Bay Area Literary Tidbits

San Francisco writer T.J. Stiles won the National Book Award  in Nonfiction Wednesday night for his biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt.

Siles, who lives in the Presidio with his wife and son, wrote The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt after completing a book about Jesse James. He talks about the project here.Film is courtesy of Galleycat.

The adaption of Michael Lewis’ The Blind Side, about Michael Oher, a homeless African American youth who is adopted by the Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, a white, Christian Southern family and who achieves great success on the football field, will be released Friday, Nov. 20. The advance buzz on the movie is good (Famed Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr apparently cried at a screening) but sources tell me that current relations among Oher and the Tuohys are extremely strained. Oher, who now plays for the Baltimore Ravens, will not be doing any press for the film. The movie has a feel-good ending, but the truth is not as pretty

Disney has shelved a film adaptation of Julies Verne’s 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. Michael Chabon of Berkeley has done the most recent rewrite of the script.

Chabon and his wife, Ayelet Waldman, will be speaking at Berkeley Rep on Dec. 7 in a benefit for Park Day School. This will be the first time the pair has appeared on stage together since they both published memoirs.

The interviewer will be San Francisco columnist Jon Carroll. Do you think he will have the nerve or the gall to ask Chabon what would be harder for him, to have his wife or children die? (Ala Waldman’s essay in the New York Times.) Probably not, but Chabon’s Manhood for Amateurs (a fabulous book) mentions that he is somewhat laconic and Waldman pushes him to interact more forcefully in the world.  He certainly has been extremely supportive of her writing and other endeavors. So the conversation should be interesting.

Bay Area Literary Tidbits

Linda Himelstein, whose book The King of Vodka: The Story of Pytor Smirov and the Upheaval of an Empire, was released this week, has written an absorbing tale about how she came to write the book. It deals with a Russian peasant turned mogul, Tolstoy, the czar, and many interesting aspects of Russian life. Yet Linda wrote the book without speaking Russian, without living in Russia, and shortly after having two children. Here is a taste of some of her challenges:

"I believe I encountered every obstacle possible along the way. The Imperial archives closed in 2005, making it extremely difficult to get important documents. (They still haven’t reopened.) Many other relevant archives either could not be found or no longer exist. There was a dearth of information available about Smirnov’s early years as a serf. Conflicting accounts of specific events could sometimes not be verified one way or another.

And then there were Smirnov’s descendants, some of whom had already written books in Russia about their legacy. They were extremely reluctant to participate in my book. From the start, they questioned my motives and journalistic independence, assuming I was somehow tied to the company that now owns the Smirnoff brand. "

Read the essay here.

Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman were invited to the White House to participate in its first-ever poetry jam. And this was just as Waldman's new book, Bad Mother, was coming out. She appeared on the Today Show, Fresh Air, and many other places. A busy woman.

Bookstores around the Bay Area will be celebrating Kids Otter Read Day Around the Bay. It's a regional celebration organized by the Northern California Children's Bookseller Association.

Here's a list of where the 55 authors will be reading. Bring your child to one of these independents:

LAUREL BOOKSTORE
4100 Macarthur Blvd., Oakland
Christina Meldrum
Elizabeth Partridge
Lea Lyon
Debra Sartell
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HICKLEBEE'S
1378 Lincoln Ave., San Jose
Lisa Brown
Karen Beaumont
Christy Hale
Ashley Wolff
Tim Myers
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BOOKS INC, PALO ALTO
Town and Country Village
Jim LaMarche
Dorina Lazo Gilmore
Betsy Franco
Cynthia Chin-Lee
Susan Taylor Brown
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BOOKS INC, ALAMEDA
1344 Park St.
David Schwartz
Daniel San Souci
Matt Faulkner
Ginger Wadsworth
Leah Waarvik
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BOOKS INC In the MARINA
2251 Chestnut St., SF
Elissa Haden Guest
Lynn Hazen
Pam Turner
Scott Michelson
Lisa Shulman
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THE STORYTELLER
30 Lafayette Circle, Lafayette
Marissa Moss
Elisa Kleven
Vivian Walsh
Wendy Lichtman
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CLAYTON BOOKS
5433-D Clayton Rd.
Deborah Lee Rose
Kathryn Otoshi
Deborah Davis
Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff
Ben Esch
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COVER TO COVER
1307 Castro St., SF
Julie Downing
Robert San Souci
Pat Murphy
Dashka Slater
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TOWNE CENTER BOOKS
555 Main St., Pleasanton
Caren McCormack
Ying Chang Compestine
Clarissa Yu Shen
Erin Dealey
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COPPERFIELD'S
3900A Bel Aire Plaza, Napa
Patricia Newman
Katherine Tillotson
Hillary Homzie
Marsha Diane Arnold
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LINDEN TREE
170 State St., Los Altos
Jim Averbeck
Karen Ehrhardt
Kimberly Zarins
Jill Wolfson
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BOOK PASSAGE
51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
Alexandra Boiger
Lissa Rovetch
Susan Meyers
Ann Manheimer
Bob Barner

Strange Upside to the Loss of 150 SF Chronicle Reporters and Editors

Within the past 6 weeks, the Chronicle's staff has dropped precipitously through buyouts and layoffs.

But the news has turned out to be strangely good for authors and other artists.

