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Click here for our online events calendar and to preview events through February.
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Thursday, January 5, 7 p.m.
Roger Rosenblatt - Kayak Morning: Reflections on Love, Grief, and Small Boats (Ecco, $13.99) – POSTPONED – RESCHEDULED DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED
A sequel to his memoir, Making Toast, Rosenblatt’s essays on family and boating are a heartfelt testament to the fact that life does indeed go on despite tragedy. A multi-faceted writer and teacher of writing, Rosenblatt offers moving, but unsentimental, lessons in facing loss.
Friday, January 6, 7 p.m.
Thomas Frank - Pity the Billionaire: The Hard-Times Swindle and the Unlikely Comeback of the Right (Metropolitan, $25)
Noting that hard economic times in the past have caused groundswells of support for progressive policies, Frank, author of the revealing What’s the Matter with Kansas?, explores why the most recent financial downturn has instead fostered the conservatism of the Tea Party and Glenn Beck.
Saturday, January 7, 11 a.m. – noon
Anonymous 4 – Secret Voices: Chant & Polyphony from the Las Huelgas Codex (Harmonia Mundi, $18.98) – Signing only
Anonymous 4, the world renowned early music vocal quartet, will visit Politics & Prose to sign their new album. We will also host Robert Eisenstein and Christopher Kendall of the Folger Consort to sign their new CD, A New Song: Celebrating the King James Bible (Bard Records, $11.98).
The Folger Consort is offering Politics & Prose customers discounted concert tickets. Anonymous 4 and the Folger Consort are in concert at the Washington National Cathedral at 8 p.m. on Friday, January 6, and Saturday, January 7 in Heavenly Revelations: Hildegard von Bingen and Medieval France, which pairs the music of the 12th-century mystic with that of the “Notre Dame” composers of 13th-century France. Save $10 per ticket (regularly $30-$50) to the concert. To purchase discounted tickets, visit www.folger.edu/consort and click on Heavenly Revelations, click “buy tickets,” select a performance and enter coupon code CNCATH12, then click “continue.” The ticket discount will be automatically applied.
Saturday, January 7, 1 p.m.
Parvaneh Bahar - The Poet's Daughter: Malek O'Shoara Bahar of Iran and the Immortal Song of Freedom (Larson, $22.95)
Bahar’s father, Malek o’Shoara Bahar, was declared Iran’s Prince of Poets in 1904. His daughter’s memoir looks back to her father’s work in support of Iranian independence and democracy, and to the campaign for women’s rights that cost him his own freedom and sent the family into exile.
Saturday, January 7, 6 p.m.
Eric Weiner - Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine (Twelve, $26.99)
A journalist, avid traveler, and author of the bestselling The Geography of Bliss, Weiner has witnessed myriad religious observances in the course of his career. Only after a serious illness, however, did he consider his own beliefs. In this spirited travelogue, Weiner recounts the spiritual quest that took him to Nepal, Turkey, China, Israel, and even Las Vegas.
Sunday, January 8, 5 p.m.
Bethanne Patrick, moderator, and contributors - Amazing Graces: Yet Another Collection of Fiction by Washington Area Women (Paycock, $18.95)
Following the success of Electric Grace and Enhanced Gravity, local publisher Richard Peabody of the Paycock Press has issued the latest in this series of anthologies by Washington-area women writers. Join us to hear some of the nearly fifty contributors read briefly from their short fiction and then take Q&A. The event will be moderated by Bethanne Patrick, Charlottesville-based Book Maven and writer.
Contributors willl include Rae Bryant, Beth Frerking, Jennifer Howard, Esther Iverem, Colleen Kearney Rich, Kim Roberts, Wanda Warner, and Kathleen Wheaton.
Monday, January 9, 7 p.m.
William Gibson - Distrust That Particular Flavor (Putnam , $26.95)
As the author of some of the most innovative fiction currently being published, Gibson is an acute observer of social and technological trends. While he’s been producing novels like Pattern Recognition, Spook Country, and Zero History, he’s also compiled a distinguished body of nonfiction; this volume gathers essays on subjects ranging from the failings of the Internet to life in Singapore.
Tuesday, January 10, 4:30 p.m.
Jon Scieszka, Katherine Paterson & Walter Dean Myers - National Ambassadors of Young People's Literature
Join the Ambassadors of Young People’s Literature Emeritus, Jon Scieszka and Katherine Paterson, as they discuss the duties of the position and look back at their experiences. Be on hand to welcome the third Ambassador, Walter Dean Myers, who will be introduced this morning at the Library of Congress. A selection of each of their books will be available. Ages 8 and up.
Tuesday, January 10, 7 p.m.
Daphne Carr, Alex Ross and contributors - Best Music Writing 2011 (Da Capo, $16)
Carr, a music critic, journalist, and ethnomusicologist has been series editor of the annual Best Music Writing anthology since 2007. Joining her in a wide-ranging discussion about music and music writing will be this year’s guest editor, New Yorker music critic and author of The Rest is Noise, Alex Ross, along with contributors including Drew Daniel, Chris Richards, Lauren Wilcox Puchowski, and Jason Cherkis.
Wednesday, January 11, 7 p.m.
Donna Britt - Brothers (and Me): A Memoir of Loving and Giving (Little, Brown, $25.99)
In her sharp, frank memoir, the former Washington Post columnist explores the life-long consequences of being surrounded by men. From brothers to sons, husbands, and friends, Britt has felt defined by her relationships with men. But one brother was killed some 30 years ago, and, haunted by her inability to save him, Britt has struggled to come to terms with issues of gender and generosity.
