Skylight Books Podcast Series

JOHN ANDREW FREDRICK

KING OF GOOD INTENTIONS (Verse Chorus Press)

Set in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, John Andrew Fredrick's debut novel chronicles the early days of an indie band as they meet, practice, make their first recordings, and get their first break/ big gig.  It's also the story of the flowering love affair between John and Jenny, the two charming but, let's say, troubled guitarists/singers in the band.  John is by day a misanthropic substitute teacher in the crazy, sometimes horrifying world that is the LA Unified School District, while Jenny is a mysterious recovering child prodigy. Along the way, the couple and their bandmates make all kinds of discoveries about themselves and the Hollywood milieu in which they are trying to succeed, a world peopled by narcissistic actors, wannabe screenwriters, pretentious musicians, weirdo fans, crazy neighbors--oh, and an emu.

Advance praise for The King of Good Intentions:

"Stylish, poetic and mischievous, this is the funniest contemporary novel I've read in a long time"--John Tottenham, author of The Inertia Variations

"Witty, quirky, and painfully funny... offers a sweet, sharp take on music, love, and Los Angeles, not to mention subbing.  Wonderful."--Meg Gardiner, author of Ransom River

John Andrew Fredrick is the principal singer and songwriter for indie rock band the black watch, who have released 17 CDs to considerable underground acclaim.  His comic novella, the knucklehead chronicles, was published in 2008.  He has taught in The Writing Program at USC, and the English Departments at LMU, SMC, and UCSB, where he received his Ph.D. in English Literature.  He lives in Los Angeles, plays tennis five times a week, and often has been known to treat audiences at his readings to a few acoustic songs from his vast canon as a songwriter.

THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS JUNE 6, 2013.

COPIES OF THE BOOK FROM THIS EVENT CAN BE PURCHASED HERE: http://www.skylightbooks.com/book/9781891241109

CECIL CASTELLUCCI

ODD DUCK (First Second)

Prolific young adult author and longtime friend of Skylight Books Cecil Castellucci is BACK with a brand new graphic novel picture book for children and the young at heart.  Illustrated by the wonderful Sara Varon! (Robot Dreams)

Theodora is a perfectly normal duck. She may swim with a teacup balanced on her head and stay north when the rest of the ducks fly south for the winter, but there's nothing so odd about that. Chad, on the other hand, is one strange bird. Theodora quite likes him, but she can't overlook his odd habits. It's a good thing Chad has a normal friend like Theodora to set a good example for him. But who exactly is the odd duck here? Theodora may not like the answer. Sara Varon ("Robot Dreams") teams up with Cecil Castellucci ("Grandma's Gloves") for a gorgeous, funny, and heartwarming examination of the perils and pleasures of friendship.

Advanced praise for ODD DUCK:

"Fresh and funny."--New York Times

"Varon's gentle art and Castellucci's nuanced writing combine in a sweet, quiet tale that celebrates the joys of being unique." -- Booklist

"This clever celebration of individuality delights." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"A lively friendship story that shows it's more fun to be different than "normal," and most fun of all to be different with a buddy." -- The Horn Book

Cecil Castellucci is the author of books and graphic novels for young adults including Boy Proof, The Plain Janes, First Day on Earth, The Year of the Beasts and Odd Duck. Her picture book, Grandma’s Gloves, won the California Book Award Gold Medal. Her short stories have been published in Strange Horizons, YARN, Tor.com, and various anthologies including, Teeth, After and Interfictions 2. She is the YA editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books, Children’s Correspondence Coordinator for The Rumpus and a two time Macdowell Fellow. She lives in Los Angeles.

THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS MAY 25, 2013.

