Q and A with Kevin Guilfoile
Thursday, 12 March 2009 19:02
BookBalloon is pleased to host humorist and author Kevin Guilfoile for a Q&A session March 16-18. Kevin is currently serving his fifth term as Commissioner (with John Warner) of the annual Tournament of the Books, sponsored by Powell's and The Morning News. Bring him your questions and comments in the Forum. Registration is free.
Kevin Guilfoile's short humor has been published in the New York Times Magazine, McSweeney's, The New Republic, Maxim, and elsewhere. With John Warner, he co-authored and illustrated the number-one bestselling My First Presidentiary: A Scrapbook By George W. Bush. His first novel, Cast of Shadows, was published in 2005 by Alfred A. Knopf and has been translated into more than 15 languages. Cast of Shadows has been called "gripping" by the New York Times, "a masterpiece of intelligent plotting" by Salon.com, and was named one of the "Best Books of 2005" by the Chicago Tribune and the Kansas City Star. His second novel, The Thousand, will be released by Alfred A. Knopf later this year. He is also the co-founder and commissioner of the annual Powell's/Morning News Tournament of Books. Guilfoile lives in the Chicago area with his wife and two boys.
Books into Celluloid: The Painted Veil
Written by Kelly Cozy Friday, 13 February 2009 17:13
Sometimes an adaptation can be very faithful and very different at the same time.
The story
In colonial China, Walter and Kitty Fane have never been what you'd call an ideally matched couple. He's a serious-minded, rather humorless bacteriologist. She's a social butterfly who loves gaiety and superficial pleasures. He's madly infatuated with her. She married him to keep from being a spinster. Bored in every way with her husband, Kitty takes up with dashing diplomat Charlie. When Walter learns of the affair he takes an assignment in the cholera-plagued town of Mei-Tan-Fu, and forces Kitty to accompany him.
Q and A with Steve Almond
Written by Elizabeth McCullough Wednesday, 11 February 2009 23:02
BookBalloon welcomes author Steve Almond for a Q&A in the Forum February 24-26:
"SOME THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE AUTHOR
1. The author has eaten a piece of candy every single day of his entire life…"
Ah, sweet, sweet candy. Steve Almond is perhaps best known for his obsession with confection, chronicled in his book Candyfreak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America. He also is the author of two story collections, My Life in Heavy Metal and The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories, and the novel Which Brings Me to You: A Novel in Confessions (with Julianna Baggott). His newest book is a collection of essays, (Not That You Asked): Rants, Exploits, and Obsessions, now out in paperback.
Books into Celluloid: A Christmas Carol
Written by Kelly Cozy Monday, 05 January 2009 20:51
Not ready to let the holiday season go? Then pour yourself a glass of mulled wine, get a plate full of your favorite holiday nibbles, and settle in for this ghostly Christmas tale.
The story
Bitter, cynical, and miserly, Ebenezer Scrooge only cares for money. Of the many things he dislikes, what he loathes most is Christmas. But all that changes one Christmas eve when he's visited by the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley. Scrooge's kindred spirit in life, in death Marley is a pitiful figure, tormented and bound by chains. Marley offers Scrooge a chance to escape this damnation — Scrooge will be visited by the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet-to-Come, and perhaps get a chance to change his ways.
Shelf Life: Packing
Written by Terry Weyna Saturday, 13 December 2008 20:32
The most momentous decision I make each time
I travel is not where I will go: if I am vacationing, that is usually obvious (a
spa, a beach or an isolated bed and breakfast if I'm really tired; a foreign country
if I can afford it; a readerly science fiction convention if I'm feeling intellectually
inclined; New York if I need a heavy dose of culture). If I am visiting family,
it will be Chicago, New York or Florida; if it's on business, it will be wherever
is dictated by the deposition, court hearing or document production (and usually
something glamorous like a warehouse in Montgomery, Alabama or Stockton, California).
It isn't what I'll wear: I have an entire wardrobe of travel knits, and I tend
to build around one or two pairs of slacks and a wardrobe of sweaters varying in
materials depending on climate. It isn't even what to do with the cat: she goes
to her own spa and pouts for the entire duration of my travel.No, the big decision is always: What books do I bring? The choice must be made very carefully, because I don't know what mood I'll be in when I reach my destination. Mysteries or science fiction? Better pack both. Classics? Nonfiction? Better have a variety. Hardcover or exclusively paperback? Trade paper or mass market? Library books? Books for review? Books IÂ need to read? Books I've already begun reading? Magazines? Ach, my aching head!
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