 David
Wroblewski
The
Story of Edgar Sawtelle
Few debut novelists
enjoy the kind of prepublication publicity and glowing reviews as David
Wroblewski has received. Wroblewski’s riveting saga of an
American family captures the deep and ancient alliance between humans
and dogs, and the power of fate through one boy's epic journey into the
wild. Richard Russo said, “David Wroblewski’s got
storytelling talent to burn and a big, generous heart to go with
it.” Please join us as Mr. Wroblewski reads from his
remarkable novel and discusses his writing process.
 Robert
Crais
Chasing
Darkness
Who better to kick off Mystery Month
at Stacey’s than customer favorite Robert Crais? In his new
novel
featuring Elvis Cole, a man cleared of murder charges years earlier is
found dead, and Elvis becomes the primary suspect. According to
Publishers’ Weekly, “The story opens with a bang
and never
slows.”
 Vincent
Carrella and Dan White
Serpent
Box and The Cactus Eaters
Local debut authors
Vincent Carrella and Dan White offer a one-two, fiction-nonfiction
punch. Vincent Carrella’s novel is set in the deep mountains
of Appalachia, where the Flints of Leatherwood, Tennessee, spread their
version of the gospel by handling deadly serpents and drinking lye in
front of large gatherings of
the faithful. Dan
White’s The
Cactus Eaters is a hilarious and
harrowing account of a young couple's
hike along the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail. Carrella and
White’s books are part of the P.S. Paperback series featuring
back of book discussion with the authors.
Rhys
Bowen
A
Royal Pain
Mystery Month at
Stacey’s continues . . . Join us for tea and treats as local
writer Rhys Bowen introduces us to her delightful new series set in
1930s London, featuring a penniless 20-something member of the extended
royal family. Wear a hat and have a chance to win a bag of English
goodies.
 Stefan
Fatsis
A
Few Seconds of Panic
Stefan Fatsis hit the
bestseller charts with Word Freak, a look at the insular world of
competitive Scrabble players. In A Few Seconds of Panic, Fatsis
examines a different kind of competition as he embeds himself with the
Denver Broncos.
 Michelle
Gagnon, Claire M. Johnson, and Simon Wood
Boneyard,
Roux Morgue, and We All Fall Down
We’re
delighted to continue Mystery Month at Stacey’s with a panel
of three local writers who have garnered rave reviews. In Michelle
Gagnon’s Boneyard FBI special agent Kelly Jones searches for
a serial killer and a copycat nemesis. Claire M. Johnson’s
pastry chef/sleuth Mary Ryan investigates mysterious deaths at a San
Francisco culinary school. Simon Wood returns to Stacey’s
with We All Fall Down and looks at the deaths at a research firm that
come on the heals of a high-level government project.
Erich
Origen and Gan Golan
Goodnight
Bush: An Unauthorized Parody
Erich
Origen and Gan Golan’s Goodnight Bush is a publishing
sensation. Sent
to a publisher on spec, it quickly hit the bestseller lists. Goodnight
Bush is a parody of the children’s classic Goodnight Moon and
is a
hilarious and poignant visual requiem for the Bush administration. In
it we see a childlike George W. Bush tucked safely away in the confines
of his own room and a quiet Dick Cheney whispering "hush.”
Come hear
the authors and register to vote so you can say Goodnight Bush!
 T.J.
English
Havana
Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba . . . and Then Lost It to the
Revolution
Mystery Month at
Stacey’s continues with a true crime account of the
Mob’s influence in Cuba during the 1950s. T.J. English,
author of Paddy Whacked, offers a fascinating chronicle of organized
crime, political corruption, roaring nightlife and the seeds of the
revolution that ended it all.
 Tana
French
The
Likeness
We round off Mystery
Month at Stacey’s—okay, Mystery Month and a
Week—with Tana French, Edgar-award winner for her debut
thriller In The Woods. In The Likeness, the follow-up to In the Woods,
Dublin Murder Squad detective Cassie Maddox goes undercover, assuming
the identity of a murdered woman.
