Here are a few fiction events that look interesting and fun. I find it odd to pay for simple one-person book signings, but if you're all googly eyes over Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell or Tom Wolfe go for it. I give the Hebdomeros stamp of approval to the Stephen Dixon reading; I've seen him twice, and both times were good fun.
Politics and Prose
Monday, November 29, 7 p.m.
Tom Wolfe
I Am Charlotte Simmons
(FSG, $28.95)
Charlotte is an innocent, upright young lady from North Carolina who is dismayed to find that the principal concerns among the students at Dupont University, a supposedly elite academic institution, are sex and drugs. As in Bonfire of the Vanities, there’s lots of humorous skewering of the antics at Dupont, typical of the numerous college campuses Wolfe visited while writing this novel.
This event will be held at Temple Sinai. Two tickets are free with the purchase of the book. Otherise tickets are $10 per person. Mr. Wolfe will be signing only his new book.
Chapters Books
Time: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 7:00 PM
Title of Event: Anita Desai
One of the most gifted contemporary Indian writers and three time Booker finalist, Ms. Desai brings her cosmopolitan observations to Mexico, where she has resided, for her new novel, The Zig Zag Way, wherein a young historian plumbs the ancient world and his own family's past.
Politics and Prose
Wednesday, December 1, 7 p.m.
Amos Oz
A Tale of Love and Darkness
(Harcourt, $26)
The latest work by this towering figure in Jewish literature is an autobiographical narrative that focuses on the context and consequences of his mother’s suicide when Oz was twelve. Oz’s story encompasses the larger public anguish of Israel. With consummate craft and deep insight, Oz has written a “tragicomedy of all immigrants everywhere.”
This event will be held at Temple Sinai. Two tickets are free with the purchase of the book. Otherwise, tickets are $10 per person.
Smithsonian
Wednesday, December 1 6-8 PM
The World of Sherlock Holmes
Panel Discussion and Book Signing
Resident Associate Program
Location: Hirshhorn Museum, Ring Auditorium
$20, general admission; $18, members; 202-357-3030
To mark the 150th anniversary year of Sherlock Holmes' creation, Peter S. Blau (former editor of Baker Street Journal), Dan Stashower (author of Teller of Tales: The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle), and Patrick Loughney (curator of the Library of Congress' Moving Image Division) discuss with Leslie Klinger (editor for the manuscript series on the Baker Street Irregulars) a spectrum of views on Sherlockian controversies and some tantalizing new theories. Book signing follows.
Folger Shakespeare Library
Friday, December 3 8 pm
"Words Without Borders" is the theme of a PEN/Faulnker event featuring readings by Gish Jen, author of The Love Wife, Don Lee, author of the story collection Yellow, and Ana Menendez, author of In Cuba I Was A German Shepherd, at the Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol Street, S.E. NPR Host Ray Suarez will moderate. Tickets are $15; call 202-544-7044 to RSVP (this info was found in the Washington Post. I couldn't find web content for the event).
Chapters Books
Time: Saturday, December 4, 2004 5:00 PM
Title of Event: Stephen Dixon
Stephen Dixon is indeed an old friend of Chapters, and we are delighted to celebrate his 23 rd work of fiction, appropriately titled, Old Friends, which is, in his inimitable style, an homage to the writing life, to friendship and love. That young upstart Jonathan Lethem confides, "Stephen Dixon is one of the great secret masters...I return again and again to his stories for writerly inspiration, moral support, and comic relief."
Smithsonian
Wednesday, December 15 7 PM
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
Lecture, Book Signing, and Reception
Resident Associate Program
Location: Hirshhorn Museum, Ring Auditorium
$20, general admission; $15, members; 202-357-3030
Bestselling author Susanna Clark discusses and reads from her latest novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell, which is currently ranked fifth on the New York Times's Bestseller List. Book signing and reception follow.
2 comments:
Wow, you are aware of all the stuff going on! :) Stupid question: what is Temple Sinai?
Have you read the new Tom Wolfe? I never actually read any of his stuff. I saw him on the Daily Show and had a hard time buying that he could actually write about college kids. Maybe I'm being overly critical.
And have you heard anything about whether Jonathan Strange is any good?
I think it's a synagogue pretty close to Politics and Prose. I'm not sure exactly where. That text was taken right off of there website.
Only Wolfe I've read is Bonfire of the Vanities; which was fun. I have hard time buying that he can do a credible book on a college girl confronting her sexuality. I heard him read part of this new one on NPR, and it didn't do much for me. Sexual without being sexy, if that makes sense.
The hardcore fantasy and sf people don't seem to like Strange/Norell. On the newsgroups anyway, they're calling it fantasy for people who don't like fantasy. But they often don't like anything that's a little different from what they always read. It's gotten a lot of good reviews, so who knows? I like the concept a lot.
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