For Immediate Release
For More Information Contact:
Colleen Kammer or Cary Loren: 248-968-1190


AN EVENING OF UNUSUAL TALENTS:
JIM BENTON, RENATA PALUBINSKAS & ZACHARY SCHAFER AT BOOK BEAT   

THURSDAY June 26th, from 7:30-8:30 PM the Book Beat at 26010 Greenfield in Oak Park, presents an entertaining evening of unusual art and books by three rare and exceptional Detroit area talents. New York Times bestselling author and international designer Jim Benton will present his latest outrageous title for mature teens and strange adults; CHERISE THE NEICE, a book of bleak and hilarious dark humor. Also present will be Lithuanian born artist Renata Palubinskas, who has recently illustrated a sublime satire with her partner Zachary Schafer, titled SCHNOOKS WAR ON TERRORISM. The cultral arts website Detroiter.com has called Renata "possiby the best painter in this city."     

If you like Edward Gorey, Charles Addams, Tim Burton and other bits of gruesome comedy, you might like the new Jim Benton book Cherise the Neice, from Pennguin/Plume ( ages 14 and up. )

It's a morbid little story told in rhymes and pictures of a little girl named Cherise, and her Aunts, whom are getting bumped off one at a time. Is Cherise the culprit or is she just an unfortunate waif moved from home to home after the mysterious disappearance of her parents?

People magazine has called Jim Benton "The most visible cartoonist in America." His young adult series Dear Dumb Diary  (with over 2 ½ million copies in print) recently produced a New York Times bestseller for Never Underestimate Your Dumbness. Benton’s crazily infectious “Happy Bunny” books and designs have become global icons appearing in Anti-Drug Campaigns and as designer clothing brands in major department stores. “Happy Bunny” was named Best Art Brand License of the Year in 2007 and Best Character Brand for Scholastic Books. Benton’s sketchbook characters Meany Doodles, Just Jimmy, Watashi Baka Da, Sweetypuss, Little Bad and many others are featured on bags, t-shirts, buttons, calendars, hats, food, clothing, posters, books and stationary. His newly developed  “jOkObO project” is featured at Virgin MegaStores. Benton’s energetic cartoon-sketch empire grows at a steady pace with an endless supply of imaginative marketing ideas and products.

Renata Palubinskas was born in Kaunas, Lithuania.  Schnook’s War on Terrorism is her first book, a superb collection of paintings about an “every-man dog” trying to do good in the world, and help put an end to terrorism. In finely detailed paintings we are taken along on Schnook's journey.

Renata’s mystical and detailed paintings of children and surreal grotesqueries are exhibited across the United States and treasured by collectors.  She says, “I paint to communicate another reality… and portray children caught in the conflict between the duality of awareness and naivety.” A Metro-Times review stated, “She renders neo-medieval fantasies with razor-sharp precision, conjuring up Hieronymous Bosch by way of René Magritte.” 

Zachary Schafer is the author of Schnooks War on Terrorism. He was born in Korea in 1975 and is a fine art painter in the Detroit area.

For more information about this event or to reserve inscribed books, please contact the Book Beat at 248-968-1190. The BOok Beat is an independent bookstore serving the metro Detroit area since 1982. We are  located at 26010 Greenfield in Oak Park. VIsit our website at: thebookbeat.com.