|
|
 |
|
Detroit Author Paul Clemens will be at the Baldwin Public Library on February 1, 2012 at 7:00 pm speaking about his newes t book, Punching Out: One Year in a Closing Auto Plant. This is Clemens’ second book on Detroit, his first being Made in Detroit and it concerns the loss of manufacturing and the working class in Detroit and America.
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
|
 |
Tags: Author Signing, Baldwin library, book beat events, Detroit book signings, Detroit literature, Paul Clemens Posted in: Author signings, Book Beat / Shop history, General | No Comments » |
|
|
 |
|
  Book Beat is pleased to welcome legendary author and beloved Detroiter Elmore Leonard, along with his son, author Peter Leonard, to the Baldwin Library (300 West Merrill0 Street Birmingham, MI 48009) on Thursday, Jan. 19th at 7pm. They will be speaking and signing books. This will be one of only three nationwide signing events for his latest book Raylan. The event is free and open to the public. Please call Book Beat (248) 968-1190 for more info or to reserve copies of these titles.
“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
|
 |
Tags: author lectures, autographings, Baldwin library, book beat events, crime writing, Detroit book signings, Detroit literature, Elmore Leonard, local signings Detroit, Peter Leonard Posted in: Author signings, Book Signings, Detroit & Michigan, General | No Comments » |
|
|
 |
New Holiday Hours for December, 2011: The Book Beat will be open on Monday -Wednesday: 10 AM- 8 PM. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays: 10 AM- 9 PM, & Sundays: 12-5 PM // Sat., Dec. 24; 10 AM- 6 PM // Sat., Dec. 31st 10 AM -6 PM.
Book Beat is an independent locally owned bookstore serving the Metro-Detroit area since 1982. We are located at 26010 Greenfield (between 10 and 11 mile road) in Oak Park, just North (a few blocks) of the I-696 at Greenfield exit. Special orders are always welcome. We offer free gift wrapping, personal service and daily shipping within the USA or overseas at reasonable prices.
|
 |
|
Posted in: General | No Comments » |
|
|
 |
|
This month’s Reading Group selection is Philip K. Dick’s classic alternate history novel, The Man in the High Castle. Book Beat’s Reading Group will meet on Wednesday, August 31 at 7pm at Goldfish Teahouse (117 West 4th St. in Downtown Royal Oak). Books are discounted 15% at Book Beat. All are welcome!
This Hugo award-winning novel established Dick as a major science fiction writer and stands among his greatest work.
Dick’s alternative history considers the question of what would have happened if the Allied Powers had lost WWII. Set in 1962- some 20 years after that loss- the United States and much of the world has now been split between Japan and Germany, the major hegemonic states. But the tension between these two powers is mounting, and this stress is playing out in the western U.S. Through a collection of characters in various states of posing (spies, sellers of falsified goods, others with secret identities), Dick provides an intriguing tale about life and history as it relates to authentic and manufactured reality.
|
 |
|
Posted in: General, Reading Group | No Comments » |
|
|
 |
|
 The Detroit Public Library will be hosting two author events in May. On May 10 Simone Elkeles will be at the Detroit Public Library Main location, (5201 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202, Phone: (313) 481-1300) at 6:00 pm as part of their author day event. Simone Elkeles is the NY Times & USA Today bestselling author of over seven teen novels. She has won various awards and recognition for her books, including the coveted RITA Award from the Romance Writers of America for her book Perfect Chemistry and being named Author of the Year by the IL Assoc. of Teachers of English. Some of her popular titles are, How to Ruin a Summer Vacation, How to Ruin Your Boyfriend’s Reputation, Leaving Paradise, and the Perfect Chemistry trilogy. Her latest title is Rules of Attraction. This event is free and open to the public. Book Beat will be selling books for both events.
On Saturday, May 21 @ 11:00 am D. E. Johnson will be at the Detroit Public Library Elmwood Park Branch (550 Chene Street, Detroit, MI 48207-3907, (313) 877-8014.) to read from, discuss and sign copies of his first book, The Detroit Electric Scheme. The book has been receiving great reviews and this is an intimate location to meet the author who is a Michigan native. Both events are free and open to the public and Book Beat will have books available for sale at both event.
Detroit 1910: When Will Anderson finds the body of John Cooper crushed in a huge hydraulic press, he panics—for good reason. The body is in his father’s electric automobile factory, in the department Wil

l manages. Worse yet, Cooper is engaged to the woman Will loves, his ex-fiancée, Elizabeth Hume.
He runs, eluding the police but leaving behind his cap and automobile. Under threat from a blackmailer and with the police closing in, Will discovers that Elizabeth is in terrible danger. He follows her through the Detroit underworld, trying to save her and find the killer at the same time.
As the evidence mounts, Will gets closer and closer to the secret Cooper had been desperately trying to keep—a secret that could cost Will not only his life, but also the lives of the people he loves most.
|
 |
|
Posted in: Author signings, Book Signings, Children's Books, General | No Comments » |
|
|
 |
|
April’s Reading Group selections are two darkly humorous masterpieces by Nathaniel West: Miss Lonelyhearts and The Day of the Locust. West was an American novelist, screenwriter, and satirist who chronicled the darker side of American life during the Depression. His novel, Miss Lonelyhearts, is a pitch-black tale of a disillusioned newspaper columnist tasked with writing a lonelyhearts advice column. The Day of the Locust centers around the lowly figures that populate the fringes of Hollywood.
“This is the lurid world of Nathanael West, as unremitting as it is unforgettable. Miss Lonelyhearts and The Day of the Locust are his masterful expressions of stunted dreams. The novels unfold between the two American centers of opportunity and, West suggests, illusion: Miss Lonelyhearts in a dreary, relentless New York City; The Day of the Locust in a monstrously garish and overgrown Los Angeles. Both are populated by hacks and has-beens, cynics and dupes, failures and oddballs lurking at the urban margins.” –Ingrid Norton, review from “Open Spaces”
Written during West’s stay in Hollywood as B-movie screenwriter, The Day of the Locust stands as one of the greatest novels written about Hollywood and was ranked #73 by the Modern Library on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Time magazine included the novel in its list of 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005.
The Reading Group will meet Wed., April 27th 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. All are welcome!
|
 |
|
Posted in: General, Reading Group | No Comments » |
|
 |
|