COPIES OF THE BOOK FROM THIS EVENT CAN BE PURCHASED HERE:
http://www.skylightbooks.com/book/9781596435575

The Shelf Talker podcast - Featuring Dan Kusunoki

Welcome to the first edition of the Shelf Talker podcast - where Skylight booksellers talk about books they love. It's an audio recommendation for your ears! This edition of the Shelf Talker features our graphic novel master - Dan Kusunoki. He talks about:

The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon - http://www.skylightbooks.com/book/9781906838423
Hair Shirt by Patrick McEown  - http://www.skylightbooks.com/book/9781906838270
and Sandcastle by Frederik Peeters - http://www.skylightbooks.com/book/9781906838386

All these books are published by one of Dan's favorite publishers - SelfMadeHero. You can find them here: www.selfmadehero.com

Enjoy.

Leila Howland

NANTUCKET BLUE (Disney Press)

Join us to celebrate the launch of a highly-anticipated new young adult novel from Disney Press!

For Cricket Thompson, a summer like this one will change everything. A summer spent on Nantucket with her best friend, Jules Clayton, and the indomitable Clayton family. A summer when she'll make the almost unattainable Jay Logan hers. A summer to surpass all dreams.

Some of this turns out to be true. Some of it doesn't.

When Jules and her family suffer a devastating tragedy that forces the girls apart, Jules becomes a stranger whom Cricket wonders whether she ever really knew. And instead of lying on the beach working on her caramel-colored tan, Cricket is making beds and cleaning bathrooms to support herself in paradise for the summer.

But it's the things Cricket hadn't counted on--most of all, falling hard for someone who should be completely off-limits--that turn her dreams into an exhilarating, bittersweet reality.

A beautiful future is within her grasp, and Cricket must find the grace to embrace it. If she does, her life could be the perfect shade of Nantucket blue.

“Debut author Howland’s descriptions for everything from a summer storm (“The grass in the back yard was rain-drunk”) to the stirrings of first love (“There was this lightness that occasionally took me over, making me feel like I was made of balloons”) are lush and moving. Readers should feel empowered by Cricket’s efforts to grow up into a strong, honest, and emotionally intelligent young woman, even as they are enchanted by the romantic and exclusive island setting. This is a natural beach read, but will easily win Howland year-round fans, too.” -Publishers Weekly (starred review)


A graduate of Georgetown University, Leila Howland spent five years acting in New York in everything from an MTV public service announcement for safe sex to a John Guare play at Lincoln Center and was a proud company member of the award-winning Flea Theater in Tribeca. Currently, she teaches high school English and English as a second language in downtown Los Angeles and occasionally moonlights as an extra on the Young and the Restless. This is her first novel.

THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS MAY 24, 2013.

COPIES OF THE BOOK FROM THIS EVENT CAN BE PURCHASED HERE:

http://www.skylightbooks.com/book/%5Bmodel%5D-64 

 

Tom Drury

Pacific (Grove Press)

Tom Drury’s depictions of the stark beauty of the Midwest and the futility of American wanderlust have earned him comparisons to Raymond Carver, Sherwood Anderson, and Paul Auster.  His new novel, PACIFIC, marks a triumphant return to the characters that launched his career two decades ago in the fictional Grouse County, Iowa, the setting of his landmark debut, The End of Vandalism.

When fourteen-year-old Micah Darling travels to Los Angeles to reunite with the mother who deserted him seven years ago, he finds himself out of his league in a land of magical freedom. He does new drugs with new people, falls in love with an enchanting but troubled equestrienne named Charlotte, and gets thrown out of school over the activities of a club called the New Luddites.

Back in the Midwest, an ethereal young woman comes to Stone City on a mission that will unsettle the lives of everyone she meets—including Micah’s half-sister, Lyris, who still fights fears of abandonment after a childhood in foster care, and Micah’s father, Tiny, a petty thief. An investigation into the stranger’s identity uncovers a darkly disturbed life, as parallel narratives of the comic and tragic, the mysterious and everyday, unfold in both the country and the city. A portrait of two disparate communities united by the restlessness and desperate hope of their residents, Drury’s haunted souls, adrift between promise and circumstance, reveal our infinite capacity to “get in and out of trouble in unexpected ways” and still find a semblance of peace at the end.  

