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. 

A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe

The Reading Group will meet Wed., June 1st at 7pm in the Goldfish Teahouse (117 W. 4th St., in downtown Royal Oak).  Copies of the reading group selection are discounted 15% at the Book Beat.  (this is actually our May meeting moved up to June 1st) All are welcome!

Book Beat’s May reading group book is A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe.  Oe was the winner of the 1994 Nobel Prize for Literature.  A Personal Matter is a novel based on the author’s experience coming to terms with his son’s mental disability.

“[A Personal Matter] owes obvious debts to Kierkegaard: the search for—and confrontation with—the self. Its urban surroundings, the classless misfits that populate it, and its vivid sexual descriptions make it seem socially and thematically similar to its Occidental counterparts.”—James Toback, The New York Times Book Review

“A clairvoyant of the small” W. G. Sebald calls Robert Walser, one of his favorite writers in the world, in his acutely beautiful, personal, and long introduction, studded with his signature use of photographs.

“The incredible shrinking writer is a major twentieth-century prose artist who…can be placed in that comic tradition [that] runs from Gogol through Kafka and down to José Saramago . . . . When Walser met Lenin in Zurich during the war, all he had to say was ‘So you, too, like fruitcake?’ . . . It is remarkable to see what variety and richness what easiness and charm, what winsome inanities and philosophical depths he could pack into half a page.”
—Benjamin Kunkel, The New Yorker

Buy a rose or a book for a loved one, sample fine wine, party and meet people. Saint Jordi day is a  Spanish tradition that begins on Friday, April 23rd, 2010 from 8-10  pm
at Book Beat. Sponsored by Elie’s Wines in Royal Oak and Book Beat, 26010 Greenfield, Oak Park.

We will have a great selection of poetry and quality literature, gift books and many bargain priced remainders. There will be books, wine tasting, food and more. SPRING FIESTA!

Sanit Jordi Day will also be celebrated at the Ferndale Public Libary on Sunday, April 18th from 2PM-7 PM. This will be a wonderful pre-Saint Jordi celebration with Michigan authors, readings and more!

Our friends at ELIE WINES in Royal Oak brought the first St. Jordi day celebration to Book Beat in 2006. It was an enthusiastic success, with Catalan poetry being read and delicious wines sampled, roses and books were joyously given away. This “World Day of the Book” with its Spanish origins and its link to romance and love, is something we at Book Beat and Elie Wines have continued to celebrate as a yearly tradition here in the Detroit area.

In Barcelona; almost 5 million roses will exchange hands and much kissing will take place.  Very nice tradition.

April 23 is a symbolic day in world literature. Declared as International Day of the Book by UNESCO in 1995, this celebration of books and literature draws it’s inspiration from a Catalan tradition, the Festival of the Rose.

Legend has it that Saint George, Patron Saint of Catalonia and international knight-errant, slew a dragon about to devour a beautiful Catalan princess. From the dragon’s blood sprouted a rosebush, from which the hero plucked the prettiest rose for the princess. Hence the traditional Rose Festival celebrated in Barcelona since the Middle Ages to honor chivalry and love. In 1923, this lover’s “festa” became even more poetic when it merged with “el dia del llibre”, or The Day of the Book, to mark the nearly simultaneous deaths of Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare, the two giants of literary history, on April 23, 1616.

On this day in Barcelona, bookstalls and street festivities run the length of the picturesque La Rambla, the old city’s main boulevard and, according to the Spanish author Garcia Lorca, “the only street in the world which I wish would never end”. Read more about this tradition at: DRAGON’S BLOOD & BOOKS- A SPRING FESTIVAL

“In 1995, UNESCO decided that the World Book and Copyright day would be celebrated on this date because of the Catalonian festival and because the date is also the anniversary of the birth and death of William Shakespeare, the death of Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and Josep Pla, the birth of Maurice Druon, Vladimir Nabokov, Manuel Vallejo and Halldor Laxness

Enjoy St. Jordi’s day! Links to INTERNATIONAL BOOK DAY:

• World Book and Copyright Day at UN
• World Book and Copyright Day at UNESCO
• Message of the Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of World Book and Copyright Day — 23 April 2005
• About World Book Day in the UK and Ireland

link source: Wikipedia.

Photo above: Casa Batllo, by Catalian architect Antonio Gaudi, completed in 1907, it is said to represent the triumph of Sant Jordi (St George) over the dragon, with roof tiles representing the dragon’s back. Gaudi is one of the worlds genius architects whose masterpieces adorn Barcelona as jewels of the city. Photo Credit: L. Loydi.com

This event has ended, but we do have some signed first editions of STITCHES still available – New York Times #1 bestseller, and just nominated for the National Book Award, please call or order soon!

