Mitch Ryder, the legendary “unsung hero” of Michigan rock and roll will be presenting and signing his new autobiography Devils & Blue Dresses: My Wild Ride as a Rock and Roll Legend, at the Book Beat bookstore on Sunday, February 5th between 12:30 -2:30 PM. This is a rare opportunity to meet and hear Ryder speak in a small and intimate setting. The Book Beat is located at 26010 Greenfield in Oak Park. This event is free and open to the general public. To reserve an autographed copy of Devils & Blue Dresses, you can order online now or call (248) 968-1190 Music by Mitch Ryder will be available next door from our neighbors at Street Corner Music.

order now online at: Devils & Blue Dresses: My Wild Ride as a Rock and Roll Legend,

Mitch Ryder’s autobiography goes well beyond typical eyewitness accounts of sex, drugs and rock n’ roll road stories. His account of rock stardom is one of the most lucid, original, darkly emotional and surreal in rock and roll. In 34 concise chapters, Ryder has penned a passionate and often experimental exposè, told in a distinctly introspective voice, a ‘long nights journey’ through the twisted alleyways of the music business and how his natural talent and notoriety was used and abused by himself and those around him.

…read more about Mitch Ryder’s Devils & Blue Dresses

Technorati Tags: author appearance, autobiography, booksigning, Detrot Rock, Devils and Blue Dreeses, Mitch Ryder

Wednesday, January 25th beginning at 6:30 PM Wong Herbert Yee, the Theodor Geisel Honor Award winner, will be demonstrating his process for writing and illustrating books. You don’t want to miss his dynamic presentation! The Picture Book: From Concept to Creation will take place at the  Bloomfield Township Public Library 1099 Lone Pine Road. The Book Beat will be supplying books for the event. Please contact the Bloomfield Township Library (248) 642-5800 or the Book Beat (248) 968-1190 for more information.

About The Author: “I was born in Detroit, Michigan, one of seven. My first grade teacher tacked a drawing of mine, Horse with Feedbag up on the bulletin board. From there I went on to study art at Wayne State University, graduating in 1975 with a BFA in printmaking. I had my fair share of rejections at the start, but through perseverance my first picture book, EEK! There’s a Mouse in the House was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1992. My latest early reader, Mouse and Mole Fine Feathered Friends received a 2010 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Award.” -from the author’s blog site.

Technorati Tags: Bloomfield Township Library, book illustration, Children's book events, Wong Herbert Yee, workshop

*  *  *   *   *  Devils & Blue Dresses, a review

Mitch Ryder’s autobiography goes well beyond typical eyewitness accounts of sex, drugs and rock n’ roll road stories. His account of rock stardom is one of the most lucid, original, darkly emotional and surreal in rock and roll. In 34 concise chapters, Ryder has penned a passionate and often experimental exposè, told in a distinctly introspective voice, a ‘long nights journey’ through the twisted alleyways of the music business and how his natural talent and notoriety was used and abused by himself and those around him. Readers take caution, this is not a light bedtime story.

Devils & Blue Dresses is an emotionally searing autobiography where Ryder opens his heart and confronts his past with deadly aim. It’s a well-written memoir on music-politics, the weight of fame and identity, and its attendant web of  prizes and perils. The book highlights many tragic-comic episodes both high and low; starting with impoverished scenes of childhood, a dysfunctional home-life and Ryder’s early manipulation and naivety inside the commercial hit-making machine. A string of exceptional high moments sparkle throughout the book; witnessing Bob Dylan’s recording of Highway 61, jamming with Jimi Hendrix (who asked Ryder to be his singer), partying with The Beatles at a countryside LSD retreat after their celebratory release of Sargent Peppers and Hollywood screen tests with Sam Peckinpah and others.

Gifted with one of the greatest voices in rock and blue-eyed-soul history, the teenage Ryder was taken under the wing of producer/manager Bob Crewe, an early 60s hit-single Svengali known for his Four Seasons smash hits; “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, “Walk Like a Man”, “Sherry” and Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eye’s Off You”. Crewe would indoctrinate Ryder through strange scenes of stardom decadence while ensconced at his posh Dakota apartment in New York City.

Ryder’s first top-ten hit was the Crewe produced wonder “Jenny Take a Ride”  –a rocket of a single that skillfully combined Little Richard’s “C.C. Rider” with “Jenny Jenny” –a classic showcase for Ryder’s high-energy solid gold vocal style. That talent/producer relationship was dramatically revealed by Ryder who said, “Mr. Crewe held all the cards… all of the music appeared on his record labels, or was licensed out, and he held management, recording and publishing contracts… As long as the hit records kept coming, I was safe from the ill will of an industry that, by nature, was insensitive and exploitative and whose executives were, for the most part, angry and bitter at having to suffer the childish abuse of so many of their client victims.”  Ryder himself a ‘client victim’ lost most of his royalties and was bound to medieval contracts that froze his assets. Finally he was forced to beg for a $15,000 down payment on his Southfield, Michigan home –and that became one of the last royalty payments Ryder ever received. His love for music and contempt for the industry is burned deep onto every page.

Ryder’s story is a roller-coaster of comebacks, failures, marriages, infidelities, depressions, suicide attempts, career mistakes and close calls. His association with Barry Kramer at Creem Magazine and manager John Sinclair (of MC5 fame) culminated in a heady lost year, but his reformation of the band Detroit produced his 1971 release Detroit, a blistering rock LP that featured the Lou Reed / Velvet Underground single “Rock ‘N’ Roll”  -one of Ryder’s last hits and a version Lou Reed declared to be definitive.

The book is filled with first hand documents; recording contracts, publicity shots, family photographs and deeply personal poetic side-bar sections titled, “a window to my soul” – italicized journal entries that convey Ryder’s inner thoughts on Southern Antisemitism, Holocaust museums, the feminist movement, “the dysfunctional existence we call American culture”, and his evaluation of poverty, freedom and democracy. Near the book’s end is a twelve page break-up letter and biting personal assessment from his wife Megan, followed by a glossary (Appendix A) that posts an A-Z listing of the artists Ryder met and his recollections of them, some include; Chubby Checker: I wish I knew how to turn a penny into a dollar like he does. Dave Clark Five: The Riveras and I took care of them before we ever had a hit. Janis Joplin: we talked about how tired we both were… we looked like two penniless vagrants … it was a surreal scene.  Little Richard: It was his voice that taught me about energy. Jackie Wilson: …there was Jackie nude on a bed with a nude woman and we conversed for maybe fifteen minutes. Appendix B is Ryder’s outspoken geographic impressions from Canada to Switzerland. Appendix C is a complete discography of singles and albums and Appendix D, “An Essay from Mitch” is a last poetic stream-of-consciousness rage, a Heart of Darkness decent into an empty and bleak apocalypse. A sense of betrayal, anger and vitriol is aimed both at himself, the marketplace and his critics he calls “a pack of vengeful hyenas” – yet through all the pain and rejection there remains the rock steady soul of a Detroit survivor, unafraid to face himself and his demons head-on.

All the loose threads and surreal  juxtapositions give the book a down-home slightly dizzy feel where Ryder may in fact be forging new directions in prose. Sincere and courageous to the nth degree and constructed seemingly without editorial direction, his book is one of the most self-analytic, raw and beautiful memoirs in the history of rock and roll. It’s purity comes from the fact he did this completely himself  and its uncertain how his fans will receive this type of a creative autobiography, but one thing undeniable is that Ryder has laid out the naked truth for all to see and he remains a verifiable Detroit and national treasure.

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Ryder’s book will also accompany a new album, The Promise, his first release in over three decades. Produced by another Detroit legend Don Was, the disc’s dozen tracks feature eleven originals plus a live cover for the Motown classic “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted.” Copies of the new CD will be made available during the signing from our next door neighbors at Street Corner Music. We appreciate your support of this event, for more information please call: (248)-968-1190

Technorati Tags: book signing, Detroit music, Devils and Blue Dresses, Mitch Ryder, Rock and Roll, The Detroit Wheels

From the New York Times,  “All this said, “Punching Out” is frequently rewarding. Mr. Clemens traces the colorful history of the Budd plant, which manufactured parts for a variety of car brands and which once employed nearly 10,000 people. He is a lovely, mournful observer of Detroit’s people.”

Books will be available for sale at the Baldwin Library, 300 W Merrill St, Birmingham, MI 48009. Call 248-968-1190 for more information.

Technorati Tags: Author Signing, Baldwin library, book beat events, Detroit book signings, Detroit literature, Paul Clemens

Frost is known for introducing poetry to children in an enjoyable way through captivating stories featuring strong female characters and unusual poetic structures.  Diamond Willow is a novel in verse with each page of text in the shape of a diamond and it is being read in Baldwin’s Battle of the Books program.  This is a great chance to meet and listen to a very talented author who’s lived an exciting life, teaching school in Alaska and Scotland as well as being the author of books of poetry, fiction and drama for children and adults.  This event will be at the Baldwin Public Library in the Lower Level, 300 West Merrill, Birmingham Mi, 48009.  Book Beat will be there with a selection of books written by Frost for sale and Frost will speak and autograph books.  Please call 248-968-1190 for more information or to reserve a title to be signed. 

Book Beat

“Elmore Leonard can write circles around almost anybody active in the crime novel today.”
—New York Times Book Review

“Elmore Leonard is an awfully good writer of a sneaky sort; he is so good you don’t even notice what he’s up to.”
– Washington Post Book World

“A superb craftsman . . . his writing is pure pleasure.”
– Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Elmore Leonard is our greatest crime novelist… the best in the business.”
– Washington Post

Elmore is helping to promote the release of his latest novel (book #45!) Raylan (available for pre-order  now ) continues the story of US Marshall Raylan Givens, who previously appeared in Leonard’s books Pronto, and Riding the Rap, as well as his shorty story “Fire in the Hole,” and who currently is the central character in the hit FX tv show Justified. Played by the actor Timothy Olyphant, Raylan is one of Leonard’s most unforgettable characters. “Dark and droll, Raylan is pure Elmore Leonard—a page-turner filled with the sparkling dialogue and sly suspense that are the hallmarks of this modern master.”

The writers for the TV show “Justified” have blue wristbands that say WWED: “What Would Elmore Do”? -The Wall Street Journal

Elmore Leonard is the author of dozens of popular novels including Get Shorty, Rum Punch, Out of Sight, Hombre, Mr. Majestyk, Big Bounce, and 52 Pick-Up. Many of his novels have been adapted into films, including his short story 3:10 to Yuma. He is most well-known for his gritty crime novels- many set in and around metro Detroit- that feature break-neck pacing and strong dialogue. He has been called “the great American writer” by Stephen King.

Peter Leonard is the author of Quiver, Trust Me, All He Saw Was the Girl, and the upcoming Voices of the Dead.

Leonard’s previous novels have been jaunty crime capers similar to those of his father, Elmore. This one, set in 1971 and the first of a two-parter, has the same energy and precision but is much darker thematically, more painful and considered. On the surface it’s a cat-and-mouse thriller: scrap-metal dealer Harry Levin is determined to track down the German diplomat who killed his daughter when driving drunk. The police tell him the man has been afforded immunity and won’t face charges, so Harry travels back to Munich, where he was born, to dispense vigilante justice … Leonard’s handling of Harry’s wartime internment in Dachau proves he’s no one-trick pony. There are thrills here but also a desperate pathos. If you haven’t read Leonard before – and you must – this is a great place to start. –The Guardian

“Elmore Leonard is a tough act to follow, but son Peter is off to a terrific start. TRUST ME is fast, sly and full of twists. Clearly, great storytelling runs in the Leonard family’s DNA.”  -Carl Hiaasen

Technorati Tags: author lectures, autographings, Baldwin library, book beat events, crime writing, Detroit book signings, Detroit literature, Elmore Leonard, local signings Detroit, Peter Leonard

Detroitland covers a century of Detroit’s rich and colorful history, Bak relives the scandals, mysteries, catastrophes, triumphs, and celebrations that have rocked Detroit. He also introduces readers to the heroes, criminals, stars, and regular people who lived through them, or in some cases, set them in motion.  Detroitland contains the stories behind familiar names like Frank Murphy, the infamous Purple Gang, the Lone Ranger, “Potato Patch” Pingree, and Charles Lindbergh. Yet Bak also reveals lesser-known episodes in Detroit’s history, like the ambitious International Exposition & Fair of 1889; the killer heat wave of 1936, with five straight days of hundred-degree temperatures; and the attempted around-the-world flight of Ed Schlee and Billy Brock in the Pride of Detroit in 1927.

313: Life in the Motor City is a collection of 42 stories and more than 100 glossy photographs, many previously unpublished, by Detroitblogger John Carlisle of detroitblog.org fame. His blog and weekly column in Metro Times chronicle the quirky and often over-looked stories of average folks in the city. Read about a man with a strip club in his living room, the city’s last gun shop, a historic church kept alive by a handful of its parishioners, a bar in a ghost town, a coffee shop for the homeless, an art gallery in a mattress store and a family who made an abandoned apartment complex their home, among many other unforgettable people and places in Detroit.

Detroit Television chronicles the history of many of the most fascinating characters in tv history. Soupy Sales turned getting a pie in the face into an art form. Mort Neff celebrated the state’s outdoor charms. George Pierrot showed Detroiters the world. Other beloved personalities include: Milky the Clown, Ed McKenzie, Sonny Eliot, John Kelly, Marilyn Turner, Robin Seymour, Bill Bonds, Dick Westerkamp, Jingles, Bill Kennedy, Lou Gordon, Captain Jolly, Johnny Ginger, Auntie Dee, and many more.

For more info on this event or to reserve copies of any of these titles, please call Book Beat (248) 968-1190. This event is free and open to the public.

Our Fall Hours: MON-FRI- 10AM-8 PM, SAT 10 AM- 7 PM., Sunday 12-5 PM. Please call: 248-968-1190 for more information or to place an order.

Paolini’s Inheritance Out NOW!!

The long wait is finally over! Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance (the final book in the beloved Inheritance cycle) is in the store and ready to be devoured on Tues., Nov. 8th!! Copies will be discounted 20% off list price. If you have not already reserved a copy with us, call 248 968 1190. All reserved copies will be on hand to pick up when we open at 10am.

November Reading Group Selection

November’s Reading Group selection is Lord of Misrule, 2010’s National Book Award-winner for fiction. The Reading Group will meet on Mon., Dec. 5th at 7pm in the Goldfish Tea House (117 W 4th St., in downtown Royal Oak).  Books are discounted 15% at Book Beat (26010 Greenfield Rd. Oak Park, MI). All are welcome!

Jaimy Gordon’s tale of  low-stakes horse racing at a backwoods West Virginia race track bristles with authenticity, character, and rich dialogue.  Horse trainer Tommy Hansel dreams up a scam. He’ll run four horses in claiming races at long odds and get out before anyone realizes how good his horses are. But at a track as small as Indian Mound Downs, where everyone knows everybody’s business, Hansel’s hopes are quickly dashed.

“With marvelous poetic authority, Jaimy Gordon takes us deep into the underbelly of the racetrack. There are no roses or mint juleps here. This is the down-and-dirty world of claiming races, and everything is hazed with the gritty patina of desperation. Through her considerable gifts, Gordon fully inhabits this seldom-seen world of trainers, dreamers, gamblers, and grifters. At turns comic, heartbreaking, and lyrical, Lord of Misrule is a brilliant achievement.”–Don Lee, author of Wrack and Ruin

Detroitland Book Signings

On Thursday December 8th at 7 PM, the Book Beat will host a presentation on three recent books on Detroit history by local authors. Featured books will be Detroitland by Richard Bak (Wayne State University Press), Detroit Television (Arcadia Press) by Tim Kiska and Ed Golick and 313 Life in the Motor City (History Press) by John Carlisle. Keep this date open for a night of wonderful storytelling and local history. A special edition “Detroitland glass” will be made available with purchase at the event.

