Events

Finding your place in the world can be the longest trip home. In his debut bestseller, Marley & Me, John Grogan showed how a dog can become an extraordinary presence inthe live of one family. Now, in his highly anticipated follow-up, Grogan once again works his magic, bringing us the story of what came first. Before therewas Marley, there was a gleefully mischievous boy growing up in a devout Catholic home outside Detroit in the 1960s and '70s. Despite his loving parents' best efforts, John's attempts to meet their expectations failed spectacularly. The Longest Trip Home is a book for any son or daughter who ahssought to forge an identity at odds with their parents', and for every parentwho as struggled to understand the values of their children. With his trademark blend of humor and pathos that made Marley & Me beloved by millions, John Grogan traces the individual journey each of us must take to find our unique place in the world.

Douglas Adams, the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, once said, "I would love to finish Hitchhiker on a slightly more upbeat note, so five seems to be a wrong kind of number, six is a better kind of number." Now, the genius behind the best-selling Artemis Fowl series triumphs with the project that washis childhood dream come true: book six in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxyfranchise. Wtih the full support of author Douglas Adams's widow, Eoin Colfer continues the wildly popular series with And Another Thing… Colfer is a former elementary school teacher and the author of the New York Times best-selling Artemis Fowl series. He is also the author of Airman; Half Moon Investigations;Eoin Colfer's Legend of Spud Murphy and Legend of Captain Crow's Teeth; and TheWish List.This event is free and open to the public. Books for signing must be purchased from Left Bank Books.

Andy Williams has been oneof the world's best-loved vocalists and entertainers since he began hisprofessional career nearly seventy years ago. Before being declared a national treasure by President Ronald Reagan, Williams would chart eighteen gold and three platinum albums, headline at Ceasars Palace in Las Vegas for more than twentyyears, and host an enormously popular weekly television show whose Christmas specials still occupy a tender spot in every baby boomer's heart. Williams knew everybody who was anybody during his seven remarkable decades in show business and was a close friend of Bobby Kennedy for many years, and he shares hismemories of them all in his memoir, Moon River and Me. Purchase a copyof Moon River and Me from Left Bank Books to receive a ticket to thisevent where Andy Williams will talk, answer questions, sign books, and sing a few songs.

Each story in this acclaimed debut collection byNigerian Jesuit priest Uwem Akpan pays tribute to the wisdom and resilience ofchildren, even in the face of the most agonizing cirucumstances. It's Oprah'spick this month, too which is a great boost for this excellent and deservingbook.

Underground restauarantsare all the rage in St. Louis and beyond, but now you can meet the innovativehosts of a hot-ticket underground supper club as they invite you to crank upyour oven, break out the vino, and save the dinner party from extinction. Twicea month, two veterans of the New York food world prepare a big meal in a tinykitchen, serving heaping plates of spectacular cuisine to wenty diverse people(or more). Never obsessed with perfect place settings or fussy details, ZoraO'Neill and Tamara Reynolds instead focus on the practical joys ofdown-to-earth entertaining at home. In Forking Fantastic, they showcasetheir very best recipes for making mouthwatering dinners--and for having thetime of your life. We can't do a food event without the food, so come preparedto sample some of these underground goodies.

The impetuous, redheaded ghost of Bailey Ruth is back in the second book in Carolyn Hart's series. Anaccomplished master of mystery, Hart is the author of eighteen previous Deathon Demand novels. Her books have won multiple Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Awards.  She is also the creator of the Henrie O series, featuring a retired reporter,and she was one of the founders of Sisters in Crime.

Congregation Shaare Emeth and St. John's UCC are pleased to present Mitch Albom. New York Times best-selling author Albom (Tuesdays with Morrie) goes back to his nonfiction roots with Have a Little Faith, a timely, moving and inspiring look at faith--not just who believes, but why--prompted by his search for the right words to eulogize a beloved rabbi. 

There is no admission charge, although donations at the door are encouraged. Congregation Shaare Emeth will use the donations towards the Youth Scholarship Fund and St. John's UCC will use their donations to support their St. John's Community Service Food Pantry.

All attendees are also requested to bring a non-perishable food item. All the food will be donated to the St. John's Community Service Food Pantry and the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry.

Mitch Albom's books are available for sale at the event. 

Civilize the wildbeasts in your life, one meal at a time. Four hungry borthers. Three ravenoussons. A husband who loves to eat. Lucinda Scala Quinn has spent much of herlife feeding the men and boys around her and teaching them how to feed themselves.Now Scala Quinn--chef, television personality, and Martha Stewart Omnimedia'sresident food guru--shares winning strategies for how to sate the seeminglyinsatiable, trade food for talk, and get men to manage the kitchen with MadHungry. Lucinda Scala Quinn is the host of a satellite radio show about foodand of Everyday Food,  the PBS cookingseries produced by Martha Stewart Living Television.

