Author of Lost City Radio (Ecco)
Peruvian-American writer Daniel Alarcon (author of the highly acclaimed short story collection War By Candlelight) brings his considerable skills to this novel of the hopes and losses of war. The title is the name of a radio show in a nameless war-torn South American country where the host attempts to reunite separated families while wondering about her own missing husband, until the arrival of a small boy sparks a daring and quixotic project. Join us for a reading and discussion with the author.

Author of Mary (MacAdam/Cage)
Just in time for Presidents’ Day, Janis Cooke Newman’s novel Mary brings to life one of those behind the scenes of the Lincoln presidency: Abraham Lincoln’s once-notorious wife, Mary Todd. Committed to an asylum by her son after the president’s death, Mary wrote letters and journals to keep herself sane. Newman’s novel uses these documents to portray Mary’s life through her own eyes, from her seduction of the awkward Illinois lawyer to the tragedies and scandals of her later live. Newman re-imagines Mary Todd Lincoln as a proto-feminist and casts new light on a storied presidency.

Dan Yashinsky, author of Suddenly They Heard Footsteps (University Press of Mississippi)
and Laura Simms, author of The Robe of Love (Codhill Press)
A storytelling soiree for the day after the day of love. Featuring Canadian storyteller Dan Yashinsky and New York’s own Laura Simms, this is a journey into the mysteries of good (and not so good) lovin’. Laura Simms will tell stories from her book The Robe of Love, and Dan Yashinsky will read and tell stories from Suddenly They Heard Footsteps: Storytelling for the Twenty-First Century. These artists draw from the tradition of storytelling to become performers, not just writers. Be prepared for an evening of storytelling like no other.

Release Party and Reading
The Celebrity Edition of literary magazine Van Gogh’s Ear celebrates art, poetry, and the ultimate sex goddess of the twentieth century: Marilyn Monroe. Contributors include Joyce Carol Oates, Normal Mailer, J.T. LeRoy, Gary Indiana, Quentin Crisp, Billy Collins, Tony Curtis, and many others. This evening at the bookstore will include an introduction by editor Philip Ward, a performance by guitarist and songwriter Chris Low, and readings from local contributors to the magazine, whose publications will be on sale at the event. Join us for an evening of romance, literature and celebrity with Van Gogh’s Ear.

Laura Dave, author of London is the Best City in America (Viking Penguin)
In Conversation with Viking Editor Molly Barton
The Author/Editor series brings writers and editors together for a conversation about the process of creation, offering insights into a book that go far beyond the traditional reading event. Hailed as a “promising new author” by Publishers Weekly, Laura Dave has written the story of a woman returning to New York for her brother’s wedding only to find herself questioning her own romantic choices. Dave’s editor Molly Barton will talk with the author about the choices both made in shaping London Is The Best City In America, now in paperback and recently optioned by Universal Pictures. Join us for a unique evening of literary conversation

Please note: this event will be held in both Spanish and English.
Tonight’s event is part of an ongoing symposium co-hosted by the University of Connecticut and the Cervantes Institute addressing cultural economic, and sociopolitical traces of the Soviet Era in present-day Cuba and their significance for understanding Cuba’s future. Join us as participants hailing from the United States, Cuba, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Croatia, and Russia convene to talk about the significance of those traces for creative production and the future of geopolitics.

Author of A New Hunger (Ausable Press)
Noted poet, professor and editor Bosselaar presents her fourth collection of poems, A New Hunger. Raised by nuns in a cruelly repressive Belgian convent, Bosselaar demonstrates how autogiography can be transformed through the making of art into works that are public, not private. Through poems of emotional survival, harsh events are infused with mature retrospection and joy. Join us for a book party and poetry reading.

Author of Valentines (Pantheon)
A native of Iceland and now a New Yorker, Olaf Olafsson brings a Bergman-esque sensibility to bear in this collection of twelve stories (one for each month) about marriage, betrayal, and family ties. Join us for a pre-Valentine’s Day celebration of the bleaker side of love with a reading by a talented chronicler of modern American life.

David Moore, author of How To Steal An Election (Nation Books)
and
Steve Freeman, author of Was the 2004 Presidential Election Stolen? (Seven Stories Press)
This monthly series hosted by author and activist Mark Crispin Miller features authors whose books tackle political and public issues from a stance outside the mainstream. Moore and Freeman examine the outrageous events surrounding the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections from different perspectives. Moore, at the time senior editor for the Gallup Poll, highlights the influence of Jeb Bush and the Fox Network in 2000. Freeman, a scholar of organizational studies, presents the discrepancy between exit polls and official vote tallies in 2004 and asks why this huge gap occurred. Join us for a searing discussion of the mechanics and politics of contemporary elections.

How I Became Stupid by Martin Page (Penguin)
This is the second book in our winter series discussing contemporary French literature. Page’s cheerfully pessimistic narrator decides that intelligence is the source of his misery and sets out to find a thoroughly brainless existence, raising the question of the ways ignorance might actually be bliss. Please join us downstairs at the bookstore for what is always a spirited discussion.