Norman Rockwell’s painting Freedom From Want (1943) has long been a subject of parody and controversy.
Dear Book Friends,
The late Congressman John R. Lewis wrote in his memoir: Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America: “Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge… Freedom is not a state; it is an act.” Our past election on November 4th was a united action and blue wave that will hopefully begin chipping away at the cruelty and perversion of justice the current government in the USA has been persuing.
A recent signing at Book Beat for Lori Goldman’s Fear, Fortitude and the Future brought a full house of supporters. This founder of Fems for Dem’s has been organizing locally and nationally since 2016. Goldman’s new book tells the story of her pathway to activism and how we each can become leaders of progressive causes and solutions.
Poet Ken Mikolowski reading at Book Suey
Kudos to our comrades at Book Suey in Hamtramck who have continued their “Road Trip” series bringing local poetry to the community. It was a pleasure to catch the legendary Ken Mikolowski, founder of the esteemed Alternative Press reading some of his Koan inspired language poems. “It’s okay to laugh,” Ken intoned. Also looking forward to Dispatches from the Avant-Garage by Rebecca Kosick, an academic history of the Alternative press coming in March 2026 from WSU Press.
This Sunday from 2-3:30 pm, meet debut author Amanda Uhle in conversation with radio host Martin Bandyke at the Huntington Woods Library.
Sunday, Nov. 16: Amanda Uhle at the Huntington Woods Library
Reviewer Tom Bowden presents a 65th installment of “i arrogantly recommend…” his unique column of small press book reviews. Stay tuned! The 66th column will be mailed along with our holiday gift guide in late November.
Book Beat co-founder Cary Loren had a busy Halloween weekend which began with opening the Detroit Public Library exhibition Noise, Vision & Ruin with a live Monster Island performance on October 31st, featuring DAM bandmate vocalist & artist Jim Shaw, and on November 1st, Mythic Chaos: 50 Years of Destroy All Monsters opened at the Cranbrook Art Museum. Later that same evening at the MOCAD Gala, Loren, as one of the honored guests, noted in a speech that the support of the late Julie Taubman was essential in producing some of MOCAD’s best-loved exhibitions and projects. Julie was a visionary devoted to art and the betterment of our community. To quote Catherine de’ Medici, a Florentine Queen of France in the 16th century, “Great art depends on great patronage.” [See a gallery of photos below of the two exhibitions, and other local happenings.]
As the trees grow bare and the evenings lengthen, we turn again to recent art and photography books that carry light through the darkness. Here are recent and upcoming books to preview from our affiliate page on Bookshop.org:
This month, the Sub-Rosa group is reading the overlooked feminist and dystopian masterwork The Wall by the late Austrian author Marlen Haushofer and our books-in-translation group is reading the recently discovered and translated gem The Passenger written in 1938. Books are available and discounted 15% in store. Note: both groups are meeting in December due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Author, scientist and artist Barrett Klein presenting The Insect Epiphony.
Barrett Klein and Tracy Gallup stopped by last month to present and sign their new books. Both are excellent gift choices for the holiday season.
Destroy All Merch! For the DAM 50th Anniversary we’ve produced 50 new sets of the “Vampire edition” of DAM trading cards, with photos, stickers, postcards and buttons contained in a spray-painted bat box!
Two new Sun Ra quoted letterpress posters were sponsored by the DAM anniversary and created by Amos Paul Kennedy Jr., Citizen Printer. Also available, are a new limited run of thrift-store DAM double-sided tee-shirts,screen printed at ESP in Detroit. Buy ’em cheap before the tee-shirt speculators swoop in. Some items are also available at the Cranbrook Museum gift shop.
We’re sorry for the lateness of our newsletter. We’ve been a bit stretched and appreciate your patience and support, thank you! Wishing everyone and their family a happy peaceful November.
~Cary, Colleen and the Book Beat staff
A gallery of sights around town and at Book Beat:
BOOK BEAT HOURS, CONTACT AND ORDERING INFO
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• Shop a curated selection of signed books, art, out-of-print rarities, and local authors at our always open online Book Beat Gallery.
• Audiobooks purchased at Libro.fm will help support Book Beat, thank you!
“I read the way a person might swim, to save his or her life. I wrote that way too.”
–Mary Oliver