Lisa's Book from aaron hughes on Vimeo.

Michael Largo: GOD'S LUNATICS: Lost Souls, False Prophets, Martyred Saints, Murderous Cults, Demonic Nuns, and Other Victims of Man's Eternal Search for the Divine.
Tuesday, June 22, 6pm
SCAD-Ivy Hall
Arm yourself with God's Lunatics before your next encounter with those who have been blinded by the light. Award-winning author Michael Largo, "the Capote of kaput" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution), chronicles history's vast and colorful cast of true believers—from the hidden side of the Bible's eccentric characters to today's street-corner doomsayers, and from extraterrestrial communicators, levitating hermits, and flagellating ascetics to self-serving preachers of overindulgence who believed money, sex, and drugs were the keys to the portal to divine understanding. In addition to the firewalkers, serpent handlers, cultists, terrorists, and alleged time travelers, God's Lunatics also reveals the dubious foundations of the world's major faiths and the many religious customs and laws that continue to influence governments and society, whether you are a believer or not.

Largo, dubbed "the Capote of kaput" by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and "the curator of death" by Esquire, for his irreverent books on human mortality, takes on religious fanaticism in his new release, God’s Lunatics: Lost Souls, False Prophets, Martyred Saints, Murderous Cults, Demonic Nuns, and Other Victims of Man's Eternal Search for the Divine. His latest work examines celebrated mystics, martyrs, wizards, shamans, cult leaders, founding fathers of Utopian experiments, victims of demonic possession and the originators of New Age movements.

Largo is also the author of Genius and Heroin, The Portable Obituary and the Bram Stoker Award-winning Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die.

Jane Green: PROMISES TO KEEP
Friday, June 25^th 7:15
Decatur Library
Jane Green, the bestselling author of 11 popular novels makes her first visit to the Center for the Book with a compelling new novel just right for summer reading, Promises to Keep. It’s the story of one remarkable summer in Maine when the lives of several families intersect, and what happens when you have to be your parent’s child long after you’ve grown up. The novel focuses on enduring love, building relationships and making touch decisions, the challenges we all have to face. Green has won acclaim for her novels which include such favorites as The Beach House, Babyville, Dune Road and Second Chance.

Callie Perry has a pretty perfect life. It may not be everyone’s idea of happiness – her husband spends more time travelling for his job as a commercials director than he does at home – but it works for her. It gives her time to work – she is a successful family photographer – and be around for her two kids, and her friends. She lives in Bedford, New York, is beloved by all who know her, and wakes up every morning grateful for how happy she is.

Her younger sister, Steffi, the baby of the family, has never grown up. In her early thirties and the epitome of a free spirit, she’s never held down a job, or a boyfriend, for longer than six months. Her latest incarnation is as a vegan chef. She’s living with the latest unsuitable man, in a sixth floor walk up in Soho, and her parents have almost given up hope that she’ll ever learn what it is to be responsible.

Lila Grossman is Callie’s best friend. Single, she’s finally met the man of her dreams. Ed has a son she adores, a crazy ex-wife she doesn’t, and she finally feels ready to settle down. If, that is, their goals are the same.

And then there are Callie and Steff’s parents. Walter and Honor . Divorced for almost thirty years, they haven’t spoken for most of that time. They may share two grown-up daughters, but it is agreed by all who knew them, they share little else.

Until they all receive a shocking phone call that changes their lives forever, and brings them all together one short, snowy winter.

Promises to Keep is about the hard choices we sometimes have to make; about having to be a child, long after you’ve grown up, and mostly, about the enduring nature of love.
(Jane gets a shout out mainly because she has a book called The Love Verb. We think all titles should have "Verb" in them.)

Dorothea Benton Frank: LOWCOUNTRY SUMMER: A Plantation Novel
Foxtale Book Shoppe
Woodstock GA
Saturday, June 26^th 6pm
Starred Review. Here's one for the Southern gals as well as Yankees who appreciate Frank's signature mix of sass, sex, and gargantuan personalities. In this long-time-coming sequel to Plantation, opinionated and family-centric Caroline Wimbly Levine has just turned 47, but she's less concerned with advancing middle age than she is with son Eric shacking up with an older single mom. She's also dealing with a drunk and disorderly sister-in-law, Frances Mae; four nieces from hell; grieving brother Tripp; a pig-farmer boyfriend with a weak heart; and a serious crush on the local sheriff. Then there's Caroline's dead-but-not-forgotten mother, Miss Lavinia, whose presence both guides and troubles Caroline as she tries to keep her unruly family intact and out of jail. With a sizable cast of minor characters with major attitude, Frank lovingly mixes a brew of personalities who deliver nonstop clashes, mysteries, meltdowns, and commentaries; below the always funny theatrics, however, is a compelling saga of loss and acceptance. When Frank nails it, she really nails it, and she does so here. (June)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

