Results tagged “bookpeople”

Luckily Karr has succeeded in making Lit just as readable for a secular audience as her previous volumes. In an interview with Terry Gross, Karr herself compares her earliest drafts as a recent convert to the rhetoric of late-night televangelists—an interesting comparison considering how readily she admits to doing it all for the money. But through great care and diligent editing, the final product is thankfully more Anne Lamott than Joel Osteen.

James Hannaham’s God Says No is narrated by the book’s primary character: Gary Gray, a sweet overweight black Christian who loves God, Disney Land, and sweets. He has one big problem, though: a nagging sexual attraction to men. Convinced that his deeply buried homosexuality will condemn him to eternal hellfire, Gary embarks on a quest to convince himself and everyone around him that he is indeed a normal guy, 100% straight.

Last month, we sat down with Armstrong to talk a bit about the book, as well as what it is like to be the creator of the "most popular personal blog on the internet." Since then, Armstrong's second book has been receiving critical acclaim and debuted last week at #16 on the New York Times Best Seller list. Expected to be equal parts irreverent, honest and bittersweet, It Sucked is the tale of one woman's struggle with pregnancy, postpartum depression and unconditional love.

People, PLEASE join me, tonight (Thursday, January 22nd) at BookPeople at 7 p.m. I have the great honor of introducing author Rachel Resnick who is in town to read from her excellent new memoir, Love Junkie. I ate that book up. If you have every been in a shitty relationship, confused sex for love, put yourself at risk for a relationship—well, Love Junkie will resonate painfully but it will also blow you out of the water. Not to say that bad relationships are a competition or anything, but if they were, Rachel would get a gold medal for what she’s been through. She’d also get another, bigger gold medal for getting her shit together. Recently, I interviewed Rachel about her experience writing down all that pain.

we are co-sponsoring the 2009 edition of the 6th annual Kick Ass Awards this Friday at BookPeople (our co-sponsor). Come one, come all and bask in the glorious warmth that is community recognition!

Sarah Vowell is one of those talented people whose job description covers a lot of territory (radio journalist, columnist, humorist, actress) and she’ll be at BookPeople tomorrow night – because she’s an author, too, of course.

With a new school year starting, the Utter Reading Series is turning its attention to two local hotshot writers who are still students at UT's Michener Center for Writers. Both were finalists for the 2008 Keene Prize for Literature. Both will complete their MFAs next May, at which point who knows if Austin can hold on to them, so we're going to be sure to catch them tonight.

Back in the old days, when I still drank, I’d finish up a bartending shift on 6th Street, by which I mean throw back a few cocktails. Then I’d float, heavily buzzed, on down to the 311 Club to see CJ. The 311 was not really “my” kind of place. Except for CJ, a bartender so amazingly skilled I would go just to watch him. Okay, well that and get a little drunker. The thing about CJ was that he could make any customer—big, small, young, old, stupid, suave—feel like his one true love in the few moments it took him to mix a drink, run a charge card, and wink like he meant it. Maybe it was an act, all this showmanship, but I had the feeling that CJ genuinely liked people and wasn’t just shaking it for tips.

As the former deputy chief of the U.S Government’s counterterrorism division, he was in charge of keeping the world safe from pesky problems like nuclear war, large-scale attacks and the assassinations of high ranking officials—you know, the usual work stuff. His recently-published memoir, Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent, details his insomnia-inducing struggle to thwart the criminal plans of Libyan terrorist Abu Nidal, 1993 WTC bombing mastermind Ramzi Yousef, and various other evildoers.

Tonight, before award-winning author Kevin Brockmeier's scheduled 7pm reading from his latest effort, The View from the Seventh Layer, BookPeople will host its first-ever Literary Cocktail Hour on their third floor. Fancy wines, fine cheeses and an unforgettably brilliant author will be available to all those savvy enough to show up.

Two months ago, we let you know about the Austin Chronicle's annual Short Story contest, open to aspiring writers from Texas and the world. This Wednesday, the winners will be unveiled at a BookPeople gala, catered by Austin Java.

The Utter Reading Series is back tomorrow, with more pathos than Hillary, more transcendance than Barack, more grit than McCain, and more exposure (for local writers) than a bead-strewn balcony on Bourbon Street. As always, the reading is free and open to the public, and the audience is invited to join the readers afterwards for drinks and conversation at Opal Divine's on 6th.

Image from SOS Alliance SOS Holiday Party & Silent AuctionFriday, December 7Mercury Hall (615 Cardinal Lane)$10 Suggested Donation, 7pm - Midnight[info]Tonight, the Save Our Springs Alliance will be hosting their annual Holiday Party and Silent Auction at Mercury Hall. In addition to food, drinks and great people, the event will showcase music by two environmentally-conscience local bands, Bill Oliver's Otter Space Band and The Bouldin Creek Bobkats. The Silent Auction features items from over 300...

Some would rather vote for a yellow dog. Image from DemocraticStuff.com Lou Dubose presents Bill Of WrongsTuesday, November 27BookPeople (603 N. Lamar)Free, Starts at 7pm[info] Fiery Austin columnist Molly Ivins was once described to us as "equal parts sugar, spice, piss, and vinegar" by friend and fellow yellow-dog-democrat Bob Mann. To this day we still can't think of a better way to describe her. Her death last January left a deafening silence — gone was...

Roky Erickson of the 13th Floor Elevators. If you missed your chance at tickets to his ACL taping, you can catch him, along with bassist Benny Thurman, drummer John Ike Walton, and producer Walt Andrus at BookPeople this Saturday. Image from Southern Records Paul Drummond and Roky Erickson present Eye MindSaturday, November 10th BookPeople (603 N. Lamar)Free, at 7pm[info] There are plenty of routes to fame in the world of music, and talent certainly plays...

