On: 5 May 2008
In the past, I’ve been known to conceive of concepts and themes for store events that either work really, really well (what my grandfather would have called “gangbusters”, though I tend to shy away from that term because, to me, “gangbusters” sounds like a speakeasy-era Myth Busters), or flop completely. For the former category, see our I-forget-how-many-authors in like-twelve-hours-or-it-felt-that-way-with-no-sleep Sleepless In September cavalcade of A-list author events all in a week. For the latter, see my attempt to get folks to come in costume for a Halloween event exactly a week BEFORE Halloween.
As such, I’m admittedly a little nervous about the reception Wordsmiths’ first-ever Story-time For Grown Ups , this Wednesday night, is going to receive, but it just seems like too fun an idea to not give a good, hearty attempt.
The genesis of the concept is in two things. One being the fact that when author of the ambiguous morality tale Lucky Man Ben Tanzer was through Decatur last year, our time conversing lead me to realize that he’s an incredibly funny guy, with a first novel that plays, again, like a morality tale for adults or adrift adolescents (you can read more about Ben and Lucky Man in the interview I did with him here). The second factor contributing to the concept of a “Story-time for Grown Ups” is in the way our monthly Open Mic nights here at the store have become a pleasantly jumbled amalgam of songs, poems and a handful of amazing narrative storytellers. If you’ve ever been, you know that two of those storytellers stand out-Benji and Will.
Ok, holding those two things in your head? No? You were supposed to be following along here.
Refresher: Ben Tanzer. Funny guy, Lucky Man. Benji and Will: at times off-color, at times unnerving, always entertaining storytellers.
Add into that the presence of the KSU Tellers, a storytelling and narration group from Kennesaw State, who’ve left us with our jaws dropped and our sides in stitches after many an Open Mic night.
Shake it all up, add a hearty helping of uncertainty and the glee of a school child, and you have the basis for Story-time for Grown Ups, a night we’ve put together to honor some of the best narrative talent to ever cross the Wordsmiths stage.
In terms of format, length, content-there’s not much that I know right now, and I’m having to accept that and like it that way. There’s a large amount of unknown in terms of what’s going to happen at our first ever Story-time For Grown Ups this Wednesday night, but this much I do know-the content’s going to be possibly offensive, possibly risque, but definitely hilariously razor-sharp.
It’s our first ever family-unfriendly night (and yes, Zach is ensuring I make proper signage to indicate such), and, from where I’m sitting, it fills a much-needed void in what there is to do a weekday evening. Dea Anne’s making cookies, there’ll be some libations, we’ll all sit on the floor and have a real story-time the likes of which is usually reserved for the young ‘uns. In true story-time fashion, you can bring your own whatever you’d like, as long as you bring enough of said whatever you’d like to share with the group!
But, well, this isn’t your pre-k story-time, I can assure you of that much.
I hope you’ll come and join in the rowdy, ribald fun here Wednesday night (May 7) at 7:30 for our first-ever Story-time for Grown Ups, featuring Open Mic night faves Benji and Will, the KSU Tellers and Lucky Man author/evening headliner Ben Tanzer. For a taste of Ben’s sense of humor, be sure to check out his aptly-titled This Blog Will Change Your Life, and pick up a copy of Lucky Man here Wednesday night. At the very least, this is going to be an adventure in storytelling.
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On: 2 May 2008
I’ve been at home for the majority of the day, getting into the spirit for tomorrow’s exclusive, you-don’t-wanna-miss cooking class at Cooks Warehouse with Google’s Chef Charlie Ayers by, uh, experimenting with his recipe for a “screwy rabbit”, listening to a plethora of really good music (not the same Hotel California tape I wore out as a kid), and planning the Wordsmiths Books three-day birthday par-tay extravaganza.
(Full disclosure: said recipe is equal parts orange juice, carrot juice, and vodka)
(Further disclosure: more on the birthday event very, very soon, but chances are there will be crayfish. Make of that what you will.)