BellaSpark Productions presents Spiritual Liberation, an evening with Michael Beckwith. Beckwith teaches that inner spiritual work, not religion or dogma, liberates individuals. He draws on a wide spectrum of wisdom teachers such as Jesus and Buddha, contemporary spiritual luminaries, and Western contributors to create a profound new belief synthesis. Beckwith was a featured teacher in the hit movie The Secret and has appeared on Oprah. His newest book is Spiritual Liberation.  Tickets are $40 in advance/ $50 at the door. For tickets, visit www.brownpapertickets.com or call 970.443.0732. More information is available at www.bellaspark.com. Books for signing may be purchased in advance or at the event from Left Bank Books.

Hulk Hogan, born Terry Bollea, burst onto the professional wrestling scene in the late seventies and went on to become a world wrestling champion many times over. From the outside, his story was one of a charmed life--he was at the top of his career, had a wonderful and loving family, and a life-long fan base who worshipped him. Of course, he had his ups and downs--including hints of steroid abuse and his falling out with WWE and Vince McMahon--but it's been the last two years that have tested Hogan more than any other in his lifetime, including his wife leaving him after 23 years of marriage, his daughter blaming him for the break-up, and his son going to jail.  In My Life Outside the Ring, Hogan unabashedly recounts these events, revealing how his newfound clarity steadied him during the most difficult match of his life--and how he emerged from the battle feeling stronger than ever before.This event is a book signing only.  No memorabilia will besigned. 

In no other period ofour country's history has the food scene changed so rapidly. Exciting newingredients are available everywhere, expanding our culinary horizons. We wantmemorable dishes, and we want them to be healthy for our families an dour planet.And with our busy schedules, we want them on the table faster than ever. A newculinary world calls for a new cookbook. Gourmet Today responds to our changingfoodscape with more vegetarian recipes; popular dishes from every corner of theworld; stunning meals ready in 30 minutes or less; simple ways to prepare allthe vegetables in the farmers' market; advice on choosing sustainable fish,chicken, and beef; tips on throwing an easy cocktail party; flavorfultechniques like grilling; and more recipes for the new ingredients flooding ourmarket. Each of the over 1,000 recipes was selected by editor in chief RuthReichl, a former New York Times restaurant critic and best-selling memoirist ofTender to the Bone and Comfort Me with Apples, who wrote the introductions toeach chapter. Ruth Reichl will discuss and sign Gourmet Today and her otherworks. The talk is free and open to the public; purchase Gourmet Today or RuthReichl's other books from Left Bank Books for a book signing line ticket. Also,Friends of Left Bank Books are invited to purchase Gourmet Today to attend aspecial reception with Ruth Reichl and food from Gourmet Today before thepublic event. Join or renew today! RSVP for the LBB Friends reception toDanielle Borsch, 314.367.6731, danielle@left-bank.com. 

In The Worst Hard Time, Timothy Egan put the environmental disaster of the Dust Bowl at the center of a rich history, told through characters he brought to indelible life. Now he performs the same alchemy with the Big Burn, the largest-ever forest fire in America and the tragedy that cemented Teddy Roosevelt's legacy in the land. Egan narrates the struggles of the overmatched rangers against the implaccable fire of 1910 with unstoppable dramatic force, through the eyes of the people who lived it. Equally dramatic, though, is the larger story he tells of outsized president Teddy Roosevelt and his chief forester Gifford Pinchot. Pioneering the notion of conservation, Roosevelt and Pinchot did nothing less than create the idea of public land as our national treasure, owned by every citizen. The Big Burn tells an epic story, paints a moving portrait of the people who lived it, and offers a critical cautionary tale for our time.

More of This World or Maybe Another is a collection of award-winning short fiction about four outsiders whose unruly lives intersect on the back streets of New Orleans from writer Barb Johnson. Living amid poverty and violence, these fragile heroes of the American underclass redefine our notions of family, redemption and love. A self-described "middle-aged lesbian ex-nun carpenter," Johnson shares her world--one that is equal parts violence, boredom, and sorrow--with a nod to Southern Gothic tradition, yet with a lightness in prose that makes her accessible to readers of commercial and literary fiction alike. 

Entering its fourth year, Best New Poets has established itself as a critical venue for rising poets and a valuable resource for poetry lovers. The only publication of its kind, this annual anthology is made up exclusively of work by writers who have not yet published a full-length book. The poems in this eclectic sampling represent the best from the many that have been nominated by the country's top literary magazines and writing programs, as wella s some two thousand additional poems submitted through an open online competition. Joining us to read from their poetry are Katy Didden, Johnathon Williams, Brandon J. Courtney, Trey Moody, and James Crews. 