View a cinematic look inside the pages of STITCHES:

Caldecott Award winning artist and author David Small will be presenting his highly acclaimed new graphic novel style memoir  STITCHES at the Book Beat Friday, October 16th, from 7-8:30 PM. STITCHES is a deep look into the author’s often painful past, filled with memories and scenes of growing up in the Detroit area. Truly one of the highlights of this fall’s list, STITCHES is an adult graphic memoir/ black-comedy that is both hilarious and sad, surreal and grotesquely too real. David has prepared a special slideshow presentation and we will moderate a discussion that is not to be missed. Please welcome David Small back to his hometown that has filled him with an abundance of energy, inspiration and creativity.

David Small, with his ground-breaking work, has elevated the art of the graphic novel and brought it to new creative heights. (Stan Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man and other Marvel Comics )

David Small evokes the mad scientific world of the 1950s beautifully, a time when everyone believed that science could fix everything….Capturing body language and facial expressions subtly, Stitches becomes in Small’s skillful hands a powerful story, an emotionally charged autobiography. (Robert Crumb )

“Stitches is as intensely dramatic as a woodcut novel of the silent movie era and as fluid as a contemporary Japanese manga. It breaks new ground for graphic novels.” -Françoise Mouly, Art Editor of The New Yorker

Small earned the 1997 Caldecott Honor and The Christopher Medal for The Gardener, with Sarah Stewart, his wife, recipient of the 2007 Michigan Author Award. In 2001 he won the Caldecott Medal for So You Want to Be President?, combining political cartooning with children’s book illustration. Small’s drawings have appeared in the New Yorker and the New York Times.

David Small and Sarah Stewart make their home in an historic manor house in Mendon, Michigan.

“Ashley Bryan was born in a rough section of New York City in 1923, one of six children born to West Indian immigrants from Antigua. His early love of drawing, painting, and creating handmade books was encouraged by family, friends, and school teachers.” A more complete biography is available at the Children’s Library at the University of Southern Mississippi

* “Books make great gifts because they are a perfect way to get a conversation started.” -Barbara Walters

* “Books make great gifts because they make great friends. Your cherished book can hold your secrets, and you can tell it every secret you have. And, it can’t blab.” –Maya Angelou

* “Books make great gifts because they’re everybody’s favorite things.” –Julie Andrews

* “Books make great gifts because they’re not as hefty as fruitcake, but they’re enjoyable and they’re easy to devour.” –Rachael Ray

10 Reasons Why Books Make Great Gifts
1. Books don’t require batteries.
2. Books don’t require assembly.
3. Books don’t contain trans-fats.
4. Books are lead-free.
5. Books have a long shelf life.
6. Books are sized to fit everyone.
7. Books rarely go out of style.
8. Books have no small parts that could get caught in your throat.
9. Books won’t poke your eyes out.
10. Books won’t shatter when you drop them.

Top Five Reasons Why Guys Should Give Books as Gifts
5: She can’t connect with a new sweater like she can with a book.
4: Hey guys, they’re easy to wrap!
3: They come in all sizes, shapes and colors -what could be easier?
2: It’s cheaper than a romantic getaway but can produce the same result.
1: Books are gifts of love and joy and can create everlasting memories.

Top Five Reasons Why Girls Should Give Books as Gifts:
5: They’re easy to store on coffeetables, bookshelves, nightstands, floors or countertops.
4: They never go bad no matter how long they’re stored and they can be used quickly or savored over time.
3: Books can teach, educate, entertain and distract him from football.
2: Its a small investment that can return dividends for life.
1: Books are the perfect gift of enjoyment that don’t require him to leave his chair.
source: ABA, Herr Memorial Library, Shelftalk

We would like to thank everyone in the Berkley School District who helped make this a success; teachers, media specialists and administration – thank you all for your support and the methods used to bring the message and ideas of “Three Cups of Tea” and “Pennies for Peace” into the classroom.

A special thank you goes out to Amira and Greg Mortenson for putting together an inspiring and lovely presentation. We appreciate and enjoyed your company – and hope you can someday return to see more of Detroit, a city that especially needs to hear your message of hope.

This has been a wonderful and uplifting launch for these two important children’s books; the picture book adaptation, “Listen to the Wind” and young adult version of “Three Cups of Tea.” We would like to stress that this young person’s book was a simultaneous release in paperback and hardcover (so one does not have to wait a year for the paperback version to appear). This rarely occurs in publishing, and the paperback was priced low at only $8.99! — an opportunity to begin reading this in classroom groups and young people’s reading groups. Everyone knows a young person -or possibly five young people, who should be reading and exposed to this phenomenal book. “Three Cups of Tea” shows how each young person and individual can be of service and help in transforming the world. Start now.

Book Beat will continue its “Pennies for Peace” fundraising until the end of March. We hope others will begin a project or continue one for themselves -together we can make a difference, one penny at a time.