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Click www.politics-prose.com/event for our author events calendar through October.
Thursday September 15, 10:30 a.m.
Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon
Zora and Me (Candlewick, $16.99)
Awarded the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent (Author) Award, this book is set in 1900 in Eatonville, Florida, where the writer Zora Neale Hurston grew up. The summer before fourth grade, Hurston and her friend try to solve a local murder, asking questions the adults in their segregated community don’t want to answer. Ages 10-14.
Thursday, September 15
Google eBooks Information Session - Canceled
We will keep you posted about a rescheduled date.
Thursday, September 15, 7 p.m.
Justin Torres
We the Animals (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $18)
Torres’s debut novel is the story of three brothers growing up in upstate New York. Related in sharp, swift episodes, the narrative evokes the intimacy of a close family even as time and the boys’ energy propel them each in new directions.
Thursday, September 15, 7 p.m.
Ellen Hopkins
Perfect (Margaret K. McElderry, $18.99)
at the Bethesda Library
7400 Arlington Rd, Bethesda, MD
What is the price of perfection? Using poetry, Hopkins tells the stories of five young adults who strive to be perfect. Some are trying to meet adult expectations, others covet perfect bodies, top athletic performance, or fame. Whatever their goals, all the characters pay a price. Ages 14 and up.
Friday, September 16, 9 a.m. - Sunday, September 18, 8 p.m.
P&P Fall Member Sale
All weekend long, Politics & Prose members receive discounts on nearly everything currently in stock. Most books are 20% off, most CDs and DVDs are 15% off. If you are not yet a member, it's a great time to sign up and take advantage of these and other discount opportunities.
The same discount terms will also be applied to shopping completed online when members purchase items currently on our shelves between Friday, September 16, 12:01 a.m. and Sunday, September 18, 11:59 p.m.
Please note: For online orders, selecting "Pay in Store" will obtain the member discount only if the purchase is completed by close of business on Sunday, September 12.
Friday, September 16, 7 p.m.
Sylvia Nasar
Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius (Simon & Schuster, $35)
Nasar follows her bestselling biography, A Beautiful Mind, by showing thinkers in action. From Alfred Marshall walking around Dickens’s London to Sen in today’s India, Nasar’s narrative history of political economics lays out the challenges society has faced since the industrial revolution proved that socio-economic status wasn’t a given, but lay within human power to change.
Saturday, September 17, 6 p.m.
Michael Kazin
American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation (Knopf, $27.95)
A history of the United States as seen by its reformers, idealists, and radicals, the latest book by the Georgetown professor and author of A Godly Hero starts with the abolitionists and traces leftist thought through women’s suffrage, the labor movement, anarchism, socialism, and on to Noam Chomsky and Michael Moore.
Sunday, September, 18, 5 p.m.
Jim Lehrer
Tension City: Inside the Presidential Debates, from Kennedy-Nixon to Obama-McCain (Random House, $26)
Having presided over eleven televised presidential and vice-presidential debates (events characterized as “tension city” by President George H. W. Bush), Lehrer brings a wealth of experience and perspective to this history of the election ritual. He discusses rhetoric and flubbed lines, technical failures and the roles of moderators, and offers an inside look at the memorable moments. This event is co-sponsored by the 2011 Fall for the Book Festival. More information at www.fallforthebook.org.
Monday, September 19, 7 p.m.
Karl Marlantes
What It's Like To Go To War (Atlantic Monthly, $25)
What Marlantes experienced in Vietnam as a twenty-three-year-old lieutenant of a platoon of forty marines has haunted him since 1969. He turned his tour of duty into the acclaimed novel Matterhorn, and in his first book of nonfiction he continues his consideration of what the war means to him, to the country, and, most important, to soldiers serving today.
Tuesday, September 20, 7 p.m.
Lisa Randall
Knocking on Heaven's Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World (Ecco, $29.99)
A Harvard professor of physics, Randall, author of Warped Passages, has earned praise for both her science and her skill at making it accessible to the general reader. Here she proves a fascinating guide to the latest discoveries and challenges in theoretical physics.
Wednesday, September 21, 4-6 p.m.