Anita Diamant, bestselling author of The Red Tent, and Co-founder of Left Bank Books, will be reading from and discussing her new novel Day After Night!

PLUS:   How Left Bank Books Started as the People's Bookstore and Became a St. Louis Institution

A 40th ANNIVERSARY conversation and reception with Left Bank Books co-founders Anita Diamant, Terry Koch and current store owners Barry Leibman, Kris Kleindienst, Jarek Steele and anyone else who cares to pipe in.  Memories, fun, food, drink!

As part of our 40th Anniversary Special, Friends of Left Bank Books and members of registered reading groups receive 20% off Day After Night at the event.   

The best-selling author of Good Harbor and The Last Days of Dogtown returns to the geography of The Red Tent and reimagines a true event in the aftermath of World War II in Day After Night, an intensely dramatic, profoundly sad new novel.Anita Diamant portrays richly imagined female characters in a haunting fictionalization of the post-Holocaust experience. Atlit is a holding camp for "illegal" immigrants in Israel in 1945. There, about 270 men and women await their future and try to recover from their past. Diamant, with infinite compassion and understanding, tells the stories of the women gathered in this place.

The acclaimed author ofMotherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude returns with a roarwith this gorgeous, stunning portrayal of Manhattanites wrapped in their owndelusions, desires and lies. In Chronic City, Chase Insteadman, ahandsome, in offensive fixture on Manhattan's social scene, lives off residualsearned as a child star on a beloved sitcom called "Martyr &Pesty." His teenage sweetheart and fiancee, Janice Trumbull, is trapped bya layer of low-orbit mines on the International Space Station, from which shesends him rapturous and heartbreaking love letters. Like Janice, Chase isadrift. Into Chase's cloistered city enters pop critic Perkus Tooth, who drawsChase into another Manhattan, questioning what is real. Like Manhattan itslef,Jonathan Lethem's masterpiece is beautiful and tawdry, tragic and forgiving, devastatingand antic, a stand-in for the whole world and a place utterly unique.

Mimi Schwartz grew up on milkshakes and hamburgers--and her father's boyhood stories. She rarely took the stories seriously. What was a modern American teenager supposed to make of these accounts of a village in Germany where, according to her father, "before Hitler, everyone got along"? It was only many years later, when she heard the remarkable story of the Torah from that very village being rescued by Christians on Kristallnacht, that Schwartz began to sense how much these stories might mean. Thus began a remarkable twelve-year quest that covered three continents as Schwartz sought answers in the historical records and among those who remembered that time. We need these stories to provide a moral compass, especially in times of political extremism, when fear and hatred strain the bonds of loyalty and neighborly compassion.

Fresh off his National Book Award win, Sherman Alexie delivers a heartbreaking and hilariouscollection of stories that explores the precarious balance betweenself-preservation and external responsibility in art, family, and the world atlarge. With unparalleled insight intot he minds of artists, laborers, fathers,husbands, and sons, Alexie populates his stories with ordinary men on the brinkof exceptional change. Sherman Alexie is the author of The Lone Ranger andTonto Fist fight in Heaven, Reservation Blues, Indian Killer, The Toughest Indian in the World, Ten Little Indians, and The Absolutely True Diary of aPart-time Indian. He wrote and directed The Business of Fancydancing and alsowrote the award-winning screenplay for Smoke Signals. (And he's a favorite of several members of the Left Bank Books family.)

Jean Carnahan was the first lady of Missouri when her husband, Governor Mel Carnahan, who was running for the U.S. Senate, and their son, were killed in a plane crash. When Mel Carnahan was elected posthumously (beating John Ashcroft), Jean agreed to take his seat in Washington and served in the U.S. Senate during 9/11, the anthrax attacks, and the vote to go to war in Iraq. During a time of intense and almost unimaginable personal loss, she managed to keep her head up and her heart open and worked diligently for her consituents and for the country. Carnahan, in the public sphere most recently as she campaigned for President Barack Obama, brings her tales about aging, change, strengthening the family, history, politics, and language to the page with a plainspoken, wise humor that is pure pleasure and genuinely uplifting. According to Cokie Roberts, The Tide Always Comes Back contains, "...invaluable lessons, lovingly shared."

Support the Soulard School by purchasing your books from LBB this weekend!

Support the Soulard School by purchasing your books from LBB this weekend!

The critically acclaimed, first-ever collection of original stories devoted to the topic of growing up gay or lesbian, or with gay or lesbian parents or friends, Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence features works by Marion Dane Bauer, Lois Lowry, Francesca Lia Block, Bruce Coville, James Cross Giblin, M.E. Kerr, William Sleaton, Jane Yolen, and others. Each of these stories is original and is by a noted author for young adults. Am I Blue? Won the 1995 ALA Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Task Force book award for literature.