 Niloufar
Talebi
Belonging:
New Poetry by Iranians Around the World
Stacey’s and
the Asia Society are delighted to host Niloufar Talebi, Founder and
Creative/Executive Director of The Translation Project and editor of
Belonging: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World. Recent political
developments, including the shadow of a new war, have obscured the fact
that Iran has a long and splendid artistic tradition ranging from the
visual arts to literature. Talebi has collected a selection of eclectic
and vibrant poems that deepen the often limited awareness of Iranian
identity today.
Lewis
Schiff
The
Middle Class Millionaire
Lewis Schiff reveals
original research about current American millionaires who have earned
rather than inherited their wealth. He estimates 6 million U.S.
households have a self-made net worth over $1 million. The research
compares attitudes, values and social contributions of the traditional
middle class to those of the "middle-class millionaire." Schiff also
examines the broader societal impact this group has.
Marwan
Muasher
The
Arab Center
Is there any hope for
moderate voices in the Arab world? Many international leaders and
scholars agree that compromise and centrist policies will help to
broker peace and stability in the Middle East, but religious and
political extremism has been growing. Marwan Muasher served as Jordan's
first ambassador to Israel and as ambassador to the U.S. He will
discuss the importance of, and the challenges facing, moderates in the
Arab world.
David
Boaz
The
Politics of Freedom
David Boaz, a key
figure in the libertarian movement, surveys what he sees as the threats
to freedom from the Bush administration and the current presidential
candidates. Though he is frustrated with many of the candidates'
positions, he remains optimistic about the future of civil and economic
liberties. However, he says that the future of freedom requires that
Americans devote considerable effort to preserving and protecting these
rights.
Mahvish
Khan
My
Guatanamo Diary
Spurred by the
detainment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, American lawyer Mahvish Khan
decided to offer help to the detainees. Born to Afghan parents, she
used her language skills as a translator, and from her time with these
detainees she has written a diary that provides insights into the lives
and families of those held at Guantanamo.
Peter
Gosselin and Panel
High
Wire
Recent expert prognosis
for the overall economy is not good. Housing bust, credit
crunch, unemployment and high commodity prices (oil anyone?) are
familiar faces in the news, and they all lead up to the most dreaded
word of all—"recession." Unemployed? Self-employed? A small
business owner? A family just trying to survive? Some believe that no
one may be safe this time around. With economic worries mounting, we
talk to the experts to find out how to survive these trying times.
Russell
Targ
Do
You See What I See?
Visually impaired
physicist Russell Targ pioneered research in lasers and optics. His
work in "remote viewing," sponsored by NASA and the CIA, has recently
been declassified and dubbed by the media as "America's psychic spy
program." Targ presents anecdotes about his life and his experiences
with some of the 20th century's leading figures—including Ayn
Rand, Alan Greenspan, Alan Alda, as well as Targ's brother-in-law,
world chess champion Bobby Fischer.
Steve
Levine
Putin's
Labyrinth
Russia's rich oil
reserves are helping the country regain prominence. Under Vladimir
Putin and his sucessor, Dmitry Medvedev, nationalism has grown as well.
Is there a return to Soviet-era systems and beliefs? Or has the nation
moved into a different paradigm? LeVine says the country is stained by
a "culture of death," from assassinations of state critics to possible
Kremlin indifference in hostage crises.
Timothy
Lynch
After
Bush
Toward the end of his
second term it appears George W. Bush’s foreign policy has
won few admirers, with pundits and politicians questioning the actions
of the past eight years. Author Timothy Lynch counters the dogma of
Bush’s detractors and ideological opponents, arguing that
Bush’s policy belongs within the mainstream of the American
foreign policy tradition. Further, he suggests that there will, and
should, be continuity in US foreign policy from his presidency to those
of his successors. Providing a positive audit of the War on Terror,
Lynch maintains that the Bush Doctrine has been consistent with past
foreign policies from Republican and Democratic
presidencies—and that the key elements of Bush’s
grand strategy will continue to shape the American approach in the
future.
