BOOKS | |
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This week we have some small books that make big claims. First, THE INTELLECTUAL DEVOTIONAL: Revive Your Mind, Complete Your Education and Roam Confidently with the Cultured Class. Put together by David Kidder and Noah Oppenheim, this compendium of 365 lessons is modeled on the spiritual tradition of daily devotionals, offering a bit of knowledge or wisdom to reflect on for each day of the year. It ensures a well-rounded reader by offering selections from seven different fields of knowledge, so that each week you learn something about history, literature, the visual arts, science, music, philosophy, and religion. The entries are easily digestible and substantial—good for quick reference (the book is indexed) as well as a systematic program. For the specialist, Kidder and Oppenheim have put together a second, more focused volume, THE INTELLECTUAL DEVOTIONAL: Modern Culture. Organized along the same principle of one reading per day, covering seven fields of interest, this book presents nuggets of wisdom concerning personalities, literature, music, film, ideas and trends, sports, and pop. It all starts with Sigmund Freud; touches on penicillin, baseball cards, affirmative action, and Patti Smith; and wraps up with J.K. Rowling. Available in hardcover, $6.98 each. This week, we also have more titles from the wonderful New York Review Books classics series, Click here to browse more recently arrived remainders.
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MUSIC NEWS | |
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Gramophone Awards |
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BOOK GROUPS | |
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BOOK GROUPS Modern Japanese Literature (Swarthmore) Spanish Language Bookgroup Daytime Fiction Bookgroup Fascinating History Bookgroup | |
ANNOUNCEMENTS | |
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P&P ENVIRONMENTAL BOAT TOUR Saturday, October 24, 10-11:30 a.m. Car pools will depart from Politics & Prose at 9:30 a.m. Space is limited to 12 persons. Teens and adults welcome! Politics & Prose’s Climate Action Project is sponsoring this tour. Please contact CAP member, Nina Dodge, ndodge53@gmail.com, with questions and RSVPs. GOURMET TODAY COOKBOOK OFFER Customers who buy the new Gourmet Today cook book are entitled to a free one year subscription to Gourmet Magazine. However… you probably have heard that the magazine is ceasing to be. So: “In place of Gourmet, purchasers of the Gourmet Today cook book will be eligible to receive a one-year subscription to Bon Appetit magazine. If you already subscribe to Bon Appetit your subscription will be extended.” If you buy, or have recently bought Gourmet Today just fill out the label on the back flap as currently instructed, and the process will be automatic.
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NEWS FROM THE COFFEEHOUSE | |
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Express Night Out - Best Indie Coffeeshop & Best Place to Get Work Done Put us down as a write-in candidate for Best Indie Coffeeshop and then VOTE for P&P as Best Place to Get Work Done (don't know why we weren't the official candidate for that), Best Indie Bookstore, and Best Spot for Readings. Come on, let's sweep all four categories! Vote here until Oct 16. Here's a couple things we do here that makes us different from the other candidates: 1) We make our own chocolate syrup for hot cocoa: just cooked chocolate, cream, and sugar. have you noticed anything different about the coffeehouse? It's so amazing that this is happening! I'm writing this at 11:40 p.m., an hour into phase 1 of the installation of a new counter. It felt so good to give that old counter a karate kick once the crew had cut it from the wall. I have never witnessed an actual work crew in here; it's so surreal to see plastic sheets covering furniture and uncovering parts of the floor untouched for I don't know how many years. This is huge! We came in here the day Sirius Coffee Co. ceased to exist, stayed up all night scrubbing and moving in our equipment and opened the next day. Not a seamless transition, but pretty close - we made it work. This is the first time any big structural changes have been made to the shop. The wood for the counter comes from a site Sandor Slager (Slager, Inc.) - our designer/builder/contractor/long time customer/winner of the Murch School Auction year of free coffee/friend - is working on - old floor boards, I believe, from a property on Jenifer St. Thanks to him and his crew for making this happen. The next phase will probably be the back wall, where the espresso machine sits, and finally the front counter. We believe it feels warmer and more inviting in here already. Read more news from the coffeehouse on the Modern Times blog. | |
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Politics & Prose Bookstore and Coffeehouse 5015 Connecticut Avenue NW Washington, DC 20008 (202) 364-1919 or (800) 722-0790 Fax: (202) 966-7532 |
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