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Greetings From Politics and Prose!
E-mail for the Week of October 21
Author Events with V.S. Naipaul, Edwidge Daniticat,
Dinaw Mengestu, and Joseph Ellis
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Shortcut Bar: Click below to skip to popular destinations
Letter from Barbara |
Booknotes
New In Paperback | Bestsellers
Upcoming Events |
Children and Teens
Markdown Books | Music | Book Groups | Coffeehouse
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UPCOMING EVENTS IN BRIEF |
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Thursday October 21
10:30 a.m. Leslie Margolis - Girl's Best Friend
7 p.m. Edwidge Danticat - Create Dangerously
7 p.m. V.S. Naipaul - The Masque Of Africa @ Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
7 p.m. Chris Kimball - Fannie's Last Supper @ Friendship Heights Village Community Center
Friday October 22
7 p.m. Dinaw Mengestu - How to Read the Air
Saturday October 23
1 p.m. Robert Shogan - Prelude to Catastrophe
3:30 p.m. Matt Stewart - The French Revolution
6 p.m. Phil Trupp - Ruthless
Sunday October 24
5 p.m. Judy Pasternak - Yellow Dirt
Monday October 25
10:30 a.m.Jacqueline Woodson - Locomotion
7 p.m. Myla Goldberg - The False Friend
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Tuesday October 26
7 p.m. Curtis Wilkie - The Fall of the House of Zeus
Wednesday October 27
7 p.m. Joseph Ellis - First Family
Thursday October 28
10:30 a.m. Brian Lies - Bats at the Ballpark
7 p.m. Alan Riding - And the Show Went On
Friday October 29
7 p.m. Lan Samantha Chang - All is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost
Saturday October 30
10:30 a.m. The Good Fun! Book
1 p.m. Douglas R. Egerton - Year of Meteors
6 p.m. Allison Leotta - Law of Attraction |
LETTER FROM BARBARA |
This has been a sad time since Carla's death last week, and we thank our many friends, customers, and colleagues in the book industry for their thoughtful tributes and condolences written on our web page. Reading through some of the anecdotes, I am continually reminded how many aspects there were to Carla and about the abundance and variety of her talents. Some of you have asked to see the eulogies presented at the funeral, so we have posted them online here.
We wish to publicly thank our business neighbors: Jackie Sunday at the Chevy Chase Gallery, for her mounting and framing of Carla's obituaries, and James Alefantis, owner of Comet Ping Pong and Buck's Fishing and Camping on our block, for his generous supply of pizza, wings, and salads to our staff.
We also want everyone to know that we have set a date, Sunday, November 21, for an occasion to commemorate Carla by celebrating her life and the books that she loved. The time of day is still not fixed, so please check our website later for details.
But as she would wish, the business of the store and our event schedule continues as usual. We are pleased to welcome both Edwidge Danticat here tonight and V.S. Naipaul at Sixth & I; local talents who have become nationally celebrated authors: Dinaw Mengestu tomorrow and Myla Goldberg on Monday; esteemed historian Joseph Ellis; and many more. Read on or click here to see more about our upcoming events.
Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival
This week please join Politics & Prose at the DCJCC, when the Hyman S. & Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival, October 17-27, presents the year's best in Jewish writing by both emerging and established authors from across the globe. This annual celebration of Jewish literature features engaging author panels, readings and talks for lovers of fiction, history, politics, humor, children's stories and much more.
This year's Festival includes acclaimed novelists Allegra Goodman and Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, and features Jerry Muller's provocative book, Capitalism and the Jews and Sean Wilentz's acclaimed new biography, Bob Dylan in America. The Festival will screen the documentary on Arab-Israeli writer Sayed Kashua, welcome families with children's author Laurel Snyder, and laugh with Joel Chasnoff, author of the memoir The 188th Crybaby Brigade. Don't miss any of its exciting programs.
For more information and to purchase tickets go to http://washingtondcjcc.org/litfest or call (202) 777-3251.
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TICKETED EVENTS ON SALE NOW |
P&P will co-host these events at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue. When you purchase these books from P&P, you will receive two free admission tickets. Space permitting we will also sell books with tickets at the door. Book signings and Q&A will follow each author talk. Click the links below for more information and to buy your books and/or admission tickets today!