Lane
Montgomery
Never
Again, Again, Again
Lane Montgomery has
traveled as a photographer with the International Rescue Committee,
Americares and other humanitarian groups in such places as Rwanda,
Liberia, Haiti, Kosovo, Ethiopia and the Congo. Never Again, Again,
Again is a photographic essay with text on the major genocides in the
20th and 21st centuries including Armenia, the Holocaust, Cambodia,
Rwanda, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Darfur. She visits the Council to
discuss the role of the international community and its
responsibilities.
Alice
Feiring
The
Battle for Wine and Love
In fear of losing the
wines she loves best, Alice Feiring is on a quest to save those beloved
authentic wines from creeping globalization. Tune into one of the most
debated topics in today's wine world and you might end up questioning
what you really want in your glass.
Robert
N. Butler
The
Longevity Revolution
People in developed
nations have gained an average of 30 additional years of life during
the 20th century, the greatest advance in longevity in 5,000 years of
human history. But are we as a society prepared to handle this
remarkable change? World-renowned gerontologist and Pulitzer
Prize-winning author Robert Butler will examine the challenges this
creates, the adjustments that have been made, what will need to be done
in the future, and possible threats to our longevity.
Ralph
Peters
A
Brief History of the Future
Ralph Peters is a
retired military officer, a popular media commentator on both
television and radio and the author of more than twenty books. He has
authored numerous essays on strategy for military journals such as
Armed Forces Journal. He writes an opinion column for the New York
Post, and frequently writes columns for USA Today, The Wall Street
Journal, The Washington Post, and Newsweek. He writes frequently from
his travels to trouble spots like Iraq, West Africa and Israel. Mr.
Peters joins the World Affairs Council and the Marines’
Memorial Association to discuss his new book, A Brief History of the
Future.
Alice
Waters and Eric Schlosser
The Art of Simple Food and Fast
Food Nation
Help kick off our Third
Annual Platforum Series, "How We Eat," with Alice Waters, one of the
most knowledgeable and dedicated slow-food advocates in the world. This
James Beard Award-winning chef and author will discuss the importance
of sustainable agricultural methods and practices, as well as the joy
and the pleasure of eating well. Ms. Waters will be in conversation
with Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation.
David
Gill
It’s
About Excellence
Too often, business
ethics is a narrow exercise in damage control, says David Gill. A
looming indictment or a brand-tarnishing scandal activates the ethics
folks. But this reactive approach will never be preventive. Gill argues
that it's better to proactively build ethically healthy
organizations—not just for risk management but for
competitive advantage and organizational excellence.
Peter
Menzel and Faith D’Alusio
Hungry
Planet: What the World Eats
In connection with a
Club photo exhibit, Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio will discuss the
discoveries of their 24-country odyssey photographing thirty families
with the food they ate during the week they were interviewed. From
Bhutan and Bosnia to Mexico and Mongolia, they shopped with the
families, observed meal preparation and were awed at the diversity of
food culture—including a Darfur mother with five children
living on $1.44 a week in a refugee camp in Chad, and a German family
of four spending $494.19. Presenting a visual exhibit of striking
family portraits, they will comment on issues lying at the heart (and
stomach) of the global diet.
Jane
Mayer
The
Dark Side
Has America’s
“War on Terror” turned into a war on American
ideals and its international standing? Since the early development of
the United States’ pursuit of international terrorists, many
have argued that the US has suffered incalculable losses in the
country’s moral and political standing in the world.
Moreover, many of the government’s decisions and actions have
come into question for violating the Constitution and American values,
as well as for hampering the pursuit of Al Qaeda. In The Dark Side,
Jane Mayer recounts how America has fought the “War on
Terror” and explores its implications for our security and
freedom. In recent years, she has written extensive articles for The
New Yorker on the bin Laden family and the US government’s
controversial policy of extraordinary rendition.
|
 Andre Dubus
The
Garden of Last Days
Andre Dubus’s
book House of Sand and Fog gained critical and
popular acclaim, becoming
a New York Times bestseller and Oprah's Book
Club selection. In The Garden of Last Days Dubus fashions another
psychologically tense and revealing encounter between an American woman
on the edge and an intense Muslim man.
 Carol Goman
The
Nonverbal Advantage
Studies show we form
opinions of one another within 7 seconds of
meeting, and that 93% of the message people receive from us has nothing
to do with what we actually say. Carol Kinsey Goman combines the latest
research and her 25 years of practical experience as a consultant,
coach and therapist to offer a fun and practical guide to better
understand and use non-verbal communication.
