May News and Events

We’re still here.

It’s our 28th year.

We’re not so far away….

Come visit us, O.K?

Book Beat will be closed Sunday, May 29th and Monday, May 30th for Memorial DayWe apologize for any inconvenience.  Have a great holiday!

We are unable to reach everyone who would appreciate these events.   If you know anyone who would be interested, please forward this information on to them.  Thank you for your continued support.


Sunday June 5th at Book Beat: Comic Drawing Exhibition & Black Eye Launch

ON Sunday, June 5, from 3-5 PM Book Beat will be hosting an exhibition, MOROSE DELECTATION, in conjunction with Ryan Standfest’s new drawing and comic collection, Black Eye: Graphic Transmissions To Cause Ocular Hypertension. This will be the local book launch for Black Eye.

The first scheduled event to coincide with the publication of BLACK EYE 1: Graphic Transmissions to Cause Ocular Hypertension, will be a companion exhibition of works by ten of the book’s contributors. However, the work included in MOROSE DELECTATION will not be drawn from that in BLACK EYE, but will be work that has been newly-created for the exhibition as well as older, unpublished works. The following is the press release:

MOROSE DELECTATION

An Exhibition of Works on Paper, Occasioned by the Release of

BLACK EYE 1: Graphic Transmissions to Cause Ocular Hypertension

A New Comics Anthology of Black and Absurdist Humor by 41 International Artists and Writers, Edited by Ryan Standfest and Published by Rotland Press + Comic Works, Detroit, Michigan.

WHERE: Book Beat Bookstore & Gallery, 26010 Greenfield Road / Oak Park, MI / 48237-1050 / (248) 968-1190

WHEN: JUNE 5th – AUGUST 5th, 2011; OPENING EVENT with discussion and signing on June 5th, from 3 to 5 PM.

The exhibition will include work by:

Max Clotfelter (Seattle, Washington)

Andy Gabrysiak (Plymouth, Michigan)

Ian Huebert (San Francisco, California)

Kaz (Hollywood, California)

James Moore (Brooklyn, New York)

Tom Neely (Los Angeles, California)

Paul Nudd (Chicago, Illinois)

Onsmith (Chicago, Illinois)

David Paleo (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Stephen Schudlich (Dearborn, Michigan)

Curated by Cary Loren and Ryan Standfest

This exhibition, held at the Book Beat Gallery, showcases works on paper by ten artists who are contributors to the comics anthology BLACK EYE No. 1. The exhibition is meant to be a companion to the anthology, and the work presented here reflects a continuation of the sensibility presented in the pages of BLACK EYE, namely a focus on black and absurdist humor that sits uneasily on the border between what is funny and what is not.

The exhibition will have an OPENING EVENT ON SUNDAY, JUNE 5th, from 3 to 5pm, during which there will be a discussion concerning BLACK EYE and the nature of black humor, as well as a signing with some of the contributing artists present. A limited edition letterpress print by the artists Onsmith & Nudd will be available for purchase and for signing, along with copies of BLACK EYE.

Further information about BLACK EYE can be found at the Rotland Press + Comic Works site: http://rotlandpress.wordpress.com/

Black Eye was the subject of international controversy recently after the book was confiscated by Canadian border agents. Copies of the collection were being taken to a comics convention in Canada and agents considered it obscene material. Here is a link to the incident on the Comics Journal website.

Book Beat Reading group discussion: A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe


The next Reading Group meeting will be held on 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. 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

3 comments on “May News and Events
  1. I would like to purchase copies of Lincoln Lawyer and Fifth Witness from you. Could I do this ahead of time. Then come on April 14th to meet Mr. Connelly and get the signed? I would love to have signed copies

    Sheila Magyar

  2. Dear Sheila,

    Yes, you may call us anytime during store hours (Mon.-Fri. 10 AM-8 PM, Sat. 10 AM-7 PM, Sun 12 – 5 PM) and place the order over the phone, thank you. 248-968-1190

    Cary Loren c/o Book Beat

  3. Hello Book Beat – I will be sure to push the ‘Read in the Park’ event on May 1st on my site Night Light Revue. As always, it is of great importance to share the great run of literary events that are happening in and around the Detroit metro area.
    Thank you,
    Megan Shaffer
    Night Light Revue

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