Educators’ Open House - For teachers and librarians
Join the Politics & Prose Children and Teens’ Department for an Educators’ Open House for Teachers and Librarians and let us help you plan for fall.
- Learn about new titles and get thoughtful recommendations
- Find out about author events
- Sign up for educator email updates
- Get 20% off all books during the open house (with a 2011/12 school ID)
- Enter a tote-bag raffle
- Enjoy light refreshments and conversation
- Receive coupons for special deals at neighboring restaurants
Wednesday, September 21, 7 p.m.
Alexandra Fuller
Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness (Penguin Press, $25.95)
7 p.m. Fuller’s first book, Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, was an immediate hit and remains a favorite. In this eagerly awaited sequel, Fuller offers a powerful, beautifully written account of her mother’s life. Born on the Isle of Skye and raised in Kenya, Nicola Fuller was passionate about Africa, even as war and troubles hounded her from one country to another. Co-sponsored by the 2011 Fall for the Book Festival, www.fallforthebook.org
Thursday, September 22, 10:30 a.m.
Kadir Nelson
Heart & Soul (Balzer + Bray, $19.99)
Winner of two Caldecott honors, Coretta Scott King illustrator and author awards, and the Sibert Medal, Nelson combines luminous illustrations with stories of African-American contributions to American history. Here a centenarian looks back to her ancestors’ slavery as she herself watches a black man become U.S. president. Ages 11 and up.
Thursday, September 22, 5 p.m.
Jack Gantos
Dead End in Norvelt (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $15.99)
at the Bethesda Library
5 p.m. This hilarious autobiography begins in the summer of 1962. Jack is grounded for firing a World War II Japanese rifle he didn’t know was loaded. Later, he works as assistant to the local obituary writer, and the two keep busy with documenting, then investigating, a series of deaths. Ages 11-14.
Thursday, September 22, 7 p.m.
Daniel Yergin
The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World (Penguin Press, $37.95)
Complementing his Pulitzer-winning The Prize, Yergin’s new book is a comprehensive study of global energy. From the rise of the petro-state to the future of renewable energy sources, from the scramble for the resources in the former Soviet region to peak oil, from geopolitics to climate change, Yergin considers the many ways energy is the key to today’s world, and suggests how to achieve an energy-secure future.
Friday, September 23, 10:30 a.m.
Kate and Jules Feiffer
My Side of the Car (Candlewick, $16.99)
Every time Kate and her father plan to visit the zoo, something comes up to spoil their plans. When they’re at last in the car and on their way, it rains. Kate, however, is certain it is not raining on her side of the car. The determined little girl convinces her father that the day will be sunny. Ages 3-6.
Friday, September 23, 7 p.m.
Sebastian Barry
On Canaan's Side (Viking, $25.95)
Barry weaves Irish with American events for a deftly plotted, richly psychological narrative of the 20th century. Told by Lilly Dunne (sister of Willie from A Long Long Way and the eponymous Annie Dunne) at age 89, the novel intertwines the stories of her two marriages and the fates of her son and grandson with the century’s many wars, from the Irish struggle for independence to the first Gulf war.
Saturday, September 24, 10:30 a.m.
Allen Say
Drawing From Memory (Scholastic, $17.99)
10:30 a.m. Part memoir and part history, the new graphic book by the Caldecott Medal winner chronicles Say’s apprenticeship with a Japanese cartoonist when Say was twelve. It also tells the story of the difficult years after World War II, and Say’s adjustment to moving to America when he was fifteen. Ages 10-14.
Saturday, September 24, 1 p.m.
Lynne Rossetto Kasper & Sally Swift
The Splendid Table's How to Eat Weekends (Clarkson Potter, $35)
Kasper, food writer, lecturer, historian, and host of American Public Media’s award-winning radio show The Splendid Table, teams up with producer Sally Swift for a collection of recipes and food writing. Designed for the more relaxed schedule of the weekends, the book features international menus, history tidbits, wit, and wine pairings.
Saturday, September 24, 3:30 p.m.