Thursday, October 21, 7 p.m.
V.S. NAIPAUL -THE MASQUE OF AFRICA: Glimpses of African Belief (Knopf, $26.95)
- Tickets and books will be available for sale at the door
From Uganda to Ghana and Nigeria, around the Ivory Coast and Gabon, and on to South Africa, the Nobel laureate's latest work of travel and culture looks at the role of belief throughout the African continent. Considering native faiths based in animism as well as religions introduced from other areas of the world, Naipaul has synthesized a wide range of history, practices, and peoples to tell one more portion of the larger story of human civilization. V.S. Naipaul will appear in conversation with his editor, George Andreou.
Wednesday, November 17, 7 p.m.
SALMAN RUSHDIE - Luka and the Fire of Life (Random House, $25)
- Pre-purchase Now - Available Nov. 16
With the same imagination that has made Salman Rushdie one of the great storytellers of our time, Luka and the Fire of Life revisits the magic-infused, intricate world he first brought to life in the modern classic Haroun and the Sea of Stories.
This new novel centers on Luka, Haroun's younger brother, who must save his father from certain doom by traveling to the Magic World and stealing the Fire of Life. Thus begins a quest full of unlikely creatures, strange alliances, and seemingly insurmountable challenges as Luka and an assortment of enchanted companions race through peril after peril, pass through the land of the Badly Behaved Gods, and reach the Fire itself, where Luka's fate, and that of his father, will be decided. Filled with mischievous wordplay and delving into themes as universal as the power of filial love and the meaning of mortality, Luka and the Fire of Life is a book of wonders for all ages.
Please note: From the day the books are released until the day of the event, ticket-holders may collect their books and tickets at P&P. On the day of the event, books and tickets will only be available for Will Call at 6 p.m. at Sixth & I. Signed books may be shipped after the event.
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BESTSELLERS |
All Politics & Prose Weekly Hardcover Bestsellers are 20% off for Members.
Click here to receive the benefits of Politics & Prose membership.
Click the book titles for more information about these featured books.
FICTION
- To the End of the Land, by David Grossman (Knopf, $26.95)
- Great House, by Nicole Krauss (W. W. Norton, $24.95)
- Our Kind of Traitor, by John le Carré (Viking, $27.95)
- Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $28)
- Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary, by David Sedaris, illus. by Ian Falconer (Little, Brown, $21.99)
- Nemesis, by Philip Roth (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $26)
- Djibouti, by Elmore Leonard (William Morrow, $26.99)
- The Reversal, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown, $27.99)
- Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self, by Danielle Evans (Riverhead, $25.95)
- The Charming Quirks of Others: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel, by Alexander McCall Smith (Pantheon, $24.95)
- Painted Ladies, by Robert B. Parker (Putnam, $26.95)
- Room, by Emma Donoghue (Little, Brown, $24.99)
Click here for our fiction paperback bestsellers.
NONFICTION
- Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family, by Condoleezza Rice (Crown, $27)
- The Grace of Silence: A Memoir, by Michele Norris (Pantheon, $24.95)
- Madison and Jefferson, by Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein (Random House, $35)
- Obama's Wars, by Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster, $30)
- The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood, by Jane Leavy (HarperCollins, $27.99)
- Washington: A Life, by Ron Chernow (Penguin, $40)
- At Home: A Short History of Private Life, by Bill Bryson (Doubleday, $28.95)
- The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration, by Isabel Wilkerson (Random House, $30)
- The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean, by Susan Casey (Doubleday, $27.95)
- The Grand Design, by Leonard Mlodinow and Stephen Hawking (Bantam, $28)
- Travels in Siberia, by Ian Frazier (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $30)
- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race, by Jon Stewart (Grand Central, $27.99)
Click here for our non-fiction paperback bestsellers.
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SIGNED CDS |
We have LONELY AVENUE deluxe CDs (Nonesuch, $23.98), signed by both writer Nick Hornby and musician Ben Folds. The deluxe CD comes slip-cased in a small hardback book containing four short stories by Hornby, and color photographs by Joel Meyerowitz. The CD contains lyrics by Hornby and music by Folds. Click here to purchase now!
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NEW IN PAPERBACK |
The Road, by Vasily Grossman, trans. Robert Chandler (NYRB Classics, $15.95)
A Good Fall, by Ha Jin (Vintage, $15)
Click FICTION or NONFICTION to see and buy more recently released paperbacks.
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COMING NOW TO YOUR FAVORITE BOOKSTORE |
If you can't attend a talk, but would like to reserve a signed copy or a recorded author talk, click the title links to purchase online. P&P members save 20% on these author event titles.
Thursday October 21
Leslie Margolis - Girl's Best Friend
10:30 a.m. Maggie loves walking dogs after school—it makes up for the woes of middle school and having a twin brother. But then she notices that dogs are disappearing, and as she delves into the mystery, it looks like the boy she has a crush on could be involved. (Ages 10-12)
Edwidge Danticat - Create Dangerously
7 p.m. Taking her title from an essay by Camus, the award-winning Haitian-American writer (Brother, I'm Dying) combines memoir and cultural criticism to look at the lives and work of immigrants from countries in crisis. She focuses on renowned figures, like Jean-Michel Basquiat, and on her own relatives—victims of AIDS and political violence.
V.S. Naipaul - The Masque of Africa @ Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
7 p.m. From Uganda to Ghana and Nigeria, around the Ivory Coast and Gabon, and on to South Africa, the Nobel laureate's latest work of travel and culture looks at the role of belief throughout the African continent. Considering native faiths based in animism as well as religions introduced from other areas of the world, Naipaul has synthesized a wide range of history, practices, and peoples to tell one more portion of the larger story of human civilization. V.S. Naipaul will appear in conversation with his editor, George Andreou.
This is a ticketed event. Two admission tickets are free with book purchase at the door or are $12 each without the book.
Chris Kimball - Fannie's Last Supper @ Friendship Heights Village Community Center
7 p.m. Chris Kimball is back with his own cookbook. He reexamines and updates the great American Victorian cooking of Fannie Farmer, including an extravagant 12-course Christmas dinner. Please call 301-656-2797 to sign up.
Friday October 22
Dinaw Mengestu - How to Read the Air
7 p.m. Awarded the Guardian First Book Prize for The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, his novel of newly arrived Africans in D.C., Mengestu here expands on themes of family and belonging. Attempting to forge a future by discovering—or inventing—a past, Jonas, the adult son of Ethiopian immigrants, retraces his parents' journey to and around America.
Saturday October 23
Robert Shogan - Prelude to Catastrophe
1 p.m. In his latest historical analysis, the author of Backlash and No Sense of Decency examines what actions, if any, American Jews in FDR's administration took as the Nazis implemented the Final Solution. Concentrating on a few figures close to Roosevelt, Shogan looks for explanations to American Jewry's seeming indifference to the plight of Jews in Europe.
Matt Stewart - The French Revolution
3:30 p.m. The product of 3,700 tweets, Stewart's fast-paced, satirical novel is set in San Francisco and focuses on Esmerelda van Twinkle, former pastry chef, and her family. Her husband disappears, but her sons Marat and Robespierre grow up to find success in the criminal underworld and politics, respectively.
Phil Trupp - Ruthless
6 p.m. Trupp's first-hand account of auction-rate securities combines his experience as an investor with his investigative skills as a reporter. One of many investors advised in 2008 to put money in "cash equivalents" that brokers knew would fail, Trupp exposes a $336 billion scam, tells the stories of other victims, and shows how investors can band together to reclaim their assets.
Sunday October 24
Judy Pasternak - Yellow Dirt
5 p.m. Expanding on her prize-winning Los Angeles Times series, Pasternak tells the story of Monument No. 2, an extensive uranium deposit discovered in the early 1940s on the Navajo reservation. Mined heavily through the Cold War and after, with few safety measures in place, the area has suffered severe environmental damage; the adverse health effects of radioactive soil and water continue.