Photo from SpikeG.com Spike Gillespie presents Quilty As ChargedTuesday, November 6BookPeople (603 N. Lamar)7pm, Free[info]Local raconteur Spike Gillespie has been a favorite of ours for a long time. Easily the hardest writing writer in Austin, the moxie-mad Gillespie stole our hearts with the annual Kick Ass Awards ceremony she holds on her birthday. She isn't one to hold anything back or censor herself. Her "dot-novel", a completely free book, opens with the phrase "donkey-cock," and...

Photo by johnkoetsier on flickr Utter Reading SeriesMonday, Nov 5BookPeople [map]7pm, Free[info]This month’s Utter Reading Series features two standouts from a couple hours south on I-35. Both teach at Trinity University in San Antonio, and both are long-overdue candidates for the Utter Series, which spotlights hot Texas-based writers. One has just won a national award for his short stories, and the other is an Austin-bred recent graduate of the Michener Center at UT. After the...

Robert Stikmanz, AKA Jackanapes Plenty, AKA fully human Austin author Robert Lewis, will appear in one of his many guises to preview his new book, Nod’s Way, at BookPeople this Saturday. Nod’s Way is part fantasy, part I Ching manual from another dimension, so if you have any burning questions that Dr. Laura or George Noory can’t answer, here’s your chance to consult a real live ancient oracle. Nod’s Way is a follow-up to Stikmanz’s...

Normally we're wary of anything that hints of the pejorative chick-lit (or related single-twentysomething-hipster-trying-to- get-lucky-with-the-opposite-sex genre) as it's about as wispy-thin and over-played as emo haircuts. But Diane Vadino, whose debut novel is entitled Smart Girls Like Me, had credentials enough for us to take a closer look. Vadino was an original staff member of that magnetic bastion of literary cool, McSweeney's, who churn out more high-minded humor and literature than you could shake a...

Local author Sarah Bird (The Yokota Officers Club, Virgin of the Rodeo, The Mommy Club, The Boyfriend School, and Alamo House) doesn't know how to just sit down and write a book. For her, research for a novel—say, one about flamenco music and dance—means picking up and moving to New Mexico for a summer to take flamenco dance lessons at The University of New Mexico. This may sound a little extreme when she could've hacked...

One of our own here at Austinist has a book out, in case you didn't know, and we are not above a little shameless self-promotion. We promise, however, to not shove it up your eyelids like Stephen Colbert and I Am America (and so can you!). Craig McCullough, who posts as the ever-irreverent Truecraig, is the author of the similarly parenthesized title, I Am An Idiot (but there is nothing wrong with you). McCullough’s debut...

Jenna Bush presented her book, Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope, along with a short video about UNICEF to an audience of more than 300 this Wednesday. The book's photographer, Mia Baxter, was also present, but did not speak to the audience. By all accounts, Jenna Bush is not pregnant as Wonkette has been reporting; it's just her taste for baggy, sack-like clothing. Photos by Joel Nihlean and Thomas Smith If you can't view...

Jenna Bush, one of Austin's native daughters and progeny of our current president, wrote a book.

Jerry Naylor would have been famous. He could have been and probably should have been. Jerry Naylor was there when rock 'n roll was born, sweating out those devil rhythms in Texas honky-tonks and rubbing shoulders with boys like Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly — all who would become men of legend. He saw a musical revolution fueled by youth and a fusion of country, blues,...

The UTTER Reading Series presents two young, local writers who are finding national success and recognition. Poet D. Antwan Stewart will present selections from his two books, The Terribly Beautiful (2006) and Sotto Voce (forthcoming) . Fiction writer Brian Hart, the winner of the first-ever Keene Prize for Literature, may read from his forthcoming and already-awarded novel, The Dog With the Broken Teeth, the One That Fetches Rocks. Stewart has an MFA from the Michener...

Best known as the frontman of alt-country group Richmond Fontaine, Willy Vlautin is now also an author. His debut novel, The Motel Life, takes the same bleak, resigned-to-fate look on life that fuels his music. The story centers around the relationship of brothers Frank and Jerry Lee, who flee town after one of them accidentally kills a boy in a drunken hit-and-run accident. They find a strange kind of freedom in their ensuing travels; it's...

Once the camera crews, exuberant (and nostalgia seeking) fans, and Illuminati-crying conspiracy theorists had retreated to their respective rocks last week, former President Clinton decided to do some shopping at BookPeople. In town to raise money for Hillary's campaign at the home of long time Clinton family friend Roy Spence of GSD&M, Bill made a stop at BookPeople where he signed over a thousand copies of his new book, Giving: How Each of Us Can...

The number of people injured by the (now extinguished) propane tank fire at ACL Fest has risen to 4, one of them seriously burned. Power is slowly being restored to the areas affected by Humberto. Tire slashings becoming more prevalent in Hyde Park area. Woman's body found in fountain of North Austin apartment complex. Bill Clinton was at BookPeople this morning. Texas high school football games shown on national television? UT hasn't been reporting...

After more than six years with our country hog-tied by George W. Bush and his Texas neo-con cronies, it is not hard to feel a nostalgic pull to the nineties. We may not be longing for rap-rock, JNCO jeans or Pauly Shore, but the roaring nineties and their dot-com excess did have some bright spots. Like a good president. (Though even Warren G. Harding looks pretty good right now.) If you are looking for...

Texas Death Row: Executions in the Modern Era is too small (and probably too grim) to make a good coffee table book. It is too stark and bare to be considered literature, or even a “true crime” book. The book is merely a distillation of the public domain information preserved by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. But none of this takes away from the creepy and bone chilling, if understated, weight of this book....