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Some New Arrivals
Twain's said to have said something that seems about right, right about now, about summer in San Francisco. Let's hope the seasons change soon so we might taste at least one of The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, by David Mitchell (Random House, 2010, hardcover, $26). The book's fully deserving of all the praise heaped on it, as are his earlier books, Cloud Atlas, Black Swan Green, et al, all back in stock. Check him out before vacation's over and you've got to be reminded of all The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, by Alain de Botton (Vintage, 2010, paperback, $15.95). It's not all bad, not all that bad, at least; to tell the truth, he manages to make it all make a little more sense, from the rocket scientist to the biscuit maker, accountant to artiste.
And of this last archetype, there haven't been many more influential in the last half century than Ed Ruscha, photographer (Steidl, 2006, hardcover, $35), who is, of course, better known for his Fifty Years of Painting (DAP, 2009, boxed, $65). His work has been tangled up with the culture of the American West in such a way as might even warrant its being called an Inherent Vice, by Thomas Pynchon (Penguin, 2009, paperback, $16.00), who's by no means innocent of like accusations. Nonetheless, they've both a sort of grave levity, lavish gravity you just can't escape.
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Speaking of gravity, and graves, and perhaps having one foot in, two new books just might help us defy all our recent history and climb back out, and maybe even up, because no matter how Ill Fares the Land, by Tony Judt (Penguin, 2010, hardcover, $25.95) there will still always be Hopes and Prospects, by Noam Chomsky (Haymarket, 2010, paperback, $16). There will always be Dreams in a Time of War, by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o (Pantheon, 2010, hardcover, $24.95).
So then, now seems as good a time as any to consider what might be, consider what's missing, consider the elisions, consider The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver (Harper, 2010, paperback, $16.99).
Take a walk down along memory lane, or the avenues of progress, or Red Hook Road, by Ayelet Waldman (Doubleday, 2010, hardcover, $25.95). However you do it, just get on down here to browse awhile. Who knows what might pique your interest. There's so much to read, and you've more time than you may think.
Don't forget, we now have our very own annual publication! AMERARCANA: A Bird & Beckett Review was innaugurated earlier this year and we're just beginning to muse about the next issue. More information on the project can be found right here.
(Click here for our
monthly calendar)
Coming Up at Bird & Beckett:
Friday, August 27, 5:30 to 8:00 pm
jazz in the bookshop
every Friday at Bird & Beckett since 2002!
This week: The Chuck Peterson Quintet
featuring Chuck Peterson (tenor sax), Howie Dudune (saxes and clarinet), Glen Deardorff (guitar), Dean Reilly (bass) and Tony Johnson (drums).
Chuck Peterson founded our Friday jazz series in 2002, and has been leading this terrific, hard swinging ensemble made up of long-time associates and colleagues for the past couple of years.
Saturday, August 28, 7:00 to 9:00 pm
special literary journal release event!
RESISTANCE - Polis Issue - Summer 2010
a bi-costal literary journal
West Coast Co-Editor Zachary Martin hosts a reading by contributors Micah Ballard, Neeli Cherkovski, Patrick James Dunagan, John Landry, Jason Morris, Josie Schoel, Sunnylyn Thibodeaux
Sunday, August 29, 2:30 pm
The Commanche: Lords of the Southern Plains who stopped cold the dreams of Spanish conquest, who
pulled the curtains on French hegemony, who stymied Anglo expansion for some sixty years... and who made
the Horse a transcendental figure...
-- a talk by Walker Brents III.
Walker's monthly talks on literary, mythological and historical topics have been a long-running feature of the Bird & Beckett cultural calendar.
Sunday, August 29, 4:30 pm
which way west?
Jenny Ferris sings songs penned by
Johnny Mercer and Frank Loesser
accompanied by Rich Lesnick (sax),
Laura Klein (piano), Dan Seamans (bass)
and Tom Hasset (drums)...
following an instrumental set by
Laura Klein (piano) and Ted Wolff (vibes)
(check out their recent CD, "Cerulean Blue")
Friday, September 3, 5:30 to 8:00 pm
jazz in the bookshop
every Friday at Bird & Beckett since 2002!
This week: Don Prell's Seabop Ensemble
Bassist Don Prell brings in a hand picked bunch of top notch, bop-influenced musicians on the first Friday of each month. Watch this space for this week's personnel. Prell got his start in L.A. in the 1950s, and toured and recorded extensively with Bud Shank and many other greats of the era.
Sunday, September 5, 2:00 pm
special author event!
Wordcatcher: An Odyssey into the World of Weird and Wonderful Words is the latest book from Phil Cousineau, a North Beach-based writer whose intellectual journeys into the world's spiritual and mythological traditions have been rivaled only by his obsession with baseball and language itself... join us to hear Phil riff on this excursion through the rich territory of the word!
Sunday, September 5, 4:30 pm
which way west?
A weekly concert series
all ages always welcome!
BIRD LIVES! A Tribute to Charlie Parker
The bebop titan's influence will be plumbed and put to use by alto player Pete Yellen with the help of a terrific coterie of musicians including Terry Rodriguez (piano), Chuck Metcalf (bass) and Hamir Atwel (drums).
Pete came up in NYC in the late '50s, was a member of Joe Henderson's sextet in the '60s and 70's, played extensively with Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Mario Bausa, Buddy Rich and Lionel Hampton, and claims no greater influence on his playing than Bird himself... We at Bird & Beckett, of course, consider ourselves greatly influenced by the great modernist innovator as well, and are pleased to present this tribute on the bookshop stage!
Monday, September 6, 7:00 pm
POETS!
Thursday, September 9, 7:00 pm
The Bird and Beckett Political Book Discussion Group hosts
Antonia is director of Global Exchange's Chevron Project and a key participant in the struggle against the destruction wrought by Big Oil.
Allegra Fortunati will interview the writer and moderate the Q&A to follow.
Listen to an August 4th interview with Antonia on Democracy Now about her ongoing investigation of the Gulf oil disaster - CLICK HERE
--Also, here's a link to a May 5, 2010 Democracy Now interview about BP's lobbying activities, conducted hard on the heels of the April 20 oil rig explosion;
--and another link to an October 2008 Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross specifically about Antonia's book, The Tyranny of Oil
-- Check these sites for more detail: tyrannyofoil.org and globalexchange.org