Monday October 25
Jacqueline Woodson - Locomotion
10:30 a.m. Woodson's writing has won numerous awards, and now her beloved novel has been adapted for the stage and is scheduled to be performed at the Kennedy Center. The story focuses on Lonnie Collins Motion, whose parents died when he was seven. At age 12, he's living in a foster home, sees his sister for only an hour a week, and is learning to write poetry in order to make sense of his feelings and his world. (Ages 10-12).
Myla Goldberg - The False Friend
7 p.m. The third novel from the author of Bee Season is a compelling story of friendship, betrayal, and memory. Best friends, ten-year-old Celia and Djuna also fight a lot. When Djuna disappears during a hike in the woods, Celia claims the girl was forced into a stranger's car. Twenty years later, Celia admits she lied. But no one believes her new story. What really happened that day?
Tuesday October 26
Curtis Wilkie - The Fall of the House of Zeus
7 p.m. Dickie Scruggs, brother-in-law of Trent Lott and hero of the film The Insider, enjoyed a spectacular career as a tort lawyer, successfully prosecuting Big Tobacco and the asbestos industry. His fall was equally stupendous. Wilkie chronicles Scruggs’s high-flying days and the political maneuvering that eventually led to his conviction for conspiring to bribe a judge.
Wednesday October 27
Joseph Ellis - First Family
7 p.m. From the award-winning author of Founding Brothers and American Sphinx, this portrait of John and Abigail Adams is also an insightful history of the republic’s early years. Frequently separated as John attended the Continental Congresses in Philadelphia and as he later served as minister to the court in France, the couple exchanged an extensive correspondence, and Ellis has mined this trove for telling details of the events of the day.
Thursday October 28
Brian Lies - Bats at the Ballpark
10:30 a.m. “Hurry up! Come one – come all! We’re off to watch the bats play ball!” It’s time for baseball, and you’re invited to stay up all night. Grab some Cricket Jack and watch while the bats swing and strike out and swoop toward home in their biggest game of the season. This third book in Brian Lies’s (Bats at the Beach, Bats at the Library) picture book series is another rhyming read-aloud with hilarious illustrations. (Ages 4-7)
Alan Riding - And the Show Went On
7 p.m. The arts thrived in Nazi-occupied Paris. Between June 1940 and the war’s end, some 200 French films were made; theatres, nightclubs, and opera houses stayed open; writers from Céline to Camus and Sartre continued to publish. Was this a victory for French culture, or a dangerous abdication of moral leadership by those in a position to influence the larger society? Riding’s fascinating study raises important questions.
Friday October 29
Lan Samantha Chang - All is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost
7 p.m. In her third work of fiction, Chang (Inheritance, Hunger), director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, tells the life of a contemporary poet, from MFA workshops to the Pulitzer Prize. This kunstleroman also considers the relationships between academia and art and between older professors and young, eager students, and tries to find the line between dedication and cutthroat ambition.
Saturday October 30
The Good Fun! Book
10:30 a.m. A former teacher, Duncan provides guidelines for twelve months of community-service parties--projects geared to assist elementary-school children in helping animals, the environment, and the wider locale.
Douglas R. Egerton - Year of Meteors
1 p.m. Egerton, author of Death or Liberty, brings his skills as both historian and political journalist to this study of Lincoln’s route to the White House. A dark horse candidate who wasn’t his own party’s first choice, Lincoln won the 1860 election thanks to a combination of factors, primarily the Democratic Party’s split over slavery.
Allison Leotta - Law of Attraction
6 p.m. In her first novel, Leotta, a federal sex-crimes prosecutor and Harvard Law School graduate, writes about what she knows. Her protagonist is Anna Curtis, a young assistant U.S. Attorney representing a victim of domestic violence. When her client recants and is later murdered, Anna find her professional and personal lives dangerously tangled.
To see the complete schedule and to purchase any of the above books, click here.
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P&P CUSTOMERS ARE ALSO INVITED TO. . . |
Wednesday, October 27, 7 p.m.
Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
600 I Street, NW
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown
MICHELLE COVE
SEEKING HAPPILY EVER AFTER: Navigating the ups and downs of being single without losing your mind (and finding lasting love along the way) (Tarcher, $16.95)
There are more single women in their thirties today than at any other time in history. Why now? Are women redefining happily ever after? Filmmaker Michelle Cove will share her documentary (running time: 80 minutes) and its companion book, in which you'll meet women eager to debunk the stereotypes that they are either desperate to get married or too career-driven to care about marriage. These women drop their guard and share the ups and downs of being single today.
Tickets are $8, or receive two (2) FREE tickets with the purchase of the book ($17) through Sixth & I. Questions? Please call 202.408.3100.
Monday, November 1, 7:30 p.m.
Folger Elizabethan Theatre
201 East Capitol Street, S.E.
PEN/Faulkner Presents
LAN SAMANTHA CHANG
ALL IS FORGOTTEN, NOTHING IS LOST (Norton, $23.95)
SAMANTHA HUNT
THE INVENTION OF EVERYTHING ELSE (Mariner, $13.95)
Admired for their ingenious prose and arresting narratives, two contemporary writers read from new work.
Lan Samantha Chang is the author of two novels, All Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Lost and Inheritance, as well as a story collection Hunger. She has been awarded the Southern Review Fiction Prize, the PEN/Beyond Margins Prize for Fiction, and was a finalist for a Los Angeles Times Book Award. Her stories have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Ploughshares, and The Best American Short Stories. She is a professor of creative writing at the University of Iowa and Director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop.
Samantha Hunt's second novel, The Invention of Everything Else, was a finalist for the Orange Prize and winner of the Bard Fiction Prize. Her first novel, The Seas, won a National Book Foundation award for writers under thirty-five. Hunt's fiction has been published in The New Yorker, McSweeney's, and other publications. She lives in Tivoli, New York and teaches at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.
Click here to buy $15 tickets.
Monday, November 1, 7:30 p.m.
National Geographic Society
1600 M Street, NW
KAREN KOSTYAL
GREAT MIGRATIONS (National Geographic, $35)
This fall, National Geographic Channel's Great Migrations seven-part global television event will take viewers around the world to follow the arduous journeys millions of animals undertake to ensure survival of their species. Shot from land and air, in trees and cliff blinds, on ice floes and underwater, Great Migrations tells formidable, powerful stories of the planet's species and their movements across seven continents. To mark this historic programming series, NGC producer David Hamlin will join filmmaker Andy Casagrande and cinematographer Robert Poole to describe the challenges and technological breakthroughs involved in creating a global experience in breathtaking, high-definition clarity. Post-film discussion moderated by Karen Kostyal, author of the series companion book.
Click here for $18 tickets (NG Members: $16).
Saturday, November 6, 12 p.m.
National Geographic Society
1600 M Street, NW
TIM LAMAN
FACE TO FACE WITH ORANGUTANS (National Geographic, $16.95)
Photojournalist and scientist Tim Laman spends much of his time in the rain forests of Borneo, where he has gotten friendly with a number of amazing animal species. Among his favorites is the orangutan, a particularly intelligent primate known as the "old man of the woods." In his lively presentation, Laman will share images of orangutans and other rainforest dwellers, and take you into the treetops where he climbs to make up-high, up-close observations. Laman co-authored this book with his wife, Cheryl Knott.
Presented in conjunction with FotoWeek DC 2010.
Click here for tickets: Adults: $16 (3-Part Series: $24); Kids 12 and under: $8 (Series: $16).
Saturday, November 6, 7 p.m.
National Geographic Society
1600 M Street, NW
JOHN BREDAR
THE PRESIDENT'S PHOTOGRAPHER (National Geographic, $35)
Find out what it's like to cover the most powerful man in the world as we present a screening of the new National Geographic Television Special, The President's Photographer. The film follows chief White House photographer Pete Souza as he in turn follows President Obama from Air Force One to the heart of the West Wing. This world premiere screening will be followed by a discussion with executive producer John Bredar, author of a new NG book on the same subject, and several past White House photographers, including Eric Draper, Robert McNeely, and David Valdez.
Presented in conjunction with FotoWeek DC 2010. The event will be preceded by a reception at 6 p.m.
Click here for $20 tickets (NG Member: $18).