In the spirit of cookbooks and writer-chefs (it’s a shame I can’t work verbal abuse in here somewhere, it’d make a better segue), apparently, per GalleyCat, we will be treated to THREE new Anthony Bourdain books. One, titled Cooks, is
a follow up to Kitchen Confidential, in which Bourdain explores how the industry he loves - and the people in it - have changed (if they’ve changed) since his years in the kitchen, and tracks the bizarre changes in his own life, along with more frank observations on dining, cuisine and the grim/glamorous business of cooking. “More about WHO is cooking in America than WHAT’S cooking,” says Bourdain.
The third is
Bourdain’s account/memoir of moving his family to a small village in Vietnam to spend a year in total immersion there, taking time to get to know his neighbors and deeply exploring Indonesia and Southeast Asia.
And then, unfortunately, in the middle, is another Bourdain crime novel. Well, like Mister Meat Loaf once said, two outta three, etc.
By the way, it’s still not too late to save major money and join us for Chef Charlie Ayers tomorrow night at Cooks Warehouse Midtown.
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On: 30 April 2008
Chef Charlie Ayers, and his book Food 2.0. I’ve extolled their virtues here, here, and, like Robin William’s genie character in Aladdin, everywhere.
In case you missed it, we’ve partnered with Cooks Warehouse to present a very, very special (indeed!) cooking class with Chef Charlie Ayers, this Saturday, May 3rd, at 7 PM at the Cooks Warehouse Midtown location.
Well, we’re sweetening the deal: for a limited time, use the discount code GOO when you sign up online at the Cooks Warehouse registration page and receive 15% off the cost of the class (normally $40).
Now you have no excuses.
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On: 28 April 2008
I must say, this past Thursday, spent in the company of Steven Raw Shark Texts Hall, will certainly go down in the debauchery books here at Wordsmiths. Also, it will be entered into the “stunning” and “awesome” books, as well (wherever those are kept).
As usual, BabyGotBooks scooped me on a recap, so I’ll just leave it to Tim and the BGB crew to tell you what happened (you should’ve been there anyway!). He makes a good point worth repeating, though:
The evening’s Raw Shark moment: Just as the reading finished, a group of about 10-15 people walked through the front door all dressed in white shirts/blouses. They stood quietly and listed to the Q&A, then they filed out before the band started - without a word. Thanks for coming!
I think those people had something to do with the Townsend Awards. Either that, or they were clones. Possibly both. Regardless, head over to BabyGotBooks for a BGB Vol III recap, complete with pictures of Steve Hall (far and away one of the best authors we at Wordsmiths have ever hosted, ever, ever, ever!), pictures of Blue Screen Love Scene and pictures of a shark cake.
Speaking of BGB-did anyone else out there notice the brilliant idea that industry standard publication Publishers Weekly had to change the lyrics of that old favorite Sir Mix-A-Lot song to incorporate themes of literature and literacy? I never would have thought!
Coming up this week, there’s two author events that need, nay, deserve and require, your attention.
As you Atlantians (ATLiens, really) might have seen in the PeachBuzz section of the AJC this morning, Katie Crouch is going to be reading from Girls In Trucks Tuesday, April 29th here at Wordsmiths, and they sum it up better than I could:
Pull out the old cotillion gown and rev up Grandpa’s Ford F-100, it’s time to go read.
“Girls in Trucks” author Katie Crouch will discuss and sign her debut novel at Wordsmiths Books in Decatur on Tuesday, and the Wordsmiths folks are hoping the crowd will come prepared.
Anybody, guy or gal, who shows up in a high-society ball gown or a pickup gets entered into a contest to win gift certificates or free books.
The story is an old one: Southern society girl goes to New York, wrestles with her past and present, heads home after a tragedy and sees South Carolina in a new light.
But it’s different, Russ Marshalek, marketing director at Wordsmiths swears. “I will go so far to pick it as one of my favorites for the year already,” he says, describing it as the “Southern, female David Sedaris.”
It’s not exactly autobiographical, but Crouch said it’s not exactly fictional, either.
Crouch grew up in Charleston, studied in New York and spent five years putting together the book.