 Dalia Sofer
The
Septembers of Shiraz
Dalia Sofer’s
debut novel, The Septembers of Shiraz, is set in
Tehran during the aftermath of the Iranian revolution. After rare-gem
dealer Isaac Amin is wrongly arrested, his family must reconcile a new
world of cruelty and chaos with the collapse of everything they have
known. Please join us for the paperback release of Ms.
Sofer’s
debut, and for a discussion of the writing process.
 Steven Saylor
The
Triumph of Caesar
Steven Saylor returns
to his bestselling “Roma Sub Rosa”
series featuring Gordianus the Finder. In The Triumph of Caesar, the
Roman civil war has come to its conclusion and Egypt is firmly under
the control of Cleopatra. Gordianus has returned to Rome and is charged
with examining the rumor of a conspiracy against the life of Caesar.
 Irvin Yalom
Staring
at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death
Written in Irvin
Yalom's inimitable story-telling style, Staring at the
Sun is a profoundly encouraging approach to the universal issue of
mortality. Capping a lifetime of work and personal experience, Dr.
Yalom urges us to confront our own mortality so that we may rearrange
our priorities, communicate more deeply with those we love, appreciate
more keenly the beauty of life, and increase our willingness to take
the risks necessary for personal fulfillment.
 Meg Waite
Clayton
The
Wednesday Sisters
Local author Med Waite
Clayton’s The Wednesday Sisters is a
humorous and poignant novel set in California. Clayton follows five
women over the course of four decades, from the tumultuous 60s to the
present, and honors the joyful, mysterious, and unbreakable bonds
between friends.
Alfred Regnery
Upstream:
The Ascendance of American Conservatism
The publisher of
William F. Buckley's first book has been at the heart
of the modern conservative movement since its inception more than half
a century ago. Come hear an insider's perspective as Alfred Regnery
chronicles the rise of post-war conservatism. He'll share his unique
behind-the-scenes stories of a movement that grew to challenge
liberals, and even Republican presidents, when it saw it as necessary.
Combining history, anecdotes and ideology, Regnery paints a rich
picture of a modern political ideology that has completely reshaped
American politics and culture.
John Perkins
The
Secret History of the American Empire
It once could be said
that "the sun never sets on the British empire,"
but in these post-colonial times, John Perkins argues that a different
type of global empire has replaced the British model. Perkins, a U.S.
political insider and the author of the New York Times bestseller
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, examines the American empire in his
new book The Secret History of the American Empire. From the economic
"hit men" of governments to global corporations, Perkins tells the
story of an empire built through economics rather than military force,
but with effects no less brutal. He zeroes in on hot spots around the
world and recalls the history of events that have contributed to the
creation of American power and what he sees as the international
corruption of today. Join John Perkins in conversation with INFORUM as
he unearths this history and discusses his plan for making a
sustainable, stable, and peaceful world.
Errol Morris
and Philip Gourevitch
Standard
Operating Procedure
It has been four years
since the first photographs of torture and abuse
in Abu Ghraib splashed across newspapers nationwide, but the events
remain fresh in our consciousness. Drawing on more than 200 hours of
frank and intimate interviews with the people who took these pictures
and participated in the acts, veteran New Yorker writer Gourevitch and
Academy Award-winning director Errol Morris examine this defining
moment in the Iraq war, retold through the eyes, and cameras, of the
soldiers inside the prisons. Come hear them discuss their chilling tale
of moral and political reckoning.
Benjamin
Wallace
The
Billionaire’s Vinegar: The Mystery of the World’s
Most Expensive Wine
When is a single bottle
of wine worth $156,000? When it’s
auctioned off as a 1787 Chateau Lafite Bordeaux and the bottle is
engraved with Thomas Jefferson’s initials. Benjamin Wallace
offers up a heady combination of history, mystery, and wine lore in his
account of a spectacular con that shook the rarefied world of rare wine
collecting.
