Skylight Books Podcast Series

Everything Lovely, Effortless, Safe (Holt McDougal)

A launch party for the debut novel by Los Angeles author Jenny Hollowell! "Everything Lovely, Effortless, Safe tells us in quick witty scenes and sharp psychological details what it's like to be a needy spirit in a beautiful body, yearning for success. This novel is smart, spare, comic and sad. It rings beautifully true." --John Casey, National Book Award-winning author of Spartina Jenny Hollowell's short fiction has appeared in Glimmer Train, Scheherezade, and the anthology New Sudden Fiction, and was named a distinguished story by Best American Short Stories. She received an MFA from the University of Virginia, where she was a Henry Hoyns Fellow in Fiction and recipient of the Balch Short Story Award. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter. This is her first novel. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS JUNE 21, 2010

This Is Where We Live (Spiegel & Grau)

A launch party for the new novel by L.A. writer Janelle Brown (All We Ever Wanted Was Everything). Janelle Brown is a freelance journalist who writes for The New York Times, Vogue, Wired, Elle, and Self, among other publications, and was formerly a senior writer for Salon. She lives in Los Angeles. Praise for All We Ever Wanted Was Everything: "A razor-sharp critique of the absurd expectations that, these days, have come to stand for ambition, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything is wrenching, riveting, and still manages to be great fun. This is a wise, intimate chronicle of one family's struggle to take off their masks and live in the place they most feared: the real, imperfect world." --Meghan Daum, author of The Quality of Life Report "A withering Silicon Valley satire . . . From the ashes of their California dreams, the three [women] must learn to talk to each other instead of past each other, and build a new, slightly more realistic existence--but not without doses of revenge and hilarity. Brown's hip narrative reads like a sharp, contemporary twist on The Corrections." --Publishers Weekly THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS JUNE 21, 2010.

What I Would Tell Her: 28 Devoted Dads on Bringing Up, Holding on to and Letting Go of Their Daughters (Harlequin)

Editor Andrea Richesin and contributor Michael Kearns will read from and sign the new anthology What I Would Tell Her. Andrea N. Richesin is the editor of four anthologies, What I Would Tell Her, Because I Love Her, The May Queen, and Crush (forthcoming in summer 2011). Her anthologies have been excerpted and praised in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, and Parenting, among many other publications. She lives in the San Francisco bay area with her husband and daughter. For more information please visit www.nickirichesin.com. Michael Kearns is an award-winning writer-performer who lives in Los Angeles with his daughter, Tia. He is the author of six theatre books (all published by Heinemann), more than a dozen produced plays, numerous solo performance pieces, and his work is widely anthologized. As an actor-writer-director-producer-fundraiser-journalist-teacher, his work surrounding HIV/AIDS—spanning more than a quarter of a century—is encyclopedic in its comprehensiveness, including work as an actor in film and television. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS JUNE 12, 2010.

Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life (Random House)

Steve Almond, whose book My Life in Heavy Metal is one of Skylight's all-time bestselling fiction titles, will be here to discuss and sign his new memoir, Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life! "For some of us, music is true religion, and Catholic to boot. Steve Almond comes off as devout -- and divided -- as any altar boy. His strange and funny book should be required reading for all of us fans and musicians who belong to the Church of Rock and Roll." —Aimee Mann Steve Almond is the author of the essay collection (Not that You Asked), the story collections My Life in Heavy Metal and The Evil B.B. Chow, the nonfiction book Candyfreak, and the novel Which Brings Me to You, co-written with Julianna Baggott. He lives outside Boston with his wife and two children, and listens to rock and roll at all hours. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS JUNE 7, 2010.

Learning By Heart (Allworth Press) Witness to Integrity (Liturgical Press) A Place at the Table (Elevated Lab) Come Alive! (Four Corners)