"As in his previous masterful novels, Drury weaves carefully metered sentences, deeply felt scenes, and struggling characters into an endlessly entertaining tapestry of human comedy and small-town living."—Jonathan Fullmer, Booklist

“Reading Pacific makes me once again fall in love with Drury’s words, and his perception of a world that is full of dangers and passions and mysteries and graces.” —Yiyun Li

Tom Drury's fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, and Mississippi Review. He is the author of The Driftless Area, The Black Brook, and Hunts in Dreams. Drury was raised in Iowa and lives with his wife and daughter in California.

THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS MAY 23, 2013.

COPIES OF THE BOOK FROM THIS EVENT CAN BE PURCHASED HERE:

http://www.skylightbooks.com/book/9780802119995  

Yes is the Answer

Yes Is the Answer: And Other Prog Rock Tales (Barnacle Books/Rare Bird Books)

Progressive rock is maligned and misunderstood. Critics hate it, hipsters scoff at it. Yes Is The Answer is a pointed rebuke to the prog-haters, the first literary anthology devoted to the sub genre. Featuring acclaimed novelists, Rick Moody, Wesley Stace, Seth Greenland, Charles Bock, and Joe Meno, as well as musicians Matthew Sweet, Nathan Larson, and Peter Case, Yes Is The Answer is the first book that dares to thoughtfully reclaim prog-rock as a subject worthy of serious consideration. So take a Topographic Journey into a 21st Century Schizoid land of Prog-Lit!

Marc Weingarten is the author of The Gang That Wouldn't Write Straight and Station to Station. He is producer of the 2011 documentary God Bless Ozzy Osbourne, as well as television's The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. He lives in Malibu, CA.

Tyson Cornell is the founder of Rare Bird Lit, a Los Angeles and New York-based literary PR and marketing company specializing in book promotion for authors, publishers, and organizations in North America and Europe. He lives with his wife and two children in downtown Los Angeles.

Joining the editors of Yes is the Answer in lively discussion will be the following contributors: 

John Albert cofounded the semilegendary cross-dressing band Christian Death and also enjoyed a stint as the drummer in Bad Religion. He lives in Los Angeles and has contributed to LA Weekly, Hustler, and BlackBook, among others. He won the Best of the West Journalism Best Sports Writing Award in 2000, for the LA Weekly article from which his first book, Wrecking Crew, derived.

Margaret Wappler has written for LA Weekly, Rolling Stone and The Believer. She loves ginger tea, F. Scott Fitzgerald and the judicious use of the drum solo.

Matthew Specktor is the author of That Summertime Sound and The Sting, his writing has appeared in Harper's Magazine,Salon, and Open City, and is forthcoming in Tin House, The Believer, and The Paris Review. He is presently collaborating with James Franco on a film adaptation of Steve Erickson's novel Zeroville. A MacDowell Colony fellow and a founding editor of theLos Angeles Review of Books, he lives in Los Angeles.

THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS JUNE 13, 2013.

COPIES OF THE BOOK FROM THIS EVENT CAN BE PURCHASED HERE:  http://www.skylightbooks.com/book/9780985490201

UC Irvine MFA Students 2013

Join us to hear fine new works by UC Irvine MFA Students.  Fiction writers Blake Kimzey and Justin Lee, and poets Josh Cornwell and Meagan Cooney will be at Skylight for the final stop of their off-campus reading series.  Come out, support and enjoy great new work. http://www.humanities.uci.edu/mfareading/ THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS ON MAY 18, 2013.