Check it out at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Wordsmiths Books, 545 N. McDonough St., Decatur.
What they neglected to mention? We have a Red Truck Wine sponsorship for the evening. You know what that means.
Also this week, more specifically Saturday, May 3rd, at 7 PM, at our old friends Cooks Warehouse Midtown, we’re presenting a cooking class with the remarkable, revolutionary Chef Charlie Ayers, aka The Man Who Taught Google To Eat. His book, Food 2.0, is an incredible, refreshing and lively look at incorporating raw foods, fresh produce and a healthy, invigorating approach to cooking into every kitchen every day. It’s a favorite in my kitchen (ok, Lucy’s kitchen, really, since I don’t cook), because its abundant use of fruits, vegetables and healthy ingredients is also cost-effective. It’s a great cookbook and has a witty narrative running through it regarding Chef Charlie’s conversion of Google to healthy eating, and I highly recommend anyone even remotely interested in fresh cooking to come out to the class Saturday night.
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On: 24 April 2008
If I were to have live-blogged Tim BGB and myself picking Steven Hall up at Hartsfield Airport, it would have looked like this:
1:17 PM: that’s him
1:18 PM: that wasn’t him. this isn’t him either, though it should be
1:18 PM: THIS IS HIM
1:19 PM: that wasn’t him. this guy totally looks like him
1:21 PM” guy who looked like him was, in fact, not him. and had a dog. and a girlfriend. both with him.
you get the drift-I have learned, today, that there are many, MANY people who, in fact, are NOT Steven Hall. After worrying that he was playing some sort of Raw Shark-esque identity/clue-laden trick on us, we did, in fact, come across the real (first!) Steve Hall, who is raring to go for tonight’s BGB Vol III, which, heck with it, I am going to start calling Blue Screen Vs The Shark.
I’ll see you tonight.
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On: 23 April 2008
I come to Wordsmiths, and to marketing, publicity (and writing) in general, from a music industry background. In my years being really heavily immersed in popular music culture, I have tended to get swept up in trends and hype and whatnot, but I have always kept a special place in my head and heart for stuff that I really love-you know, the stuff that will always move you, make you think and feel whenever you hear it. For me, it’s bands like New Order and My Bloody Valentine (amongst others, I could make a giant list but then we’d be here all day) that always resonate for me (note: I said RESONATE, not RESONATOR). Every so often, after listening to whatever the hot new band or the hot new sound is, I’ll end up stumbling across a band that sounds exactly what I love: dreamy, gazey, shuffling, synth-poppy.
That’s how I felt the first time I heard Blue Screen Love Scene , the obsession-worthy, hummable dream-pop band that hails from Athens and Atlanta (ok, 1/3 from Athens, 2/3 from Atlanta, but we won’t fault them for the off-balanced fractions). They have a sound that’s like a nu-romantic shoegazing boy falling in love a girl who’s really heavily into old disco and Prince jams…that’s the best way I can describe it.
And that’s why we tapped them for the honors of closing out tomorrow night’s BGB Vol III, featuring Steven “Raw Shark Texts” Hall. They’re just that good, and just that fitting.
VS
Ok, so there’s really no competition (and, truth be told, BSLS AND Steven Hall are ALL superheroes, and no one’s getting locked in The Vault), I just wanted a comic book-y way to segue into the introduction that BSLS’s Richy, their resident laptop-smith, was kind enough to pen (taking time out of saving the world, naturally) for today:
“Yeah, but can I rollerskate to it?”…..this is the principal question posed when Blue Screen Love Scene gets together to crank out the hot jams. With the exception of the occasional creamy-dreamy shoegaze power ballad (see Perfumery), they do just that. Dance music with pop song structure and a quirky touch is what blows BSLS collective dresses up.
Long-term friends, Richy Ferrell and Matt Sapp, decided one day that they wanted to form an electronic band as a fun side project. Richy, (having previous experience as a guitarist), and Matt, (known around Athens, GA as a bass player) just needed one final thing: a singer. Lauren, a friend of Richy’s, (and co-member of Teenwich), was introduced as the vocalist and lyric-writer extraordinarre. Their influences run the gamut between minimal synth, garage(as in Paradise Garage), french pop, shoegazer, neue deutsche welle, new wave, and funk. They also dig Fleetwood Mac.