Join us for a fascinating panel discussion about artist, educator, and "rebel nun" Sister Corita! Hear from Corita’s students and former sisters who defied the Cardinal, renounced their vows, and redefined themselves as an independent ecumenical community – dedicated to those radical ideals of peace and justice! This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the independent Immaculate Heart community. This event is presented in conjunction with Artwalk, which will features Sister Corita's work on display at the Hollywood Lutheran Church (1733 N. New Hampshire Ave.) and other venues throughout Los Feliz.  Four books related to the Sister Corita and the Immaculate Heart community will be available for purchase. Liz Mahoney, IHM, has been a member of the Immaculate Heart Community for 65 years and was present at the chapter that made the decision to update the Community following Vatican II. Helen Kelley, IHM, is the former president of Immaculate Heart College and former president of Immaculate Heart Community. Lenore N. Dowling, IHM, is a former faculty member of the IHC Art Department and current chair of the Immaculate Heart Community Board. Nan Cano is an Immaculate Heart College alumna, former teacher at Immaculate Heart High School, and author of Acts of Light: Martha Graham in the 21st Century. Jan Steward, a distinguished graphic designer and photographer, lives in Los Angeles. She is the co-author of Learning By Heart. Richard Crawford was a friend and student of Sister Corita's. He's only interested in painting, movies, gardening, politics, and Plant Spirit Medicine.  Read that book. Corita chose David Mekelburg to teach all of her classes at Immaculate Heart when she moved to Boston. Donald Jackson, scribe to England's Royal Family, said, "Mekelburg it the finest calligrapher in the States." Aaron Rose will moderate tonight's panel. Aaron is a film director, curator and writer currently living in Los Angeles. He was co-curator of the Beautiful Losers touring exhibition (2003-2009), edited the collected book, and is also the director of the documentary film of the same title (2008). In 2009, he completed the short film Become A Microscope based on the life and art of Sister Corita. His publishing imprint, Alleged Press releases hardcover books by contemporary artists. He is also co-editor (along with Ed Templeton and Brendan Fowler) of ANP Quarterly magazine. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS JUNE 4, 2010.

101 Things I Learned in Film School (Grand Central Publishing)

Join us for a fascinating discussion and a screenwriting workshop with the author of 101 Things I Learned in Film School. Neil Landau is a screenwriter whose television and film credits include Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, Melrose Place, Doogie Howser, M.D., The Magnificent Seven, and Twice in a Lifetime. He has developed feature films for 20th Century Fox, Disney, Universal, and Columbia Pictures, and television pilots for Warner Bros., Touchstone, Lifetime, and CBS. He works internationally as a script consultant and teaches at UCLA's School of Film, Television, and Digital Media, as well as at USC Film School, and Goddard College in Vermont. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS JUNE 3, 2010.

The More I Owe You (Counterpoint)

Michael Sledge, author of the acclaimed memoir Mother and Son, will present his debut novel, about the relationship between poet Elizabeth Bishop and architect Lota de Macedo Soares. "A novel of extraordinary beauty, intimacy, and such consummate tenderness for its complex Elizabeth that one wonders how Sledge managed to slide so close to her soul. A gorgeous meditation on enduring love, damage, and what it can be to be happy, for however brief a moment. Bravo, bravo, bravo." —Stacey D'Erasmo, author of The Sky Below "A beautiful dream of a book. Sumptuously detailed, deeply felt, it is as if Sledge slipped back in time and walked every step with Elizabeth Bishop, breathed every breath with her." —Alison Smith, author of Name All the Animals "Sensitive and engrossing." --Publishers Weekly Michael Sledge is the author of a memoir, Mother and Son, and has contributed to a number of literary journals. He is cofounder of the Oaxifornia arts studio in Oaxaca, Mexico, and lives with his partner in both Mexico and Oakland, California. This is his first novel.

THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS JUNE 2, 2010.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (Doubleday)

We're delighted to have Aimee Bender, author of The Girl in the Flammable Skirt, back at Skylight to present her new novel, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake! "[Aimee Bender] makes you grateful for the very existence of language." —San Francisco Chronicle (review of The Girl in the Flammable Skirt) "To curl up with an Aimee Bender story is to thank heaven you ever learned to read in the first place" —Entertainment Weekly (review of Willful Creatures) Aimee Bender is the author of the novel An Invisible Sign of My Own and the collections The Girl in the Flammable Skirt and Willful Creatures. She has received two Pushcart prizes and was nominated for the Tiptree Award in 2005. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS JUNE 1, 2010.

Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles (Santa Monica Press)

Join us for a fascinating look at our very own corner of L.A.!  Author Charles Fleming will present and sign his walking guide—chock full of local history—about the historic staircases of Los Angeles. Charles Fleming is the author of the novels The Ivory Coast and After Havana and the respected Hollywood "how-not-to" book High Concept: Don Simpson and the Hollywood Culture of Excess, and co-author of the recent non-fiction bestseller My Lobotomy. A veteran reporter for Variety, Newsweek, the LA Weekly and the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, Fleming teaches entertainment reporting at the USC Annenberg School of Journalism. He lives in Silver Lake with his wife and two daughters. Secret Stairs is his first walking guide. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS MAY 30, 2010.

