SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20th:

A PRE-HALLOWEEN TREAT: EXTREME PUMPKIN CARVING AT BOOK BEAT

Just in time for Halloween, join us at Book Beat, Saturday, October 20th, from 4-7 PM. We will be joined by Tom Nardone, creator of ExtremePumpkins.com and the author of the newly released book: Extreme Pumpkins: Diabolical Do-It-Yourself Designs to Amuse Your Friends and Scare Your Neighbors (Penguin Books). The Book Beat is located at 26010 Greenfield, in Oak Park. This event is free and open to the public. Please call 248-968-1190 for more information.

Detroit loves Halloween, and Tom likes to carve pumpkins. He creates funny, gross, scary and exciting pumpkin designs unlike any seen before. His website Extreme Pumpkins.com receives over 1 million hits each holiday. An editor at Penguin books took notice, and Tom had an instant book deal. Extreme Pumpkins is a full color guide to pumpkin carving and a hip manifesto for enjoying the Halloween season. There are lots of great Halloween facts and triva mixed into this wild and funny book. Stop by the Book Beat on October 20th , check out the cool pumpkins and pick up a copy of Extreme Pumpkins, Tom will be happy to autograph a copy for you.

“Welcome to ExtremePumpkins.com where strange pumpkins, pumpkin patterns, and alternative pumpkin carving techniques are developed and demonstrated for you. Pumpkin carving will never be the same.” Tom Nardone from ExtremePumpkins.com

“Extreme pumpkin carver Tom Nardone has sold out in both ways. First, he cashed in. Each Halloween Nardone’s personal website ExtremePumpkins.com is visited by over a million people. His mixture of outrageous pumpkin designs and his power-tool carving method attract a wide audience. Last year, he turned the success of the website into a $10,000 book deal. “Penguin Publishing called and I like money. I couldn’t sign that deal fast enough.” says Nardone.

Unlike other sell-outs, Nardone has actually created a fairly interesting book. Extreme Pumpkins shows you how to carve 20 diabolical pumpkin designs. These designs, along with some great tricks and traps, will keep your friends guessing and your neighbors scared. Sure, the website has similar or lower quality content but the book is easier to use at a pumpkin carving party.

To the surprise of many, including Nardone himself, the book has sold out as well. The first printing of 10,000 copies sold before the release date of September 4th. Fortunately, Penguin kicked another 7,500 books out the door and another check to Nardone.” — from an online Press Release

About the Author: Tom is a successful internet retailer and founder of PriveCo, the worlds most private company. He lives in the suburbs of Detroit with his three happy kids and long-suffering bride, Lisa.

The following is a response to the media blitz concerning recent events in Holland, most notably the murder of filmmaker Theo Van Gogh and the rise of Hirsi Ali’s political star. A recent book, MURDER IN AMSTERDAM by Ian Buruma is to be published on the anniversary of September 11, and covers these events. The Buggers are a Dutch political & art action group who issue communiqués on various topics of global concern. Here is their most recent bulletin, a commentary on MURDER IN AMSTERDAM.

BUGGER!

The fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is seized upon by some publishers
and authors to launch books that are expected to benefit from the huge media
attention that the event is going to generate. It is no surprise to find a
number of publications scheduled for September 2006 that deal with
“terrorism”. Terrorism sells. Cynical, but true. We haven’t forgotten,
though, who designed and marketed the current “terrorism” brand in the first
place. The Pentagon, the White House, and their secret services have used it
from the start to justify their aggressive power plays and ideologies both
at home and abroad, and to serve US corporate interests, especially in the
oil and war business. So, when a book on terrorism is published, especially
at a time like this, it is useful to know what kind of publication we are
dealing with. Does it use the terror brand only for commercial purposes?
Does it contain some form of criticism or at least show awareness of the
origin of the brand that it bears? Or is it just another contribution to the
global branding of “terrorism” and consequently of “the war on terror”? We
found the latter to be true of Murder in Amsterdam [1] by the Anglo-Dutch
writer Ian Buruma, which is going to be released on the emotionally charged
date of September 11th. (more…)