Thursday, January 12, 10:30 a.m.
Christopher Paul Curtis - The Mighty Miss Malone (Wendy Lamb, $15.99)
In Curtis’s Newbery Award-winning novel Bud, Not Buddy, Bud met a girl named Deza Malone. This book is her story. Deza is the smartest girl in her class in Gary, Indiana, and her teachers predict she will do great things. But the Depression hits the Malone family hard, and after Deza’s father leaves to find work, the rest of the family follow, ending up in a Michigan Hooverville. Ages 10-14
Thursday, January 12, 7 p.m.
Jodi Kantor in conversation with David Brooks - The Obamas (Little, Brown, $29.99)
Sixth & I Synagogue
600 I Street NW
Metro: Gallery Place/Chinatown
A Washington correspondent for The New York Times, Kantor has been covering the Obamas since 2007. Her portrait of the First Family is a detailed look at what residence in the White House has meant for their personal lives, their public roles, their work, and their hopes.
This event will take place at Sixth & I Synagogue and is ticketed. Two tickets come free with each purchase of the book ($29.99) or tickets can be purchased separately for $8 each in advance of the event ($10 on the day of). Jodi Kantor will appear in conversation with David Brooks. Click here to pre-order the book and/or tickets.
Thursday, January 12, 7 p.m.
eBook Information Session
The Politics & Prose website sells eBooks for most digital reading devices - Nook, Kobo, Sony Reader, iPad, Android tablet, iRiver, and now the new Kindle Fire. eBooks are easy to use and, due to contractual agreements with most major publishers, our prices are usually the same as through Barnes & Noble, iTunes, or Amazon. Come to this information session and learn how to download a Google eBook through www.politics-prose.com.
Space is limited. Sign up today by emailing your name (and type of eReader) to weborders@politics-prose.com
Click here to see some of our current digital book recommendations.
Friday, January 13, 7 p.m.
John Green - The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton, $17.99)
at the Hyatt Regency Hotel
7400 Wisconsin Avenue
Bethesda, Maryland
Metro: Bethesda
The Fault in Our Stars is a novel about teens dealing with terminal illnesses. It features Green’s first female narrator, 16-year-old Hazel Grace Lancaster, who is battling thyroid cancer, though a new medicine has given her a few more years. When she meets Augustus Waters at Cancer Kid Support Group, her feelings for him make her situation even more heartbreaking. This bold and insightful book by the winner of a Printz Award, a Printz Honor, and the Edgar Award, takes readers through a gamut of emotions. Ages 14 and up.
Tickets for this event are sold out. Please call the store at 202-364-1919 or 1-800-722-0790 if you need more information about the event. You may still order a book autographed by John Green.
Friday, January 13, 7 p.m.
Thomas W. Lippman - Saudi Arabia on the Edge: The Uncertain Future of an American Ally (Potomac, $29.95)
In his sixth book on the Middle East, Lippman, a veteran journalist and former adjunct senior fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, draws on extensive interviews and first-hand observations of Saudi Arabia to outline the challenges this country—wealthy and young, but politically stagnating and repressed—presents to itself and to U.S. interests in the region.
Saturday, January 14, 1 p.m.
Kenneth Pollack & Daniel Byman - The Arab Awakening: America and the Transformation of the Middle East (Brookings Institution, $26.95)
From Egypt to Libya, recent uprisings have changed the face of the Middle East. To understand what has happened, why, and what it may mean for the future, a group of Brookings experts on the region have compiled this analysis of the 2011 events. The series of essays here looks broadly at Mideast issues, including U.S. interests, as well as focusing closely on individual countries.
Saturday, January 14, 6 p.m.
John M. Barry - Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty (Viking , $35)
Roger Williams (1603-83) founded the Providence Plantations, established the first Baptist church in the New World, and was instrumental in developing the ideas of freedom of religion and separation of church and state that came to define this country. Barry’s account of Williams’s seminal thought provides a vivid picture of the 17th century—essential background for understanding debates still under way today.
Sunday, January 15, 1 p.m.
Natalie Wexler - The Mother Daughter Show (Fuze, $19.95)
In this antic suburban comedy, mothers of students at an elite private high school unravel when asked to collaborate on the annual musical revue. Wexler gently skewers this rite of passage while giving an honest and heartfelt portrayal of mother-daughter relations at a particularly vulnerable moment for all. Warning: details of this book might ring familiar to anyone with inside knowledge of a certain DC prep school!
Sunday, January 15, 5 p.m.
James G. Hershberg - Marigold: The Lost Chance for Peace in Vietnam (Stanford Univ, $39.50)
Part of the Wilson Center’s Cold War International History Project, of which Hershberg was a founding director, this investigation of the failed 1966 peace initiative undertaken by Poland on behalf of the North Vietnamese uses previously unavailable documents to show that, by bombing Hanoi when he did, Johnson lost a true opportunity to negotiate an end to the war.
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Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman
Politics & Prose hosts
The American Century Theater
Hay-Adams
Children's Books of the Week
Anonymous 4 and the Folger Consort are in concert on Friday, January 6, and Saturday, January 7. Heavenly Revelations: Hildegard von Bingen and Medieval France pairs the music of the 12th-century mystic with that of the “Notre Dame” composers of 13th-century France.
In Other Realms:
