Pages

Monday, April 18, 2005

Our Cup Runneth Over

It’s a great week to be a book lover in the Bay Area. There are so many interesting author events in the coming days that rushing around to see them could cause a serious case of disorientation.

High on the gossip scale is an event Wednesday night at the Acqua Hotel in Mill Valley. Ayelet Waldman, who wrote the recent provocative piece for the New York Times on how she is a bad mother because she puts her love life with her husband before her relationship with her four children, will talk about her essay. It is part of the anthology Because I Said So. That book’s editors, Camille Peri and Kate Moses will also be there. Call 415 388 4956 for information.

Jonathan Safer Froer is in town this week to promote Extremely Loud and Incredibly
Close. He’s at Book Passage Monday at 1 p.m. and at City Arts & Lectures Tuesday evening. Meg Wolitzer, whose new novel, The Position, is terrific, will be at A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books on Tuesday. Philip Fradkin, who has a new book on the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, speaks tonight at a Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books, Kepler’s on Wednesday and at the Mechanics’ Institute on Thursday. Asne Seierstad, the remarkable Norwegian journalist whose Bookseller of Kabul revealed the inner workings of an Afghani patriarchal family, will talk about her latest book on the Iraqi war at the World Affairs Council Wednesday at 5:30.

And I haven’t even mentioned: William T. Vollman at Booksmith on Haight on Wednesday; Wesley Stace, (aka John Wesley Harding) at Book Passage Wednesday at 1 p.m. and at Cody’s at 7:30. (His book, Misfortune was discussed in Monday’s Chronicle). That still leaves room for more Wednesday events, including ZZ Packer at USF Lone Mountain campus at 7: 30 (415 422-6066); Mark Kurlansky at Black Oak Books, and the 25th anniversary celebration of ThreePenny Review at the Herbst Theater with Wayne Thiebaud and Wendy Lesser.

Thursday brings Liz Smith to Book Passage at 1 p.m.; Anne Perry at Stacy’s at noon; and Camille Paglia at Diesel at 7:30 p.m. On Friday, Dave Eggers and Michael Lewis will be at the Herbst (415 863-3762); Ira Glass will be on the Peninsula 408-961-5858; Sue Miller will be at Kepler’s in the evening; and Richard Parker and Robert Reich will talk about John Kenneth Galbraith at Cody’s at 7:30 p.m.

Gee, wouldn’t it be fun just to take a day and see how many of these events one person could attend. But which day to choose …..

No comments: