Author Events

The author of the Edgar nominated and ALEX Award-winning How Lucky ("an absorbing thriller with heart"--People), blends suspense, humor, and compassion in a new novel about seven strangers and one very intense evening at a small-town Georgia pharmacy.

Lindbergh's Pharmacy is an Athens, Georgia, institution--the type of beloved mom and pop shop that once dotted every American town but has mostly disappeared. But Lindbergh's has recently become the object of attention of a local fourth grade teacher Tina Lamm ("Ms. Lamm to my students"). Tina is certain something very, very bad is happening behind its famous black door and she intends to do something about it.

Her suspicions--and the drastic actions she plans--are the unlikely glue that will connect her to a group of six employees and customers inside the pharmacy one hot Georgia evening. They include Theo, the Lindbergh's scion with a secret of his own; Daphne, a nurse and Army veteran struggling with her faith; Jason, a local contractor uncertain how to deal with his gifted teenage son; Karson, a young lawyer and activist wrestling with a job offer that makes him uncomfortable; David, an Athens music scene lifer whose sobriety has been sorely tested by isolation; and Dorothy, a widow just beginning to regain her bearings.

The fates of these individuals--and their fateful encounter with Tina Lamm--become intertwined in a story that is by turns funny, touching, and tense. As he did in How Lucky, Will Leitch illuminates how we live today through a story of human beings struggling to do their best.

"Will Leitch has written another compelling and propulsive novel that I could not put down. What makes him such an amazing writer is his keen eye for what makes us human, all the seemingly invisible threads that connect us and those shocking moments when we're pulled together and forced to reckon with the world. Leitch is as empathetic a writer as they come, and I trust him to guide me through any danger, any story, and know I'll come out of it with something special." -- Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Now Is Not the Time to Panic

"With kindness, empathy, and the generosity of spirit that is the hallmark of his work, Will Leitch takes seven very different characters and brings them vividly to life, skillfully weaving their fates in a story that is taut, surprising, and ultimately speaks to the character of America itself." -- Jenny Jackson, author of Pineapple Street

"I'm reading a fantastic novel by Will Leitch called How Lucky. Publishes in May, I think. It's suspenseful and often wildly funny. You are going to like this a lot, and I think a lot of you are going to like it. It has that Where the Crawdads Sing vibe." -- Stephen King

"An absorbing thriller with heart." -- People

"Not many writers can shift gears from hilarious to heart-rending to harrowing, all on the same page. Will Leitch does it again and again. How Lucky is one of the most original thrillers I've read in years, with an improbable hero that no reader will ever forget." -- Carl Hiaasen

The untold story of Chicago's pivotal role as a country and folk music capital.

Chicago is revered as a musical breeding ground, having launched major figures like blues legend Muddy Waters, gospel soul icon Mavis Staples, hip-hop firebrand Kanye West, and the jazz-rock band that shares its name with the city. Far less known, however, is the vital role Chicago played in the rise of prewar country music, the folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s, and the contemporary offspring of those scenes.

In Country and Midwestern, veteran journalist Mark Guarino tells the epic century-long story of Chicago's influence on sounds typically associated with regions further south. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and deep archival research, Guarino tells a forgotten story of music, migration, and the ways that rural culture infiltrated urban communities through the radio, the automobile, and the railroad. The Midwest's biggest city was the place where rural transplants could reinvent themselves and shape their music for the new commercial possibilities the city offered. Years before Nashville emerged as the commercial and spiritual center of country music, major record labels made Chicago their home and recorded legendary figures like Bill Monroe, The Carter Family, and Gene Autry. The National Barn Dance--broadcast from the city's South Loop starting in 1924--flourished for two decades as the premier country radio show before the Grand Ole Opry. Guarino chronicles the makeshift niche scenes like "Hillbilly Heaven" in Uptown, where thousands of relocated Southerners created their own hardscrabble honky-tonk subculture, as well as the 1960s rise of the Old Town School of Folk Music, which eventually brought national attention to local luminaries like John Prine and Steve Goodman. The story continues through the end of the twentieth century and into the present day, where artists like Jon Langford, The Handsome Family, and Wilco meld contemporary experimentation with country traditions.

Featuring a foreword from Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Robbie Fulks and casting a cross-genre net that stretches from Bob Dylan to punk rock, Country and Midwestern rediscovers a history as sprawling as the Windy City--celebrating the creative spirit that modernized American folk idioms, the colorful characters who took them into new terrain, and the music itself, which is still kicking down doors even today.

"Long before Nashville's emergence as the country music capital, Chicago held sway with the nationally-broadcast Barn Dance and a row of honky-tonk venues on Madison Street. Guarino masterfully connects the dots between that star-making era to a contemporary scene devoted to insurgent country. This is a definitive and long-overdue look at a vital, if underappreciated, thread in how so-called hillbilly music evolved and flourished in a seemingly incongruous setting: the hard streets of Chicago."-- Greg Kot, cohost of Sound Opinions and author of I'll Take You There: Mavis Staples, the Staple Singers, and the Music That Shaped the Civil Rights Era

"With an epic scope, gorgeous photographs, and useful discographies, this is a vital contribution to the history of American music and required reading for country and folk music fans."-- Booklist starred review

A bold new cookbook from the most adventurous BBQ guru on YouTube.

There are lots of barbecue gurus out there, but Guga (aka Gustavo Tosta) does it just a bit differently and bit more boldly. Through his popular Guga Foods YouTube channel, Guga teaches his fans how to make out-of-this-world barbecue, as well as incredible sides, sandwiches, tacos, sauces, and more. In Guga: Breaking the Barbecue Rules, Guga shows readers how to make traditional barbecue recipes like smoked brisket, Texas-style ribs, and steak, but he also adds his larger-than-life flair to recipes like picanha (a Brazilian specialty), Korean-style chicken wings, and sweet-and-spicy pork belly. In addition to barbecue recipes, this beautiful cookbook contains recipes for sides like smoked mac and cheese, Japanese potato salad, and elotes (grilled Mexican street corn), fried bacon bread knots, and even Brazilian deep-fried bananas. Guga will teach even the most seasoned barbecue connoisseurs some new tricks, and beginning enthusiasts will learn how to take barbecue to an entirely different level. This is not just another barbecue book!

Here's what's inside:

• 100 amazing recipes that will inspire even the most seasoned BBQ fans, including recipes for beef, pork, poultry, and fish, as well as recipes for sandwiches, sides, sauces, rubs, and more!

• Beautiful photography throughout the book.

• Expert cooking tips and tricks that Guga's fans have come to love and appreciate.

• Simple, straightforward instructions for techniques like dry-aging, smoking, deep-frying, and more.

The Stellar Hog is a family-owned BBQ joint in South St. Louis, MO. Head Chef, Alex Cupp has created an out-of-this-world barbecue experience by using the highest quality meats seasoned with house-made rubs while served in a humble, but spacious classic BBQ setting.