Panel
with Kathy Bloomgarden
Trust:
The Secret Weapon of Effective Business
With the uncertainty
surrounding today's financial markets, there's a
great deal of share volatility and a cloudy outlook for many companies.
Have executives and investors learned their lessons since the dot-com
days? This panel of experts will discuss how to create trust both
inside a company and with the public in this new age of skepticism and
insecurity.
Joey Altman
Without
Reservations
James
Beard-award-winning chef Joey Altman will share his personal
approach to creating great flavors, in addition to the techniques and
tricks of the trade he has learned from the culinary world's top chefs
who have appeared on his Bay Cafe television program. Leave this
demonstration and tasting with an inspired new game plan for
transforming simple ingredients into luscious dining experiences.
Richard Engel
War
Journal: My Five Years in Iraq
Richard Engel, Middle
East Correspondent and Beirut Bureau Chief for
NBC News, is the longest serving broadcaster in Iraq and the only
American television reporter to cover the country continuously before,
during, and after the 2003 U.S. invasion. Fluent in Arabic, he has had
unrivaled access to U.S. military commanders, Sunni insurgents, Shiite
militias, Iraqi families, and even President George W. Bush. Engel, who
reported as a freelance journalist for ABC News during the initial U.S.
invasion of Iraq, was NBC News’ lead Iraq correspondent from
2003
until his appointment to Beirut Bureau Chief in May 2006.
Ron Hansen
Exiles
Ron Hansen has
published numerous short stories in literary magazines
nationwide. His first book, Desperadoes, was a Western novel that
re-imagines the story of the Dalton Gang. His later work, The
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, chronicled the
life and death of the iconic outlaw; it was Hansen's most popular work
and brought him wide critical acclaim, as well as making him a finalist
for the PEN/Faulkner Award. He is a frequent writer of Western-style
novels, which he deepens with a mix of history, morality and drama.
Please join us as we welcome this truly American novelist, who will
share his thoughts on the modes and methods of writing as well as the
inspiration he derives from the Old West.
Ahmed Rashid
Descent
into Chaos
Ahmed Rashid is a
Pakistani journalist, based in Lahore, who has been
covering Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia for more than twenty
years. In Descent into Chaos, he examines the region, as well as the
corridors of power in Washington and Europe, to see how the promised
nation–building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia
has
progressed. His conclusions are devastating: while Iraq continues to
attract most of the American media and military might, Rashid argues
that Pakistan and Afghanistan are where the conflict will finally be
played out and that these failing states pose a graver threat to global
security than the Middle East.
Jeremy
Scahill
Blackwater:
The Rise of America’s Private Army
Based in the wilderness
of North Carolina, Blackwater USA is the
fastest growing private army in the world, with forces capable of
carrying out regime change anywhere. Blackwater protects top U.S.
officials in Iraq and yet we know almost nothing about the
firm’s
military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and inside the United States.
Founded by the son of a wealthy conservative family known for funding
far right-wing causes, the company is intimately connected to the Bush
administration; and, as a privatized army accountable to no one. Jeremy
Scahill’s Blackwater is the dark story of the rise of this
mercenary army.
Sam Gosling
Snoop:
What Your Stuff Says about You New Science of Snooping
Does what's on your
desk reveal what's on your mind? Do those pictures
on your walls tell true tales about your character? Is your favorite
outfit about to give you away? For the last 10 years psychologist
Gosling has been studying how people project (and protect) their inner
selves. By exploring our private worlds (desks, bedrooms …
even
our clothes and cars), he shows not only how we showcase our
personalities in unexpected ways, but also how we create personality in
the first place, communicate it others and interpret the world around
us.
Debra
Winger
Undiscovered
Debra Winger is best
known for her film roles: Urban Cowboy, An
Officer and a Gentleman, Terms of Endearment, and Shadowlands. But
she's also famous for turning her back on acting in 1995. Such was the
impact of Winger's absence from Hollywood that when Rosanna Arquette
directed her documentary about the pressures faced by aging actresses,
she entitled it Searching for Debra Winger. Winger, who served in the
Israeli army, joins us to talk about her life on and off the silver
screen.
