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Events
Events listed in white are at the bookshop; events listed in yellow are elsewhere.
All events are free & open to the public.
(Click on a picture or a title to check our inventory or to purchase.)
- Sunday, April 1st at 2:00 P.M.(Talk)
Ralph Nader, the visionary & tireless worker for the public good whose dedication to the democratic process has infuriated his critics, will talk at the bookshop & sign copies of his new autobiography,
The Seventeen Traditions.
At 4:15 An Unreasonable Man, a movie about him, will be shown at the Amherst Cinema Arts Center, after which Nader & the director, Henriette Mantel, will talk & answer questions.
- Monday, April 9th at 5:30 P.M.(Book signing)
Dave Copeland will sign copies of his new book,
Blood & Volume: Inside New York's Israeli Mafia. Ron Gonen, together with pals Ran Efraim & Johnny Attias, ran a multi–million dollar drug distribution & contract murder syndicate that rose to prominence in Brooklyn, Queens, & Manhattan during the 1980s. Calling themselves the “Israeli Mafia,” Gonen & his pals led one of the most brutal gangs ever to operate in New York City. The gang made the three richer than they had ever dreamed, but brought on troubles they never expected.
Blood & Volume, author Dave Copeland gives an exclusive & never–before revealed look into one of the most successful Israeli gangs ever to operate on American soil.
- Monday, April 9th at 7:00 P.M.(Reading)
Juan de Recacoechea will read from his recently translated book,
American Visa, in Pruyne Lecture (Fayereweather 115) at Amherst College. Recacoechea was born in La Paz, Bolivia, & worked as a journalist in Europe for almost twenty years. After returning to his native country, he helped found Bolivia’s first state run television network, served as its general manager, & then dedicated himself to fiction writing.
American Visa is his first novel to be translated into English, & was awarded Bolivia’s National Book Prize in 1994. George Pelecanos wrote that “
American Visa is beautifully written, atmospheric, & stylish in the manner of Chandler . . . a smart, exotic crime fiction offering.”
- Tuesday, April 10th at 7:00 P.M.(Reading)
Amherst’s beloved
Gale McClung will talk at the Jones Library about a new book that she & her late husband, Robert, were editing before Bob died,
At War & at Home: One Family's World War II Correspondence. This extraordinary collection of World War II correspondence offers a fascinating look at the lives of an average American family from western Pennsylvania. With all three sons participating in the war, the McClung family members, all remarkably good letter–writers, had ample opportunity to share their thoughts & views on life in the war & on the home front.
- Wednesday, April 11th at 8:00 P.M.(Reading)
Aaron Petrovich will read from his new book,
The Session. Funny, frantic, & with a subversive intelligence, Aaron Petrovich’s Keatonesque heroes, Detectives Smith & Smith, stumble upon a bizarre new religion while following the trail of a murdered mathematician’s missing organs. Their investigation to discover the truth—about the mathematician
murder, the mob of men & women who may have eaten him, & ultimately the
nature of truth, sanity, & identity—leads them into a lunatic asylum they
may never leave.
- Thursday, April 12th at 8:00 P.M.(Reading)
Claire Messud will read from her recent novel,
The Emperor’s Children, in Pruyne Lecture Hall (Fayerweather 115) at Amherst College. She is author of three previous books—
The Hunters: Two Novellas,
The Last Life, &
When the World was Steady. She has twice been nominated for a PEN Faulkner Award, once for a National Book Award, & is the beneficiary of an American Academy of Arts & Letters Strauss Livings Award. Sponsored by Amherst College’s
Creative Writing Center.
- Friday, April 13th at 8:00 P.M.(Reading)
Amity Gaige will read from her new novel,
The Folded World. Gaige, who teaches at Mt. Holyoke College, is author of the highly praised novel
O My Darling, of which Stuart Dybek wrote, “Given its level of sophistication & off–center wit, it’s a bit startling to realize that
O My Darling is Amity Gaige’s first novel. The characters, beautifully drawn, are as unsentimental toward one another as their author is toward them & yet, wonderfully, this novel with its many ambushes of lyrical moments, is deeply felt.’ (
Read more!)
- Saturday, April 14th at 8:00 P.M.(Poetry reading)
Don Share &
Jacqueline Pope will read from recent work. Share is author of two volumes of poetry—the brand–new
Squandermania, &
Union, which was a finalist for the Boston Globe/PEN–New England Winship Award for outstanding book. His other books include
Seneca in English &
I Have Lots of Heart: Selected Poems of Miguel Hernández, which received a
Times Literary Supplement/Society of AuthorsTranslation Prize; & a forthcoming critical edition of Basil Bunting. Pope is author of the poetry collection
Watermark, of which Rosanna Warren said, “It describes its own compressed language: ‘crossed double–crossed underscored’ in dreamscapes writ in rain, wind, mist, & harbor water. Tact & mystery marry in these glintings of loss & of life recovered from ruin.”. Pope’s poems, reviews, essays & translations have appeared in journals & newspapers in the United States & Europe. Her writing has received the José Marti Prize & awards from the Academy of American Poets & the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
- Thursday, April 19th at 8:00 P.M.(Reading)
Sabina Murray will read from her new novel,
Forgery, in Memorial Hall at the University of Massachusetts as part of M.F.A. Program's reading series. Murray is author of
Slow Burn,
The Caprices, which won the PEN/Faulkner award, &
The Carnivore’s Inquiry, which was called “dazzling...lovely, literate, & deeply unnerving” by
The New York Times Book Review. Murray teaches in the English department at the University of Massachusetts.