New York Times bestselling author of RETURN TO SULLIVANS ISLAND, BULLS ISLAND, THE CHRISTMAS PEARL, THE LAND OF MANGO SUNSETS and many others, has written the sequel to PLANTATION. When Caroline Wimbley Levine returned to Tall Pines Plantation, she never expected to make peace with long-buried truths about herself and her family. The Queen of Tall Pines, her late mother, was a force of nature, but now she is gone, leaving Caroline and the rest of the family uncertain of who will take her place. In the lush South Carolina countryside, old hurts, betrayals, and dark secrets will surface, and a new generation will rise along the banks of the Edisto River. In her novels, Frank, a native of the South, captures the beauty, atmosphere, characters and the eccentricities of life in this area.
(We love Dottie. She's a hoot and a half.)

Julie Andrews, has rescheduled forLittle Shop of Stories on Julie 9th, at 6pm. She cancelled back in May, and I may have said some things about her that Captain Von Trapp would not have approved of. Since she was kind enough to reschedule, I've decided to rename the entire month of July for her.
So go over to Little Shop and get in line for your tickets now--they'll be available on July 6th. You can camp out in front of the store. Guitar Red will serenade you every day, you can get all your meals at the Brick Store, which is opening early every day for World Cup, and also have a good claim on that bench for the Fireworks on the Fourth. Starbucks is right there--you can get your coffee every morning when they open. They only have two hundred tix, so you better get going. Hell, there are people lined up for their iPhone, and they had about 600,000 of those to sell. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I talked about Bruce Feiler on City Cafe today, but didn't include him in my notes below. Here's the release about his event tomorrow at Agnes Scott. I'll be doing a welcome, and dropping a few DBF hints as well. Come on out--Bruce is a great speaker.


AJC Decatur Book Festival to Host Bestselling author Bruce Feiler

Presser Hall at Agnes Scott College

May 25, 2010

Bruce Feiler

“The Council of Dads”

Bruce Feiler, the best-selling author of “The Council of Dads,” will speak at 7 p.m. May 25 at Presser Hall at Agnes Scott College in an event presented by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival (AJC DBF), and sponsored by DeKalb Medical.

Hosted by Agnes Scott College and the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, Feiler will be in town days after the publication of his latest book and an appearance on the Today Show.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to present Feiler and give readers in Decatur and metro Atlanta the chance to hear his story,” Daren Wang, Executive Director of the Festival, said.

The author of nine nonfiction books including “Walking the Bible,” “Abraham,” and “America's Prophet,” Feiler is one of only a handful of writers to have four consecutive New York Times nonfiction bestsellers in the last decade. He is also the writer/presenter of the PBS miniseries “Walking the Bible.”

Cheryl Iverson, Vice President of Business Development and Marketing at DeKalb Medical, said, “Presenting the actual Festival over Labor Day weekend has been quite rewarding, and having the chance to be involved with year-round AJC DBF events and wonderful authors such as Bruce Feiler is a tremendous opportunity.”

He was a young father when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2008. He instantly worried what his daughters’ lives would be like without him. “Would they wonder who I was? Would they wonder what I thought? Would they yearn for my approval, my love, my voice?”

Three days later he came up with a stirring idea of how he might give them that voice. He would reach out to six men from all the passages in his life, and ask them to be present in the passages in his daughters’ lives. And he would call this group “The Council of Dads.”

“I believe my daughters will have plenty of opportunities in their lives,” he wrote to these men. “They'll have loving families. They'll have each other. But they may not have me. They may not have their dad. Will you help be their dad?”

Feiler is a graduate of Yale and Cambridge Universities. He is a frequent contributor to NPR, CNN, and Fox News. The native of Savannah lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and twin daughters.

The AJC Decatur Book Festival will celebrate its fifth year of bringing a wide variety of authors and events to the Decatur Square Labor Day weekend, Sept. 3-5, 2010.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival Presented by DeKalb Medical is the largest independent book festival in the country and the fourth largest overall. In 2009, more than 300 authors and tens of thousands of festival goers crowded the historic downtown Decatur Square to enjoy book signings, author readings, panel discussions, an interactive children’s area, live music, parades, cooking demonstrations, poetry slams, writing workshops, and more. For more information visit www.decaturbookfestival.com.

The Decatur Book Festival is bringing Bruce Feiler to town on May 25th. He'll be at Agnes Scott College at 7pm at Presser Hall.