Peter Hessler, a native of Columbia, Missouri, began his interest in China as a Peace Corps volunteer in the late 1990s. He has since lived in Beijing for most of a decade. His first book, River Town, is concerned with geography or sense of place; Oracle Bones is about history or sense of time. His lecture will center on Lishui, a small city in southeastern China that produces goods for export to the United States and Europe. Hessler is a keen observer of local entrepreneurs, factory workers, and migrants--their culture, attitudes, and daily challenges in one of the most economically vibrant countries in the world. This event, sponsored by Lee Institute, is free and open to the public; books for signing may be purchased from Left Bank Books and at the event.

Left Bank Books and City Church present Timothy Keller for a discussion and book signing. The New York Times best-selling author of The Reason for God and The Prodigal Son and a nationally renowned minister, Timothy Keller exposes the error of making good things "ultimate" in his latest book, and shows readers a new path toward a hope that lasts. Success, true love, and the live you've always wanted. Many of us placed our faith in these things, believing they held the key to happiness, but with a sneaking suspicion they might not deliver. The recent economic meltdown has cast a harsh new light on these pursuits. In a matter of months, fortunes, marriages, careers, and a secure retirement have disappeared for milllions of people. No wonder so many of us feel lost, alone, disenchanted, and resentful. We made lesser gods of these good things--gods that can't give us what we really need. Keller's powerful message will cement his reputation as a critical thinker and pastor, and comes at a crucial time--for both the faithful and the skeptical.

Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, is a thirty-something ranch wife, mother of four, moderately-agoraphobic middle child who grew up on a golf course in the city before falling in love with a rugged cattle rancher. Her popular website, thepioneerwoman.com, includes blog posts, pictures of ranch life, and recipes… full of Ree Drummond's hilarious (and tasty) insights. The recipes feature step-by-step photos of her cowboy-friendly dishes, and now for the first time, she's sharing her treats in a cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Due to the popularity of Ree's events around the country, we've moved the event down the street to Christ Church Cathedral so everyone can get a seat, get a book, and enjoy the discussion and signing. The event is free and open to the public, but we encourage you to buy your books from us so we can continue to bring sensational authors like Ree Drummond to St. Louis. 

This event is back on!

Everything Matters. Indie bookstores matter. Author events matter. Ron Currie, Jr. and his new book, Everything Matters!, matter. Indie booksellers unite for one giant event to support Ron Currie, Jr. and his triumpant novel, Everything Matters! In infancy, Junior Thibodeaux is encoded with a prophesy: a comet will obliterate life on Earth in thirty-six years. Alone in this knowledge, he comes of age in rural Maine grappling with the question: "Does anything I do matter?" Ron Currie, Jr., whose fiction has won several prizes, gets to the heart of character, and the voices who narrate this uniquely American tour de force leave an indelible, exhilerating impression. Join Pudd'nhead Books, Subterranean Books, Main Street Books, and Left Bank Books at this exciting collaborative event. 

For many people, the election of Barack Obama seems to signify the end of racism as a pervasive social force in the United States, but is this true? Is black success making it harder for whites to see the problem of racism or will it challenge stereotypes to such an extent that racism will diminish?

In Marcus's world, battles are fought everyday--on the street, at home, and in school. Angered by his sister's death and his father's absence, and pushed to the brink by a bullying classmat, Marcus fights back with his fists. One punch away from being kicked out of school and his home, Marcus encounters CM, an unlikely chess master who challenges him to fight battles on the chess board. Inspired by inner-city school chess enrichment programs, Chess Rumble explores the ways this strategic game empowers young people with the skills they need to anticipate and calculate their moves through life. Award-winning filmmaker and author G. Neri and artist and illustrator Jesse Joshua Watson will discuss this poetic and empowering book for young adults. Chess Rumble is especially popular among reluctant readers and young males.

Poet and post-punk hero Eileen Myles has always operated in the art, writing, and queer performance scenes as a kind of observant "flaneur." Myles travels the city--wandering on garbage-strewn New York streets in the heat of summer, drifting though the antiseptic malls of La Jolla, and riding in the van with Sister Spit--seeing it with a poet's eye for detail and with the consciousness that writing about art and culture has always been a social gesture. Culled by the poet from twenty years of art writing, the essays in "The Importance of Being Iceland" make a lush document of her--and our--lives in these contemporary crowds.

Chicana. Goth. Dykling. Desiree Garcia knows she's weird and a weirdo magnet. To extinguish her strangeness, her parents ship her to Saint Michael's Catholic High School, then to Mexico, but neurology can't be snuffed out so easily: screwy brain chemistry holds the key to Desiree's madness. Combining the spark of Michelle Tea, the comic angst of Augusten Burroughs, and the warmth of Sandra Cisneros, Mexican American author Myriam Gurba has created a territory all her own. Dahlia Season not only contains the title novella, but also several of Gurba's acclaimed stories.