Richard Lange

Angel Baby (Mulholland Books)

A woman goes on the run in this intense and cinematic thriller by an award-winning writer. To escape the awful life she has descended into, Luz plans carefully. She takes only the clothes on her back, a Colt .45, and all the money in her husband's safe. The corpses in the hallway weren't part of her plan. Luz needs to find the daughter she left behind years earlier, but she knows she may die trying. Her husband is El Principe, a key player in a high-powered drug cartel, a business he runs with the same violence he has used to keep Luz his perfect, obedient wife. With the pace and relentless force of a Scorsese film, ANGEL BABY is the newest masterpiece from one of the most ambitious and talented crime novelists at work today. "Richard Lange has a PhD in badass, and in Angel Baby he leads the reader through every can't-look, can't-look-away corner of treachery and sleaze, violence and danger. Lange stands out as the greatest young crime writer of his generation, precisely because he doesn't write crime--he writes literature." --Jerry Stahl, author of Permanent Midnight "Angel Baby is a bone-crushing nightmare parable: bad people doing the wrong things for love." --Warren Ellis, author of Gun Machine Richard Lange is the author of the story collection Dead Boys, which received an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the novel This Wicked World. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and his fiction has appeared in Best American Mystery Stories 2004 and 2011. He lives in Los Angeles. Photo by Beth Coller THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS ON MAY 17, 2013. COPIES OF THE BOOK FROM THIS EVENT CAN BE PURCHASED HERE: http://www.skylightbooks.com/book/9780316219822

Joyce Carol Oates

The Accursed (Ecco Press)

We couldn't be more excited to have legendary author Joyce Carol Oates coming to Skylight to read from and sign her new novel, The Accursed. The Washington Post calls The Accursed "spectacular. . . With its vast scope, its mingling of comic and tragic tones, its omnivorous gorging on American literature, and especially its complex reflection on the major themes of our history, The Accursed is the kind of outrageous masterpiece only Joyce Carol Oates could create." A major historical novel from "one of the great artistic forces of our time" (The Nation)--an eerie, unforgettable story of possession, power, and loss in early-twentieth-century Princeton, a cultural crossroads of the powerful and the damned. Princeton, New Jersey, at the turn of the twentieth century: a tranquil place to raise a family, a genteel town for genteel souls. But something dark and dangerous lurks at the edges of the town, corrupting and infecting its residents. Vampires and ghosts haunt the dreams of the innocent. A powerful curse besets the elite families of Princeton; their daughters begin disappearing. A young bride on the verge of the altar is seduced and abducted by a dangerously compelling man-a shape-shifting, vaguely European prince who might just be the devil, and who spreads his curse upon a richly deserving community of white Anglo-Saxon privilege. And in the Pine Barrens that border the town, a lush and terrifying underworld opens up. When the bride's brother sets out against all odds to find her, his path will cross those of Princeton's most formidable people, from Grover Cleveland, fresh out of his second term in the White House and retired to town for a quieter life, to soon-to-be commander in chief Woodrow Wilson, president of the university and a complex individual obsessed to the point of madness with his need to retain power; from the young Socialist idealist Upton Sinclair to his charismatic comrade Jack London, and the most famous writer of the era, Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain-all plagued by "accursed" visions. An utterly fresh work from Oates, The Accursed marks new territory for the masterful writer. Narrated with her unmistakable psychological insight, it combines beautifully transporting historical detail with chilling supernatural elements to stunning effect. "The Accursed is a unique, vast multilayered narrative; a genre bending beast of a book, utterly startling from start to finish, compulsive and engaging, the writing crackling with energy and wit. This is an elaborately conceived work."--New York Review of Books. Joyce Carol Oates is a recipient of the National Medal of Humanities, the National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Book Award and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction, and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. She has written some of the most enduring fiction of our time, including the national bestsellers We Were the Mulvaneys, Blonde, which was nominated for the National Book Award, and the New York Times bestseller The Falls, which won the 2005 Prix Femina. She is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University and has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1978. In 2003 she received the Common Wealth Award for Distinguished Service in Literature, and in 2006 she received the Chicago Tribune Lifetime Achievement Award. Photo by Star Black THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS MAY 6, 2013. COPIES OF THE BOOK FROM THIS EVENT CAN BE PURCHASED HERE:  http://www.skylightbooks.com/book/%5Bmodel%5D-240

Paul Vangelisti

Wholly Falsetto With People Dancing (Otis Books)