Monday, November 8, 7 p.m.
Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
600 I Street, NW
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown
AMY SEDARIS
SIMPLE TIMES: Crafts for Poor People (Grand Central, $27.99)
America's most delightfully unconventional hostess and the bestselling author of I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence delivers a new book that will forever change the world of crafting. Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People proves that crafting is one of life's more pleasurable leisure activities and anyone with a couple of hours to kill and access to pipe cleaners can join the elite society of crafters.
The book explains how to make popular crafts, such as crab-claw roach clips and crepe-paper moccasins, and how to avoid common crafting accidents (feather asphyxia, pine cone lodged in throat).
Sedaris is an actress and comedienne best known for portraying Jerri Blank in the Comedy Central series Strangers with Candy, and for her roles on Exit 57, Just Shoot Me, Sex & the City, Monk, and Cracking Up.
Click here for $30 tickets (includes one copy of the book). Questions? Please call 202.408.3100.
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FROM THE CHILDREN AND TEENS' DEPARTMENT |
CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE WEEK
(20% off through 10/27/2010)
Every Halloween, HUBKNUCKLES (Crown, $14.99) visits Lee and her younger siblings. He peeks in their window then dances among the apple trees. Suspecting that Hubknuckles is only Ma and Pa with a sheet and flashlight, Lee promises to go outside and dance with the ghost when he arrives tonight. She isn’t worried while she’s busy with Halloween preparations, but as it gets dark, Lee begins to regret her promise. When a trick-or-treater spots Hubknuckles, Lee slips outside to meet him. After they dance, Lee returns home to a surprise. Emily Herman’s gentle ghost story, originally published in 1985, is perfectly conveyed by Deborah Kogan Ray’s captivating pencil illustrations. Ages 4-8. Heidi Powell
Read about - and buy - more of our favorite books for children and teens by clicking here.
Please join us for Storytime on Mondays at 10:30 a.m., BearSong, the Guitar Man, is back after several years' hiatus, leading stories, songs, finger plays, and more for children from birth to 4 years old and their caregivers.
For upcoming events and more from the Children and Teens' Department, click here.
Click here to access the teen blog.
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MARKDOWN BOOKS |
In A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599, James Shapiro looked at Shakespeare’s work, life, and times through the narrow window of one year. He told us what we could be sure of, what we couldn’t, and made it all a fascinating story. His recent CONTESTED WILL: Who Wrote Shakespeare? Is an equally fascinating look at Shakespeare and the history of reading. What do we look for in a literary text—clues to the author’s life? A mirror of his mind? Shapiro studies the recurrent question of the Bard’s authenticity, noting the social conditions that first gave rise to the odd notion that Shakespeare might only be “Shakespeare,” while an Earl or some other aristocrat in fact wriote the scenes and characters the humble boy from Stratford would never have been able to manage. Available in hardcover, $7.98.
Some books just seem charmed, and that would have to be the case with Alan Bennett’s little dynamo, THE UNCOMMON READER. A mere 120 pages, who would have thought it would prove as popular as it has? It’s been a steady seller here for some three years now, and shows no signs of losing favor. The plot? It has to do with the Queen stumbling into a mobile library when her corgis run off. She borrows a book. Then another. Her outlook on life and the kingdom change dramatically and entertainingly. Bennet’s wit and good humor shine throughout this little treasure, which shows that true power lies in reading. Available in paperback, $4.98.
Readers have been eagerly awaiting Dinaw Mengestu’s second novel, How to Read the Air, because his first was so evocative and moving. THE BEAUTIFUL THINGS THAT HEAVEN BEARS is set in 1970s D.C. Sepha left his native Addis Ababa 17years ago, after his father was killed in revolutionary violence. He makes a poor living running a grocery store, but he has good friends in fellow African immigrants and, now, in a new white neighbor and her biracial daughter. While Sepha’s sharp observations of the American social scene and its racial tensions, along with his memories of Ethiopia, paint a difficult reality, he manages to hang on to some of his dreams. Available in paperback, $4.98.
Click here to browse other remainders that have recently become available.