BSLS are super excited and honored to be the musical accompaniment to Steven Hall’s only southeast tour stop. So fire up the dictaphones, name your cats Ian, gas up the Orpheus and come out to Wordsmiths this Thursday night! And Richy wants to date Scout if she were real.
Thanks, Richy. That reminds me of two things. Thing one: that song he was talking about? “Perfumery”? It’s what started my obsession with Blue Screen Love Scene, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t, oh, post it right here:
Blue Screen Love Scene: Perfumery
(Right-click to “save as”, hosted by Resonatormag)
Our friends at Resonator wrote about this song a while ago, and said it way better than I could:
Lauren’s voice, part instrument made of anticipation, holds the hand of the swells of sound and leads the song along as though she was putting the thing to bed.
So, in case you haven’t been tuning in, there’s no part of tomorrow night that will be any less than amazing. Steven Hall’s only southeast appearance (and his only appearance outside of a Borders on this tour), Blue Screen Love Scene’s first time playing Decatur (and, I can officially say, their first time playing a bookstore!). Free refreshments.
Which means thing two is that card, for your reference.
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On: 22 April 2008
It’s Raw Shark Week, Day Two. This is really the hump day for this here at Wordsmiths, because I’ve been running around like a chicken with my head chopped off (or eaten off…by a SHARK). As such, I’m going to get all aggregating up in here, and do a little snagging, a little re-purposing, a little ripping off, if you will.
Over at our co-sponsors BabyGotBooks, they’ve posted a long, lengthy list (I’m going for Gertrude Stein here in terms of what my alliteration’s conjuring up…”cool calm colors caress”, and all that) of reviews of Raw Shark, and their three-part interview with Steve Hall (I can never remember if Tim bothered to ask Hall all my questions about the purpose of Ian the cat in the novel…if one was to start an Ian fan club, that one would be me). It’s all here.
BabyGotBooks also picked up on the Blue Screen Love Scene mp3 that saw light of day in this blog and in our newsletter yesterday. If you missed it, not to worry: we’ll get you some love from Blue Screen Love Scene tomorrow.
Today, though, I (and BGB, and Steven Hall himself) want to encourage you to play safecracker. Head here and try to crack the code. If you succeed, you’ll be presented with 16 typeset pages that form the Raw Shark prologue. Print ‘em out, bring ‘em Thursday night and Steven Hall will sign the rare goodies, giving you an instant collector’s item.
More tomorrow.
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On: 21 April 2008
***
***not an ACTUAL cnn.com shirt…yet! When Blue Screen Love Scene and Steven Hall join forces to save the world (or something), it’ll totally be news-worthy.
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On: 21 April 2008
It’s here, so first things first: stay calm
To those out there for whom reading is a passive, throwaway experience, preferring their books light, fluffy and terminally non-involved, the (urban) fervor and excitement which is greeting this Thursday’s appearance at Wordsmiths by Raw Shark Texts author Steven Hall might seem like just a bunch of hoopla and clamor. After all, Raw Shark Texts is just a book, right? There’s no reason to be sleepless with hyperactive anticipation, right? No reason to dedicate an entire blog-week, which is, like, three hundred years and ten Decemberists albums in real world time, to covering all the ins and outs of Raw Shark and the BGB Vol III event at Wordsmiths on Thursday, right?
Absolutely wrong.