An older man's not-so-divine comedy, Vangelisti's FALSETTO is in three parts, corresponding to Hell, Purgatory and Paradise: namely, "Westernmost," the Los Angeles of a poet's daybook; the fool's purgatory of "An Italian Journal," some three weeks up & down the peninsula; and finally, "Wholly Falsetto with People Dancing," an alphabetical memoir of that invisible country of dead poets and loves that are no more. The trips through the first two territories in the work, Los Angeles and Italy, are documented more or less "on the run," in stark contrast to the contemplative nature of the final section of recollections. Among the several subjects interwoven throughout the narrative is Vangelisti's exploration of an 'un-American' literary tradition, set up against that of the dominant Anglo-American culture. Paul Vangelisti is the author of some twenty books of poetry, as well as being a noted translator from Italian. In addition to his new book, Wholly Falsetto with People Dancing, an older man’s not-so-divine comedy, his most recent book of poems, Two, appeared from Talisman House in 2011. In 2006, Lucia Re’s and his translation of Amelia Rosselli’s War Variations won both the Premio Flaiano in Italy and the  PEN-USA Award for Translation. In 2010, his translation of Adriano Spatola’s The Position of Things: Collected Poems, 1961-1992 won the Academy of American Poets Raizzis/de Palchi Book Prize for Translation. From 1971-1982 he was co-editor, with John McBride, of the literary magazine Invisible City and, from 1993-2002, edited Ribot, the annual report of the College of Neglected Science. He worked as a journalist at the Hollywood Reporter (1972-1974), and as Cultural Affairs Director at KPFK Radio (1974-1982). Currently, with Luigi Ballerini, he is editing a six-volume anthology of U.S. poetry from 1960 to the present, Nuova poesia americana, for Mondadori in Milan. Vangelisti is Founding Chair of the Graduate Writing program at Otis College of Art & Design in Los Angeles. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS MAY 11, 2013. COPIES OF THE BOOK FROM THIS EVENT CAN BE PURCHASED HERE: http://www.skylightbooks.com/event/paul-vangelisti-reads-wholly-falsetto-people-dancing

Margot Leitman

Gawky: Tales of an Extra Long Awkward Phase (Seal Press)

Some tall girls grow up to have perfect posture and are later seen gracing the pages of magazines. Some are natural athletes with toned legs that mask their overlarge feet. Then there are "other" tall girls: the ones who are always tripping over themselves; who never look normal in any size of clothing; who literally don't fit in.

Comedian Margot Leitman was one of these awkward giants, and "Gawky" is the painfully funny chronicle of her experiences growing up tall. Reaching five feet six inches in fourth grade--and approaching six feet in high school--Leitman realized early on that she'd always stand out from the crowd. To cope, she developed a thick skin and a sharp sense of humor, and instead of forever trying to blend in, she decided to embrace her center-of-attention status. Leitman wears funky, Ziggy Stardust-era jumpsuits (in the 90s); takes up any cause she can find (whether saving the public beaches or protesting prom); and generally makes as much use of her big presence as humanly possible.

Leitman's memoir is a hilarious celebration of growing up gangly. Endearing and encouraging, "Gawky" is a cathartic release of everything awkward girls endure--and a tribute to a youth larger than life.

"If Judy Blume and Chelsea Handler had a baby, and that baby was a book, it would be "Gawky.""--Rachel Dratch

Margot Leitman's humorous, autobiographical writing has been published in Playgirl Magazine and The NY Press, as well as online at LifetimeTV.com, theFrisky.com, CollegeHumor.com, and 236.com (the comedy division of the Huffington Post). Her former monthly column, “From Behind the Bar,” was a reminiscence of bartending at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre and was featured multiple times on Comedy Central Insider, BrooklynVegan.com, and Gawker. She is a regular monologist at Assscat (UCB Theatre’s long running improv show hosted by Amy Poehler), Heeb Magazine’s Storytelling, Moonwork, Jill Soloway’s Sit N Spin, and Comedy Central’s Crash Mansion, among others. In 2012, Margot was nominated for an ECNY Award (Excellence in Comedy, NY) for “Best Storyteller.” Margot Leitman lives in Los Angeles. Visit her online at MargotLeitman.com.

THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS ON MAY 9, 2013.

COPIES OF THE BOOK FROM THIS EVENT CAN BE PURCHASED HERE: http://www.skylightbooks.com/book/9781580054782

Nathaniel Rich

Odds Against Tomorrow (Farrar Straus Giroux)

NEW YORK CITY, the near future: Mitchell Zukor, a gifted young mathematician, is hired by a mysterious new financial consulting firm, FutureWorld. The business operates out of a cavernous office in the Empire State Building; Mitchell is employee number two. He is asked to calculate worst-case scenarios in the most intricate detail, and his schemes are sold to corporations to indemnify them against any future disasters. This is the cutting edge of corporate irresponsibility, and business is booming. As Mitchell immerses himself in the mathematics of catastrophe--ecological collapse, global war, natural disasters--he becomes obsessed by a culture's fears. Yet he also loses touch with his last connection to reality: Elsa Bruner, a friend with her own apocalyptic secret, who has started a commune in Maine. Then, just as Mitchell's predictions reach a nightmarish crescendo, an actual worst-case scenario overtakes Manhattan. Mitchell realizes he is uniquely prepared to profit. But at what cost? At once an all-too-plausible literary thriller, an unexpected love story, and a philosophically searching inquiry into the nature of fear, Nathaniel Rich's Odds Against Tomorrow poses the ultimate questions of imagination and civilization. The future is not quite what it used to be. "This literary thriller is blessed with a propulsive plot, macabre humor, several richly developed characters, and serious ethical and philosophical issues, all lightly clothed in skillful writing."--Booklist Praise for The Mayor's Tongue: "A brilliantly told novel, by turns terrifying, touching, and wildly funny." --Stephen King "An author who could well become one of the defining writers of his generation." --The Sunday Telegraph "A spare masterpiece." --The Boston Globe Born in New York City, Nathaniel Rich now lives in New Orleans. He is the author of The Mayor’s Tongue. Photo by Meredith Angelson THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS, MAY 8, 2013. COPIES OF THE BOOK FROM THIS EVENT CAN BE PURCHASED HERE: http://www.skylightbooks.com/book/9780374224240

Author MARIO BELLATIN in conversation with translator DAVID SHOOK

A new nonprofit venture sponsored by PEN Center USA, Phoneme Media is an LA-based film and publishing house, published by Skylight's own Chris Heiser and founded by local poet and translator David Shook. Mario Bellatin, the leading experimental novelist in contemporary Latin America, introduces the neglected work of Shiki Nagaoka to an English-speaking audience for the first time. Bellatin’s highly stylized biography recounts Nagaoka’s early life, including his failed first attempt at love, his decision to enter the monastic life, and his family’s disavowal of him. It contextualizes his untranslatable masterwork, his early use of narrative photography, and his influence on other important world writers, including Juan Rulfo and José María Arguedas. And of course he portrays Nagaoka’s incredible nose, the deformedly large appendage that determined his life path. Read excerpts at Two Lines Online and World Literature Today, read about the book in the New York Times, or read an interview on Molossus. The New York Times calls Bellatin “…one of the leading voices in experimental Spanish-language fiction.” “Mario Bellatin has indisputably become one of the literary stars of the Latin American scene.” —Radar Libros (Argentina) “One of the most original figures of recent Latin American fiction.” —ABC (Spain) “Bellatin’s unusual narrative world doesn’t need to exceed the conventional limits of the short novel in order to take possession of mind of the reader, who’s left seduced by the turbid and convulsive beauty of his stories.” —El País (Spain) Mario Bellatin has published dozens of novellas on major and minor publishing houses in Latin America, Europe, and the United States. His English-language translations include Beauty Salon (City Lights, 2010) andChinese Checkers: Three Fictions (Ravenna Press, 2009). His current projects include Los Cien Mil Libros de Bellatin, his own imprint dedicated to publishing 1,000 copies each of 100 of his books.