James
Martin
The
Islands of San Francisco Bay
How many islands do you think there are in San Francisco Bay? Did you
know there are 48? James Martin is a long-time rock climber,
hiker, and photographer, who has photographed all of these islands.
Come see stunning photos and hear about the natural setting we all take
for granted, but don't really know.
Lauren
Weisberger
Chasing
Harry Winston
The best-selling author
of The Devil Wears Prada and Everyone Worth
Knowing is back with a delicious new novel about a trio of friends in
Manhattan who agree to change their lives in the most personal and
dramatic way possible—within one calendar year. The Devil
Wears
Prada was a masterstroke, giving all of us a glimpse into the
high-pressure world of fashion and life at the bottom of that milieu.
This is a great opportunity to hear Lauren Weisberger's humorous, and
at times poignant, insights into living life to its fullest.
Paul
Roberts
The
End of Food
More than 1.1 billion
people worldwide are at risk of obesity-related
illness, while roughly as many people are starving. Meanwhile, global
food production faces dangers from toxic chemicals, destructive farming
techniques and contamination. Paul Roberts takes a close look at food
production, transport and consumption on a global scale, uncovering
disturbing trends about the system we all entrust to handle our food.
Will people take heed and work to improve the health of our food supply
and distribution chain, before it is too late for millions of people
around the world?
George
Lakoff
The
Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand 21st-Century American Politics
with an 18th-Century Brain
Progressives may have
been fighting a losing battle in the United
States for the last thirty years, largely because a majority of
citizens might be voting against their own interests. George Lakoff
explains how our brains really work, why language is so important, and
how Democrats can use this to their advantage to win the November
elections.
George
Lakoff
The
Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand 21st-Century American Politics
with an 18th-Century Brain
Progressives may have
been fighting a losing battle in the United
States for the last thirty years, largely because a majority of
citizens might be voting against their own interests. According to
George Lakoff, this is because people do not think about politics with
a logician’s rationality, but use a deeper, unconscious
rationality of values, metaphors, frames, and emotions. In The
Political Mind: Why You Can’t Understand 21st- Century
American
Politics with an 18th-Century Brain, Professor Lakoff argues that when
one sees how our brains really work, one can see why voters’
deepest values matter most, and why authenticity, and
trust—not
just policies—are paramount in elections.
George
Lakoff
The
Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand 21st-Century American Politics
with an 18th-Century Brain
Linguist George Lakoff
discusses language, politics, the human brain
and how all three connect in his fascinating study of modern politics.
Effective storytelling, according to Lakoff, touches an emotional chord
in humans that is far more effective than the dry and
“logical” discussion of issues. Any political
movement that
hopes to succeed must approach voters using a language that engages
listeners on that emotional level. The impact will be seen in
this upcoming election!
Robert
Scheer
The
Pornography of Power
For the past year, we
have heard presidential candidates split hairs
over how to allocate the relatively small portion of our national
budget that goes to education and health care, while billions of
dollars in discretionary defense spending remains shrouded in mystery.
Can critics change the terms of this debate? Veteran journalist Robert
Scheer reveals his opinions about the expansion of our military
presence throughout the world, our nuclear strategy, and what he sees
as the immorality of corporations profiting in Iraq.
Philip
Pan
Out
of Mao’s Shadow
While capitalism has
brought prosperity to China, to what extent have
the country’s citizens pushed for greater political freedom?
How
have ideology and values been tested by the booming economy and the
rush to get rich? Award-winning journalist and author of Out of
Mao’s Shadow, Philip Pan joins the Council to tell the story
of
Chinese people pressing for political change in a nation undergoing a
remarkable transformation.
Andy
Sernovitz
Word
of Mouth Marketing: HowSmart Companies Get People Talking
With straightforward
advice and humor, marketing expert Andy Sernovitz
shows how the world's most respected and profitable companies get their
best customers for free through the power of word of mouth. Understand
the real purpose of blogs, communities, viral email, evangelists, and
buzz—when to use them and how simple it is to make them
work.
Chris
Hedges |
Many
of today's finest authors pass through our store, either for one of our
lunchtime events or just to drop in and sign some books. Whenever we
can, we ask them to sign a few extras for stock. Now we can offer those
books directly to you over the web.