Best American Comics Criticism (Fantagraphics)

Ben Schwartz, editor of the new anthology Best American Comics Criticism, will discuss comics and comics criticism with Kramers Ergot editor Sammy Harkham, graphic novelist Joe Matt (Spent), and comics critics Robert Fiore and Brian Doherty

Ben Schwartz lives in Los Angeles. Besides editing The Best American Comics Criticism for Fantagraphics, he works as a journalist and screenwriter and is currently writing The Lost Laugh, a history of American humor set between the two world wars.  He has written for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Suck.com, Vanity Fair, and The Atlantic on-line.  The screenplays he has sold collect dust on A-list shelves all over town.

Sammy Harkham is an Award winning cartoonist behind Crickets (Drawn & Quarterly) and the editor of Kramers Ergot. His work has been published in Vice, Arthur, numerous Best American Comics volumes, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading. Recently, he guest edited the annual Holloween comic, The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror. He lives in Los Angeles.

Robert Fiore writes the long-running column Funnybook Roulette for The Comics Journal.  At Fantagraphics Books he edited a number of anthologies of underground cartoonists such as Robert Crumb, Kim Deitch, Spain Rodriguez and Vaughn Bode.

Brian Doherty is a senior editor at Reason magazine, author of the books This is Burning Man and Radicals for Capitalism, and a lifelong Friend of Comics.

THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS MAY 27, 2010.

Inheritance (Lethe Press)

A launch party for the latest poetry collection by this acclaimed local poet! "Steven Reigns explores the inexhaustible power of family to affect our lives and loves, and does so in a candid yet passionate manner remarkable for its evocative and wounding moments." --Wanda Coleman, author of Heavy Daughter Blues and Mercurochrome: New Poems "This is such a naked book. It falls neatly into no school of poetry, nor does 'gay poetry' sum it up. I turned the pages of Inheritance pretty hungrily, glad to encounter such honesty about a gay life lived with pleasure and bitterness and companionability." --Eileen Myles, author of Sorry, Tree and Skies Steven Reigns is a Los Angeles-based poet and educator. His newest collection, Inheritance, came out in 2010 by Lethe Press. After earning a degree in Creative Writing at the University of South Florida, he published his début poetry collection, Your Dead Body is My Welcome Mat, in 2001. Since then, Reigns has published four chapbooks: Ignited, Cartography, In the Room, and As if Memories Were Not Enough.  A two-time recipient of The Los Angeles County’s Department of Cultural Affairs' Artist in Residency Grant, Reigns organized and taught the first-ever autobiography poetry workshop for GLBT seniors and edited an anthology of their writings, My Life is Poetry. He has taught writing workshop around the country to GLBT youth and people living with HIV and recently received his Masters in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University. Currently he is involved with S(t)even Years, a 7-year endurance performance under the mentorship of performance artist Linda Montano. Visit him at www.stevenreigns.com. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS MAY 23, 2010.

And the Heart Says... Whatever (Free Press)

Emily Gould will discuss and sign her new humorous essay collection And the Heart Says Whatever. "This is not a 'nice' book, but it comes by its anger and melancholy honestly, and it makes sense of much that is puzzling about our cultural moment."   —Jonathan Franzen Emily Gould has written for The New York Times, the New York Observer, and Jezebel.com, among other publications.  Before becoming editor of Gawker.com, a job she quit and then described in a cover story for The New York Times Magazine in 2008, she was an associate editor at Hyperion. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS MAY 20, 2010.

Wilson (Drawn & Quarterly)

Daniel Clowes, the acclaimed cartoonist behind Ghost World (the graphic novel and the Oscar-nominated screenplay), the minicomic (turned movie) Art School Confidential, and the Eightball comic series will be here to discuss and sign Wilson, his new first all-new graphic novel! After a slideshow presentation, Clowes will be joined by comedian and tonight's special guest moderator Dana Gould for a discussion and Q&A! THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS MAY 14, 2010.

Absolute Green Lantern: Rebirth (DC Comics)

The popular and prolific comic book writer Geoff Johns will be here to discuss and sign Absolute Green Lantern: Rebirth, the deluxe edition of the series that relaunched one of DC Comics' greatest heroes. Johns will be signing other books in addition to Absolute Green Lantern: Rebirth, but if you choose to bring something from home for him to sign, we request that you also purchase a book here.  There will be a large selection of Johns' work to choose from! Geoff Johns has written highly acclaimed stories starring Superman, Green Lantern, the Flash, Teen Titans, and Justice Society of America. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling graphic novels Green Lantern: Rage of the Red Lanterns, Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War, Justice Society of America: Thy Kingdom Come, and Superman: Braniac. He is currently working on the story for The Flash feature film, which he will also co-produce. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS MAY 8, 2010.