- Friday, April 20th at 8:00 P.M.(Reading)
“Live Lit” Students in the M.F.A. Program at the University of Massachusetts will read from their recent work. Evenings usually include a mix of poetry & fiction. Tonight’s reading, however, will be all poetry—poets
Seth Parker,
Seth Landman, &
Natalie Lyalin will read.
- Sunday, April 22nd at 3:00 P.M.(Poetry reading)
“Jubilat/Jones Reading Series” Poets
Michael Earl Craig &
Cathy Park Hong will read at the Jones Library in Amherst as part of the Jubilat poetry reading series. Craig is author of
Yes, Master &
Can You Relax in My House. He has published poems in
Verse,
Volt,
jubilat, as well as the Verse Press anthology of love poems,
Isn’t it Romantic. Hong is author of
Translating Mo'um, which won a Pushcart Prize. Her recent work,
Dance Dance Revolution won the 2006 Barnard Women Poets Prize. Hong’s work, observes Adrienne Rich, “ is passionate, artful, worldly. It makes a reader feel & think simultaneously, & rather then implying a nihilistic or negative vision of the future it leaves this reader, at least, revitalized.”
- Sunday, April 22nd at 7:00 P.M.(Poetry reading)
Jay Ladin will read from his new collection of poetry,
The Book of Anna, a series of long narrative poems interspersed with prose diary entries written in the voice of a fictional poet. Of Ladin's first volume of poetry,
Alternatives to History, Herb Leibowitz wrote that Ladin “draws the reader into a world of harsh truths, uncanny beauty, inspired erudition, ironic wit, & cadenced music.” Ladin’s poetry has been featured in many magazines & journals, including
Parnassus: Poetry in Review,
North American Review,
The Minnesota Review, &
Exquisite Corpse. He has taught writing at Reed College, Princeton University, & the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
- Wednesday, April 25nd at 8:00 P.M.(Reading, Talk)
University of Massachusetts linguistics professor,
Tom Roeper, will read from & talk about his new book,
The Prism of Grammar: How Child Language Illuminates Humanism. Steven Pinker wrote that “for three decades, Tom Roeper has been one of the most acute observers of semantic & grammatical subtleties in children’s speech, & one of the most creative thinkers on how to connect linguistic theory with language acquisition research. It is nice to have his insights collected into a book, which will be a source of ideas for years to come.”
Read more!
- Thursday, April 26th at 8:00 P.M.(Poetry reading)
John Hennessy will read from his debut collection of poetry,
Bridge & Tunnel. Hennessy has published widely & teaches literature at the University of Massachusetts. Writing of
Bridge & Tunnel, J. D. McClatchy observerd, “As its title predicts, at the heart of
Bridge & Tunnel is The Other Side, the state of mind that is New Jersey, Manhattan’s oily shadow–the Oranges, the kills, the Merck plan. With perfect pitch, John Hennessy hits all the flats & sharps of life there—the jogging bras & bucket–drops, the old time religion & slag heaps. His eye is canny, his language is keen, his take is wise & acute. This book sizzles!” Co-sponsored by Amherst College’s
Creative Writing Center.
7:30 P.M. Memorial Hall: Poetry & Fiction ReadingTimothy Donnelly, Paul Fattaruso, Merrill Feitell, Elizabeth Hughey, Anna Moschovakis, Ira Sher, Rachel Sherman & Tony Tost will read in Memorial Hall at the University of Massachusetts.
12:30 P.M. Amherst Cinema Arts Center: Poetry & Fiction Reading
Noria Jablonski, Christopher Janke, Tao Lin, Amanda Nadelberg, Allan Peterson & Dwight Yates will read at the Amherst Arts Center in downtown Amherst.
2:15 P.M. Roundtables:
- Weird War: The Politics of Whimsy at the Emily Dickinson Homestead
Investigating the relationship between world events & various literary responses to them, from the overt championing of a particular cause to the less explicit approaches of lyric, personal history, & invented parallel worlds; with Chris Bachelder, Alan DeNiro, Paul Fattaruso, Sabrina Orah Mark, Eugene Ostashevsky, & Matthew Zapruder
- Publishing a First Book: The Basics & Beyond at Amherst Books
Exploring the process that begins when a manuscript is complete & the different means by which 1st books come into the world; with Lucy Corin, Carol Ann Davis, Chris Janke, Shauna Seliy, Rebecca Wolff, Joanna Yas & Ande Zellman
3:30 P.M. Roundtables:
- The Internet & New Literary Criticism at the Emily Dickinson Homestead
Considering ways in which new media including online journals, blogs, listservs, audio archives, & e–books, inform the literary landscape & intersect with traditional media; with Timothy Donnelly, Noria Jablonski, Jeffrey Lependorf, Anna Moschovakis & Tony Tost
- Chapbook Reading & Discussion at Amherst Books
Celebrating the storied tradition & diverse present of chapbooks with readings &/or comments by Rob Casper, Dan Chelotti, Sueyeun Juliette Lee, Alex Phillips, Lori Shine, Betsy Wheeler & Matvei Yankelevich
4:30 P.M. Amherst Books: Author Reception & Book-signing
7:30 P.M. Memorial Hall: Poetry & Fiction Reading
Eric Baus, Lucy Corin, Alan DeNiro, Julia Johnson, Sabrina Orah Mark, Eugene Ostashevsky, Imad Rahman, Michael Robins & Shauna Seliy will read at Memorial Hall at the University of Massachusetts.