HARRY POTTER'S LAST BOOK BEAT PARTY FRIDAY, JULY 20th!

The Book Beat will be holding its FINAL Harry Potter party on Friday, July 20th from 10 PM -12:30 AM in celebration of the final book in the amazing J.K. Rowling series. The book (as you may already know is called Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows.) The only other thing we know about this book is that a couple important central characters bite the dust. Who could it be? NO! NOT HARRY! How DO YOU think it ends? Write your own ending, the last sentences in fifty words or less and bring it to the Book Beat. We will read them aloud and share our ideas. All will be revealed at the Harry Potter bash.

What else can you expect at the HP Book Beat party? There will be good food, puzzles, a 30% discount on the book, raffles, fortunes, prizes, and special ephemera including a wonderful limited edition wizard spell book & bookmarks (with book purchase, only). Don't forget to visit the slightly spooky Deathly Hallows' Department of Mysteries Secret Mystery room, (if you dare!)-- one night only! It will be a riotous good time for all. Call & reserve your book today. Be sure not to miss out! Tell your friends!

Thomas Pynchon AGAINST THE DAY reading group will meet MONDAY, JULY 23rd at 7:00 PM at the Book Beat. We are disussing through page 475 in the book.

READING GROUP SELECTION FOR JULY

Join us for a discussion of Paul Bowles' contemporary classic THE SHELTERING SKY on WEDNESDAY, JULY 25th at 7:00 PM at Gayles Chocolates on Washington in Royal Oak.

When The Sheltering Sky was first published in 1949, it established Paul Bowles as one of the most singular and promising writers of the postwar generation. Its startlingly original vision has withstood the test of time and confirmed Tennessee Williams's early estimation: "The Sheltering Sky alone of the books that I have . . . read by American authors appears to bear the spiritual imprint of recent history in the western world." In this classic work of psychological terror, Bowles examines the ways in which Americans apprehend an alien culture and the ways in which their incomprehension destroys them.

The story of three worldly young travelers Port Moresby, his wife, Kit, and their friend, Tunner--adrift in the cities and deserts of North Africa after World War II, The Sheltering Sky is merciless in its evocation of the emotional dislocation induced by a foreign setting. As the Americans embark on an ill-fated journey through desolate terrain, they are pushed to the limits of human reason and intelligence by the unfathomable emptiness and impassive cruelty of the desert. Along the way, they encounter a host of enigmatic characters whose inarticulate strangeness seals the travelers off even more completely from the culture in which they are traveling, causing their fierce attachments to one another to unravel.

Check out the 2007 Artists & Writers Softball challenge: Saturday, July 14th at 6 PM at the Clark Park Softball Diamond in Detroit. Infamous Tiger legend Denny McClain throws the first pitch. Details available at the THEDETROITER.COM -- also at thedetroiter.com, read Nick Sousanis' profile and review of book artist Lynn Avedenka and her hand-made creation By A Thread.

Stay tuned for Book Beat's 25th Anniversary party -- coming in August!