Raw Shark Texts is a fantastic piece of work, a meditation on loss and memory wrapped in a thriller and gold-leafed with a graphic designer’s sense of detail and purpose. It requires your attention, your involvement and the same suspension of disbelief you’d give to a multi-media Hollywood blockbuster, but, unlike anything involving Ahhh-nuld, Raw Shark Texts pays you (the reader) back in spades. The sense of emotional presence Hall brings to what could very well be just a schticky few hundred pages is intense (I’ll admit to finding my eyes watering both times I’ve read the ending), and….
and, honestly, we at Wordsmiths have been talking about this book for so long it seems repetitive. In fact, some guy named Russ, over a year ago, wrote in this very blog about this very book:
It’s a picture book. It’s an emotional wringer. It’s a mystery. It’s a fragmented post-modern look at what “memoir” truly means. Removed from that deep, deep ocean of hype, splashes of movie deals, celebrity fans and the upturned nose of stodgier book critics, Raw Shark Text is an amazingly original work that hits hard enough to cause the reader to put their very life up for reconsidering.
Our co-sponsors over at BabyGotBooks have a long, sordid and ultimately hilarious history with Steven Hall, from around the same time. It was with their support that we netted the big fish catch for BGB Vol III (it again is worth noting: this is Steven Hall’s ONLY appearance in the southeast, and the ONLY non-Borders event he’s doing), a voyage, nay, an expedition I’ll detail further down the Raw Shark Week trail.
For the BGB contribution to Raw Shark Week, Tim did just as I’d hoped, and encapsulated the entire “kitten blood” incident that started this whole, fantastic mess. It’s far too much for me to paraphrase here, and I’m working on a deadline (Webmaster Mike’s gonna walk into my office any minute now and make some comment about having this ready for the newsletter, and I haven’t had enough coffee), so let’s just say that the Baby Got Books/Steven Hall Origin Story is told here, and that it ends with this:
Yes, that’s a severed kitten head. Read the ORIGINS OF STEVEN HALL VS BABY GOT BOOKS to find out more.
To close out day one of Raw Shark Week, a gentle reminder: Thursday. April 24th. 8 PM (this leaves you time to go to the Townsend Awards, Georgia’s renowned literary awards ceremony, which starts at 7PM in the Old Courthouse on the Square in Decatur, and ends just as we’re beginning). After Steven does his Raw Shark bit, Atlanta/Athens dance-pop band Blue Screen Love Scene will play.
I would normally hold off on posting this until later in the week, but let’s give BSLS some love:
Blue Screen Love Scene: (I’m A)Scientist
Our very first mp3, hosted courtesy of our friends at ResonatorMag.
(right-click and choose “save as” to download, for those of you who may be novices at such things)
More on BSLS coming later in the week, and more on Raw Shark, also. For now, you have the facts.
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On: 18 April 2008
It would seem that, if today’s to be believed, Friday is the new Thursday (as in, the day of the week that you just can’t get a handle on).
First, there was this amazing piece of writing from the New York Times book section, on the ongoing JK Rowling/Harry Potter Lexicon trial
. The quote in question came from the most recent Times article, and had to do with what, I think, is the final day of testimony:
An expert witness for the plaintiffs, Jeri Johnson, an American expatriate who is a senior tutor at Oxford University, seemed to play the role of Dolores Umbridge, the Ministry of Magic’s apparatchik at Hogwarts, as she testified.
She dripped contempt as she referred to Mr. Vander Ark’s work as “the so-called lexicon.” She said she found Mr. Vander Ark’s commentary in the book to be “weak waggishness.
On cross-examination, David Hammer, a lawyer for the publisher, pointed out that Ms. Rowling herself made vulgar jokes in her books about troll boogers and phlegm. He suggested that the problem might be that as an Oxford don, Ms. Johnson was too high-minded.
“You yourself would not make a joke about phlegm?” he asked the witness.
Regardless of your stance on the whole situation, those are some amazing, and totally bizarre, quotes.
Speaking of totally bizarre, and in keeping with the Friday weirdness, check was found inside a crate shipment of (what was supposed to be) magazines that came in today:
I, truly, do not understand. My friend Jill suggests that we send back “a moon pie, a kitten, and Billy Joel’s “we didn’t start the fire” cassette tape single”.
This is shaping up to be one of those days where I just say “forget it all” and listen to some O.M.D.
If you want to truly participate in the Friday weirdness, don’t miss our always-odd (but entertaining) Open Mic Night tonight. Otherwise, I’ll see you at Record Store Day tomorrow.
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