Book Beat supports Battle of the Books

The Book Beat is stocking Battle of the Books titles for Birmingham and Southfield schools. Book Beat is proud to support this challenge that encourages reading for children.  You can purchase them all together  in a packet or one title at a time.  The Battle Books include sets for 4th graders, sets for 5th graders and Young Adult sets.  Please call ahead if you need to hold a title as availability on books does fluctuate. 248-968-1190

Artists Yasuo Tanaka & Dick Cruger; “Bones” at Book Beat Gallery

The exhibition “Bones” will display the art and vision of  Tokyo artist Yasuo Tanaka during a consecutive three day opening at the Book Beat gallery/bookstore on Friday, October 21st from 6-8 PM, Saturday, October 22nd from 5-8 PM and Sunday from 3-5 PM. The artist will be making “portraits in a wheelchair” during his residency and will have original sculptures, ink napkin drawings, photographs and books for sale. Artist Dick Cruger will also be in attendance and will present his collaboration with Tanaka;  Parallel Universe, a correspondence in photographs between Tokyo and Detroit. The Book Beat gallery is located at 26010 Greenfield in Oak Park. Please call 248-968-1190 for more information.

Tokyo artist Yasuo Tanaka (b.1942) is a uniquely gifted artist that uses bookmaking, design, puppetry, wire sculpture, photography, and ink drawing in fantastic and striking combinations. Tanaka has produced a curious and quietly poetic body of work, a bizarrely stylized skeleton world radiating a simple universal message and philosophy. A surreal, childlike and humorous quality pervades all of Tanaka’s art that presents to us a Borgesian metaphysical vision about eternity, death and life wrapped inside his purely visual reality.

Detroit book artist and sculptor Dick Cruger, began a friendship with the artist Yasuo Tanaka about 10 years ago. Dick was introduced to Yasuo through the American poet Arthur Barnard who now lives in Tokyo. Barnard thought the two artists should meet since they both shared a similar aesthetic. Each artist executes their work with technical polish, working in similar areas of storytelling with visual art and sculpture. Together they have recently collaborated on Parallel Universes, book project that combines sites of Detroit and Tokyo told through skeleton and robot figures. The Book Beat gallery will display this body of work and hold the book launch in a three day opening:  October 21st-23rd. Read the full article HERE.

The exhibition “Bones” will display the art and vision of Yasuo Tanaka during a consecutive three day opening at the Book Beat gallery/bookstore on Friday, October 21st from 6-8 PM, Saturday, October 22nd from 5-8 PM and Sunday from 3-5 PM. The artist will be making “portraits in a wheelchair” during his residency and will have original sculptures, ink & watercolor napkin drawings, photographs and books for sale. Artist Dick Cruger will also be in attendance and will present their collaboration Parallel Universe; Detroit/Tokyo, a photographic book correspondence between Tokyo and Detroit.  The Exhibition will continue through January 9th, 2012. The Book Beat gallery is located at 26010 Greenfield in Oak Park. Please call 248-968-1190 for more information.

Tokyo artist Yasuo Tanaka (b.1942) is a uniquely gifted artist that uses bookmaking, design, puppetry, wire sculpture, photography, and ink drawing in fantastic and striking combinations. Tanaka has produced a curious and quietly poetic body of work, a bizarrely stylized skeleton world radiating a simple universal message and philosophy. A surreal, childlike and humorous quality pervades all of Tanaka’s art that presents to us a Borgesian metaphysical vision about eternity, death and life wrapped inside his purely visual reality.

For more information please read our blog: Yasuo Tanaka Photographer and Paper Napkin Artist