David Shook is a poet and writer in Los Angeles, where he editsMolossus and Phoneme Media. His debut collection Our Obsidian Tongues is forthcoming from Eyewear Publishing.

THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS ON MAY 7, 2013.

Marivi Soliven

The Mango Bride (New American Library)

Two women, two cultures, and the fight to find a new life in America, despite the secrets of the past... Banished by her wealthy Filipino family in Manila, Amparo Guerrero travels to Oakland, California, to forge a new life. Although her mother labels her life in exile a diminished one, Amparo believes her struggles are a small price to pay for freedom. Like Amparo, Beverly Obejas--an impoverished Filipina waitress--forsakes Manila and comes to Oakland as a mail-order bride in search of a better life. Yet even in the land of plenty, Beverly fails to find the happiness and prosperity she envisioned. As Amparo works to build the immigrant's dream, she becomes entangled in the chaos of Beverly's immigrant nightmare. Their unexpected collision forces them both to make terrible choices and confront a life-changing secret, but through it all they hold fast to family, in all its enduring and surprising transformations. "Writing with sensitivity and humor, Marivi Soliven creates a brilliantly detailed picture of Philippine life at home and in America in this panoramic story of one Manila family."--Drusilla Campbell, author of When She Came Home Marivi Soliven has taught creative writing at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, the Ayala Museum and the University of California at San Diego. Short stories and essays from her fifteen books have appeared in anthologies and textbooks on creative writing. She was awarded a Hedgebrook writing residency in August 2012 for her work on The Mango Bride and its advocacy of women’s issues. Prior to publication, this novel won the Grand Prize for the Novel in English at the 2011 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, the Philippine version of the Pulitzer Prize. You can reach her online at www.facebook.com/marivi-soliven, www.marivisoliven.com, and http://marivisoliven.blogspot.com. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS ON MAY 4, 2013. COPIES OF THE BOOK FROM THIS EVENT CAN BE PURCHASED HERE: http://www.skylightbooks.com/book/%5Bmodel%5D-239

Ramona Ausubel

A Guide To Being Born (Riverhead Books)

We are honored and excited to have Ramona Ausubel back for another book launch.  We hosted the launch for her stunning debut novel, NO ONE IS HERE EXCEPT ALL OF US, which was hailed by The New Yorker as "An absorbing and unpredictable novel . . . Ausubel’s original voice combines fresh, clear observation.”  Join us to hear stories from her new collection, which is already gretting great buzz. “Ausubel has a gift of language so rich that even the most mundane events are invested with poetry, and many of her characters are in need of all the poetry they can muster.”--Kirkus “These stories reminded me of branches full of cherry blossoms: fresh, delicate, beautiful, expressive, otherworldly.  I eagerly read from one story to the next.”--Aimee Bender Whimsically beautiful and delightfully strange, A GUIDE TO BEING BORN charts the life cycle from Birth to Motherhood to Death.  Each of the eleven stories is organized around the stages of life—birth, gestation, conception, love—and the transformations that happen as people encounter deeply altering life events: falling in love, becoming parents, approaching the end of life.  Reminiscent of Karen Russell and Aimee Bender, Ausubel’s imagination and humor are deeply moving and provocative, allowing readers to see the familiar world in new ways. Ramona Ausubel is a graduate of the MFA program at the University of California, Irvine. She has been published in The New Yorker, One Story, The Paris Review Daily, Best American Fantasy, and elsewhere, and has received special mentions in The Best American Short Stories and The Best American Non-Required Reading. She was a finalist for the Pushcart Prize. Photo by Teo Gosse THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS MAY 2, 2013. COPIES OF THE BOOK FROM THIS EVENT CAN BE PURCHASED HERE: http://www.skylightbooks.com/book/%5Bmodel%5D-237