• Laurie Greer
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Music News |
NEW
Bob Dylan, THE WITMARK DEMOS: 1962-1964: BOOTLET SERIES, VOL. 9 (Columbia, 2 CDs, $18.98) – Dylan recorded these demos for his publishing company, which hoped other artists would record the songs. The sessions include 15 songs previously unreleased. In the Times last Sunday, Jon Pareles wrote, “the newly released songs…show that Mr. Dylan already took the long view, contemplating history, mortality and retribution. The kid definitely had talent.”
Jan Garbarek & the Hilliard Ensemble, OFFICIUM NOVUM (ECM, $17.98) – The 1993 recording Officium by jazz saxophonist Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble vocal group in a program of medieval and Renaissance songs proved to be one of the most successful artistic and commercial “crossover” projects in the classical world. They reunite in a program focused on the sacred music of Armenia, mixing Byzantine chants and works by the composer Komitas. Other works old (Perotin) and new (Arvo Pärt) also make an appearce.
Speaking of Pärt, there was a wonderful article about the Estonian composer in last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/17/magazine/17part-t.html?ref=music ).
OKLAHOMA! AT ARENA
Arena Stage is inaugurating their new space with a production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! Check out the 1943 cast, including Alfred Drake and Celeste Holm, on the first “original cast” recording, OKLAHOMA!: (Decca, $17.98)
LAST NIGHT FOR GLENN GOULD DOCUMENTARY AT THE AVALON
The documentary, Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould, is finishing its brief run at the Avalon with showings this afternoon and evening. Even if you’re very familiar with Gould’s life and recordings, you’ll see and hear something new. Listen to the recordings which started and concluded Gould’s career: BACH: THE COMPLETE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS, 1955 & 1981 (A STATE OF WONDER)(Columbia, 3 CDs, $19.98).
Click here for more news and reviews from the Music Department.
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BOOK GROUPS |
Politics & Prose currently hosts sixteen different book groups in the store each month.
P&P's book groups meet monthly and are free and open to the public.
Click here to learn more about participating in a Politics & Prose book group.
These are the selections for the next week. Click the titles to read more about these books. Book-group titles are discounted 20% to participants. Please join us!
Thursday, October 21, 7:30 p.m.
Special Meeting of the Classics Book Group
Discourses on Livy, by Niccolo Machiavelli (Oxford Univ., $12.95)
November 3 selection: Electra, by Sophocles
Monday, October 25, 7:30 p.m.
Public Affairs Book Group
The Unhealthy Truth, by Robyn O'Brien and Rachel Kranz (Broadway, $14.99)
November 22 selection: The Art and Politics of Science, by Harold Varmus
Tuesday, October 26, 7:30 p.m.
Poetry Book Group
The Shadow of Sirius, by M.S. Merwin (Copper Canyon, $16)
November 23 selection: A Coney Island of the Mind, by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Wednesday, October 27, 7:30 p.m.
Graphic Novel Book Group
Tintin in Tibet, by Herge (Little, Brown, $10.99)
November 24 selection Black Hole, by Charles Burns
Thursday, October 28, 7:30 p.m.
Fascinating History Book Group
Undaunted Courage, by Stephen Ambrose (Simon & Schuster, $18)
November 18 selection: The Strange Death of Liberal England, by George Dangerfield
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NEWS FROM THE COFFEEHOUSE |
Modern Times Coffeehouse is Helping Prevent Homelessness, One Cup at a Time through Cups of Kindness!
ALL DAY on Thursday, October 21st, Modern Times will donate a percentage of our gross sales to benefit Thrive DC. In addition, our staff has pledged to donate all of their tips for the day to this cause as well. On this day, you won't only be supporting your local coffee shop, but your purchases will provide hope to the vulnerable individuals who turn to Thrive DC each day.
Over 6,000 people in Washington, DC face the night without knowing where they will sleep or what they will eat. Thrive DC makes sure that no one has to face homelessness alone or on an empty stomach. Each day, Thrive DC provides over 200 meals and supportive services to help homeless men and women end their homelessness and change their lives.
So feel good about getting that extra cup of coffee during Cups of Kindness!
For more news from the coffeehouse, visit the Modern Times blog.
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