Barbara Babcock
Woman Lawyer: The Trials of Clara Foltz (Stanford, $45)
The first case argued by California’s first woman lawyer was her own. Clara Foltz (1849-1934), rejected from law school because of her gender, sued for and won admission. In her biography of this remarkable woman, Babcock, professor of law emerita at Stanford, recounts Foltz’s struggles and many achievements, which included her work on progressive issues including women’s rights, establishing the role of public defender, and raising five children.
Saturday, September 24, 6 p.m.
Ron Suskind
Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President (Harper Collins, $29.99)
With the same thorough research, dramatic revelations, and narrative flair that made A Hope in the Unseen, The Way of the World, and The One-Percent Doctrine such important books, Suskind here tells the full story of the recent financial crisis. This compelling report probes both Wall Street and Washington, laying out the actions not only of bankers but of lobbyists, reformers, politicians, and advisors.
Saturday, September 24, 8:30 p.m.
Neal Stephenson
Reamde (Wm. Morrow, $35)
Stephenson’s fiction is breathtaking in its imaginative range. Like the dazzling Anathem and Cryptonomicon, his new novel starts with established genres and comes up with something startlingly new. A thriller, Reamde follows the fate of a tech entrepreneur as the line between reality and his fantasy online war game disappears.
Sunday, September 25, 1 p.m.
Katherine Paterson
The Flint Heart (Candlewick, $19.99)
Katherine Paterson is the current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and a two-time winner of both the Newbery Medal and National Book Awards. In her new book, Charles Jago’s genial father finds a Stone Age flint heart, which turns him into a cruel, belligerent bully. Charles and his sister do all they can—including seeking help from fairies—to save their father from this horrible charm. Ages 7-12.
Sunday, September 25, 5 p.m.
John R. Schmidt
The Unraveling: Pakistan in the Age of Jihad (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $27)
In his thorough and insightful history of Pakistan, the veteran political analyst and career foreign officer focuses on the nation’s “feudal political class” to explain how Pakistan has become “the most dangerous place on Earth.” Schmidt documents how the rulers encouraged radicals and used them to further national interests in Kashmir and Afghanistan—only to lose control of the jihadists after 9/11.
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This month Politics & Prose is playing host to two historians who are passionate about American ideals and use their scholarship to show why those ideals still matter. Both David Blight, who spoke last week, and Michael Kazin, who will read on September 17th, make scholarly topics accessible to the general public. Like fellow historians Ira Berlin and Eric Foner, they capture memory too often forgotten. We are delighted that they are back at P&P to read from their newest books. 
Caroline Kennedy and Michael Beschloss
The Hay-Adams
(20% off through September 21)
Take the great songs written for the Muppets over the years by Paul Williams, Joe Raposo, and Jim Henson himself. Bring in some of today’s best young musicians to sing their versions. You have Muppets: The Green Album (Disney Records, $14.98). OK Go starts the proceedings with a “glitchy” take on the “Muppet Show Theme Song,” then Weezer and Hayley Williams alternate verses on “Rainbow Connection.” There are many highlights, from Sondre Lerche’s take on “Mr. Bassman” to Andrew Bird singing, whistling, fiddling, and channeling Kermit on “(It’s Not Easy) Bein’ Green.” The Green Album is a joy for Muppet Show veterans and newcomers alike. András Goldinger
We are happy to announce the limited availability of signed first editions of 
This coming week we will host some special guests for story hour. On Monday, September 19th at 10:30 a.m., Politics & Prose will host a Spanish Story Hour with the Spanish language learning program 
Don’t forget that remainders are also 20% off for members during the Fall Member Sale, September 16, 17, and 18.
From the man who made neurology accessible to non-science majors, Oliver Sacks’s classic The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. Like all of Dr. Sacks’s books on the amazing fragility and resilience of the human brain, this collection of two dozen essays is fascinating for both its science and its compassion for the individuals who suffer from rare, often barely imaginable neurological ailments. More like short stories than case studies, these pieces (Sacks calls them “strange tales”) focus as much on the life of the person as on the symptoms of the disease. What is it really like suddenly not to recognize family members, or to lose a talent or gain some remarkable ability you’ve never had before? Are you still you? Available in paperback, $5.98.
On Monday, September 26, from 9 to 10 p.m., P&P will host a release party for Wilco’s new album, The Whole Love (dBpm Records, $17.98), which officially comes out the next day.