That's because many former Chron reporters are now freelancing pieces for the paper, and lots of these stories feature artists.

It's understandable because a reporter can turn around a short profile in a day and when one is getting paid freelance rates ($250 a story?) speed and ease are important. More complex trend pieces take longer but are compensated at the same rate.

There have been at least four major profiles of Bay Area authors in just the past week. They include:

Steve Rubenstein wrote about Andy Raskin, the author of The Ramen King and I.

Heidi Benson wrote about Susan Cohen and Christine Cosgrove, who wrote a book about the use and misuse of growth hormones on children in Normal at Any Cost.

Edward Guthmann wrote about gay men and the divas they love, a book edited by Michael Montlack.

Regan McMahon wrote about Ayelet Waldman and her new memoir Bad Mother.

John McMurtrie, the editor of the book review, also penned an interview recently with Andrew Sean Greer.

This is definitely a huge increase from the period before the layoffs.

Michael Chabon and Jon Carroll with a little Ayelet Waldman too

There is no doubt Michael Chabon draws a crowd.

In Monday night’s conversation with San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll, Chabon attracted more than 400 people to the Thrust Theater at Berkeley Rep. (Of course, Carroll has his own large following.) Carroll has interviewed a number of notable authors as part of a benefit series for Park Day School in Oakland –Anne Lamott, Leah Garchik, Michael Pollan – and Chabon probably was the most popular.

It was a broad and amusing discussion about truth and lying, the state of childhood today, and other topics. Here are some tidbits I gleaned from the evening:

Chabon, who has three children at Park Day School, is working on a “naturalistic” novel about two Berkeley families. He has written in the past about the homogenization of the suburbs, what makes Berkeley unique and at times insufferable, and how he regrets his kids cannot just go out and play in the neighborhood after school, so readers may see some of these themes in the novel.

The film version of the Mysteries of Pittsburgh has finally found a distributor and it should be on movie screens in the near future.

In contrast, the film version of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is not going anywhere.

Chabon didn’t talk about The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, but the directors Joel and Ethan Cohen have bought the film rights.

He was greatly influence by the 70s progressive rock bank “Yes.”

Ayelet Waldman, Chabon’s wife, was also at the benefit with her own news:

She and Michael raised $1.4 million for Barack Obama. When she was first approached to raise funds she thought she would be lucky to raise $25,000.

The couple will be attending Obama’s swearing in ceremony.

While in Washington, Waldman will be doing a benefit with Alice Waters, Ruth Reichl, Danny Meyer, and other chefs to raise money for soup kitchens in the DC area.

Shooting has just wrapped up on the film version of Waldman’s novel, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits. It starts Natalie Portman, Lisa Kudrow, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who played Denny in Grey’s Anatomy. The director is Don Roos, who also directed The Opposite of Sex. Waldman said the film should be released in about six months.

Writers for Obama

With two months left before the election, Bay Area writers are stepping up their efforts to raise money for Barack Obama.

Ellen Sussman, the editor of Dirty Words, is hosting a $250 a head fundraiser with literary agent Ted Weinstein at her house in Los Altos on Sunday October 5. Dave Eggers, Daniel Handler, Ann Packer, and Tom Perrotta will be there. Top Bay area chefs, including Laurence Jossell of Nopa, will prepare lunch.

Ayelet Waldman, the author of the Mommy Track mystery series, sent out an email to just five of her writer friends asking for a donation of one of their books. Those writers forwarded the email to other writers and within a week Waldman had received hundreds of books in the mail, according to the Los Angeles Times book blog. She and her husband, Michael Chabon, will auction off the books at a fundraiser in San Francisco. Alice Waters will cook for the event. The couple has already raised $100,000 for Obama.

Writers for Obama

Barack Obama won’t be there, but a host of literary lights will be shilling for him.

Writers Michael Chabon, Ayelet Waldman, Dave Eggers, and Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) will be the hosts of a $1,000 a head fundraiser for Obama in Berkeley on Jan. 27. It will be at the home of Linda Schacht and John Gage. (Linda is one of the main organizers for the annual fundraiser for the Berkeley Library Foundation and her husband was one of the original employees of Sun Microsystems.)

Chabon has been one of the country's most vocal writers in support of Obama. He and his wife, the writer Ayelet Waldman (who vaguely knew Obama in law school) declared their support for Obama months ago. In April 2007 they sent out a fundraising email telling people they were trying to raise $25,000 for the candidate. They’re not quite there yet, but they are close. They’ve raised about $20,000.

At the National Kidney Foundation Lunch in San Francisco in the winter, Chabon took his allotted 15 minutes to give an impassioned plea about Obama. Instead of talking about his life, his writing techniques, or his book, Chabon talked about how Obama was the only candidate to offer hope. Chabon also spoke to reporters on the steps of San Francisco’s City Hall last week, once again telling those gathered that Obama inspired hope.

Apparently the authors are supporting Obama because of his positions, not because he likes their books. According to the Phawker blog, Obama admitted as much:

"Mr. Handler recently met Barack Obama, who told him unprompted that his kids have not read ANY of his books, but they did see the movie Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events. .... Mr. Handler would have lied and said his kids have read ALL of Mr. Obama's books -- if the shoe had been on the other foot."