Blue Bicycle Books is delighted to welcome author Katie Crouch back to the store, signing copies of her newest novel Men and Dogs, Fri., May 21, 5 – 7 pm.
Self-proclaimed southerner-in-exile Katie Crouch will be coming home and giving Blue Bicycle Books a visit Fri., May 21, 5 – 7 pm. Since her first book, Girls in Trucks, we have been anticipating both her second visit and her newest book, Men and Dogs, out April 12.
Though she always knew she wanted to be a writer, Crouch didn’t commit herself to writing until her late 20’s, leaving her advertising job for the MFA program at Columbia. Now living in San Francisco, Crouch’s work has been featured in the New York Observer, Glamour, Tin House, and McSweeney’s. While growing up in Charleston, Crouch attended Cotillion training, but was never a debutante, an important distinction. Although she has taken herself out of the south, it’s still brimming in her work. Her sophomore novel deftly follows a woman whose life has fallen apart back to Charleston decades after her father’s unsolved disappearance to learn not only about her father, but about herself. Maybe it’s true (in both Crouch and her characters); you can’t take the south out of the girl.
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Signed copies will ship after May 21.
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Blue Bicycle Books welcomes renowned author Joseph Dabney, signing The Food, Folklore, and Art of Lowcountry Cooking, Thurs., May 27, 5 – 7 pm.
There are a lot of wonderful foodie books about this food-crazed part of the world, but this one is so fun, so all-encompassing, ranging from recipes to history to the current restaurant scene. It’s a wonderful stew just like the picture of the Lowcountry Boil on the cover. Dabney’s book celebrates the “foods, history and romance down from England, Africa, The Caribbean, France, Germany and Scotland.” It’s a tall order, but Dabney, a James Beard award-winner for cookbook of the year, is up to the challenge. Foreword by the Lee Bros.”
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Signed copies will ship after May 27.
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Recording artist, flute maker, storyteller, and children’s book writer Hawk Hurst is visiting us Sat., May 22, 11 am to 1 pm to perform and sign copies of The Story of the First Flute. Join us on the carpet for juice boxes. Only Indian-style sitting permitted.
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Ian Johnson is the Berlin bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal and won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for his reporting on the Falun Gong, a religious uprising in China. He will lecture at the downtown library, 68 Calhoun St., Mon., May 24, 6 – 8 pm, on his new book, A Mosque in Munich: Nazis, the CIA and the Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in the West. Johnson spent five years interviewing survivors, scouring archives, and pressuring governments to release sensitive intelligence documents. He lives in Beijing and Berlin, where he writes and teaches.
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Signed copies will ship after May 24.
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Many customers noticed the mad scramble of handwritten sheets of notebook paper covering the counter recently. Blue Bike staff and volunteers were busy compiling, culling, typing and editing poems written at Burke High School this past fall. (It’s sort of our version of Simon, Randy, Kara and Ellen going through all those polaroids during Idol Hollywood Week.)
The fourth volume of the Burke lit mag, So-Called Whisper is back from the printer. Seven local writers, including BBB owner Jonathan Sanchez, led workshops with 180 kids – It’s called LILA’s Poets in the Schools, a program under the auspices of the College of Charleston.
If you’d like to know how you can help keep the poetry alive, or just to read some great stuff, come pick up a copy at the store. For just a taste, go right here, – don’t miss Carter’s poem.
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Join us in welcoming Joseph Wallace Sat., May 15, 11 – 1 pm, as he signs copies of his debut novel, Diamond Ruby.
Ruby Thomas was always shy about her extra-long arms, but she never thought they would save her life. After the Spanish influenza and bootlegging in Prohibition-era New York leave Ruby and her two nieces orphans, she feeds her family by becoming a sideshow act on Coney Island. As “Diamond Ruby,” the fastest-throwing girl on the boardwalk, she attracts the dangerous attention of the Klan and various gangsters, but also the eyes of a young Babe Ruth and boxer Jack Dempsey. Better opportunities arise for Ruby, but can she handle being the only girl in baseball?
Joseph Wallace is the author of many nonfiction books—including four on baseball history—and several short stories. He lives with his family north of New York City. Joseph will also be making a stop at the Charleston Riverdogs game Fri., May 14, join him and see what the game is all about.
Order a signed copy here.
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Tues., May 4, 3 – 5 pm, veteran television writer-turned novelist Jeffrey Stepakoff will be in-store promoting his debut novel, Fireworks of Toccoa, a Bridges of Madison County-meets-Nicholas Sparks love story. Raised in Atlanta, Stepakoff attended undergrad at the University of North Carolina, and the day after he received his MFA from Carnegie Mellon, he drove to Hollywood and began a career as a scriptwriter. He has written for fourteen different shows, including “The Wonder Years” and “Dawson’s Creek.” Stepakoff has since moved back to Atlanta where he lives with his wife and three children, steeping himself and his work once again in Southern love and lure.
Join us Fri., Apr. 16, 5 – 7 pm for the launch of Nick Smith’s new minibook, Eat Happy, a collection of poetry, illustrations and vignettes. Nick, also an award-winning filmmaker and actor, can be found weekly in the Charleston City Paper. Born in England, Nick now lives here in Charleston with his family, cats and leopard gecko.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
2009 National Book Award winner Colum McCann will be speaking at the Charleston County School of the Arts to help celebrate the dedication of the Rose Maree Myers Theater for the Performing Arts Fri., Apr. 16, 7 – 9 pm. The event will also celebrate the legacy of Mrs. Myers, who founded both Ashley River Creative Arts Elementary in 1984 and the School of the Arts in 1995. The ceremony will feature McCann as well as performances from current and former student and faculty artists and tributes from both regional and nationally known artists and arts advocates who have been connected to Mrs. Myers and her work. McCann will be signing his most recent novel, Let the Great World Spin, named the Book of the Year by Amazon and a Book You Can’t Put Down by Oprah.com.
Tickets, which will be limited to 600, can be reserved by e-mailing John Cusatis at jcusatis@cusatis.com. The event is free; however, donations will be collected for the new Rose Maree Myers Scholarship for Academic and Artistic Achievement. For more information and a complete list of performers and speakers, please visit www.cusatis.com.
If you couldn’t make it to the event, order a signed copy here.
Charleston-area authors Dorothy McFalls and Dianne Miley will sign copies of their novels, The Nude: A Historical Romance and Violets for Vanessa at Blue Bicycle Books, Sat., Apr. 17, 1 – 3 pm.