Bruce is a great speaker, and this is his most personal book:

Bruce Feiler was a young father when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2008. He instantly worried what his death might mean for his daughters. “Would they wonder who I was? Would they wonder what I thought? Would they lack for my approval, my discipline, my voice?”
Three days later he came up with a stirring idea of how he might give them that voice. He would reach out to six men, from all the passages in his life, and asked them to be present through the passages in his daughters’ lives. And he would call this group of men, “The Council of Dads.”
“I believe my daughters will have plenty of opportunities in their lives,” he wrote to these men. “They’ll have loving families. They’ll have welcoming homes. They’ll have each other. But they may not have me. They may not have their dad. Will you help be their dad?”
The Council of Dads is the inspiring story of what happened next. Mixing the harrowing tale of his treatment with the uplifting lessons of these men–“Approach the Cow,” “Pack Your Flip-Flops,” “Live the Questions,” “Harvest Miracles”–Feiler’s account is touching, funny, and ultimately a deeply moving account of parenthood, loss, and love.

I'm really looking forward to having Bruce here on campus--this should be a marvelous event.

Last week I posted a video showing a 2 1/2 year old acclimating herself to the iPad interface.
Turns out, you don't even need opposable thumbs to operate one of these things.

The Pulitzer's were announced today, and it's a pretty good list. Of all the DBF alums, who thought Kathleen Parker would be the one to win this year?
Here's the full list. They gave a special posthumous award to Hank Williams, just for being Hank, I guess. It's reassuring to know that the committee doesn't consider progeny when evaluating candidates. Are you ready for some football, err literary prizes?
Just an informational note. Here is where you find the Pulitzer nomination forms. That's all it takes--fill out the form, or if you are a person of humility, have someone do it for you. Go ahead, nominate me for this post. I'll cover any fee involved. If Stephen Colbert can get a space treadmill named after him, I'm gonna be a Pulitzer nominee.
To win is a great honor. To be a finalist is a great honor. But don't tell me about nominees. It's like listing one of those fake "Who's Who" listings in your resume.

Oops. Although Dot Moye sent the post along, it was originally written by Andrew Taylor on his excellent blog Artful Manager.

Dot Moye emailed a response to an earlier post, so I'm putting it up on the site.

What happens when there are more writers than readers?

AuthorJane Hamilton ask a rather probing question toward the end of her radio interview on To the Best of Our Knowledge. The question evolves from a conversation about the crowds of people who want to be writers, but who aren't well read -- and the loss of filters to discover and celebrate the true visionaries among them.

The leading character in Hamilton's most recent book, Laura Rider's Masterpiece , longs to write a romance novel but doesn't care to read. Says Hamilton in the interview:

I think it's kind of an angry book about this idea that we're all artists. So, what happens when there are more writers than there are readers? And how will the really talented young writers' voices bubble up through the gaseous murk of the blogosphere? How will they be heard? ...they probably will. I'm banking that they will. But I think it's going to be more difficult for those real writers to find their place.

There are glorious, democratizing forces at work when almost anyone can publish their thoughts to the world. But to me, the challenging byproduct of those benefits are what Hamilton describes. How do we make space in this instant publishing world for the truly remarkable voices -- in words, in song, in composition, in performance, in whatever? Particularly, how do we nurture those exceptional voices that need time and attention to grow?

This isn't a defense of the gatekeepers or editors/curators who ran the filters before the Internet, as that system had its flaws and foibles as well. But it's a call for the nonprofit and public arts to consider their part in answering that question.

The DBF is cohosting a book event with A Cappella Books and Agnes Scott in August that is going to be a real highlight of the year. I'm not saying who or what, but this custom made Martin D-44 will play a big part.
And yes, that is part of my music collection you see there.

Anne Lamott:
Imperfect Birds
Friday, April 9th
7 pm at First Baptist Church, Decatur

Anne Lamott, the renowned author of many bestselling fiction and nonfiction books including Traveling Mercies, Bird by Bird, and Grace: Thoughts on Faith , visits us with a tough and touching new novel, Imperfect Birds. "Heartbreaking and delightful, moving and hopeful, the novel reminds us how our children are connected to and independent of us, and that no matter how difficult our struggle is with them, love underlies it all and saves us. This novel captures the deepest, purest, most terrifying experience of parents fearing for their children. With great insight and humor, Anne Lamott shows us what it means these dangerous days to be a parent, what it means to be a child, and what it means to be a family.” Lamott’s graceful prose is sure to inspire the child, parent, and sibling in all of us.

Patricia Sprinkle:
Hold Up the Sky
Monday, April 12th
7:15 pm at Decatur Library Auditorium
Patricia Sprinkle is one of Atlanta's favorite mystery writers. Her titles include Death of a Dunwoody Matron, A Mystery Bred in Buckhead, Death on the Family Tree, and Who Let the Killer in the House?, and countless others. She shows us a different side of her artistry with her eagerly anticipated novel, Hold Up the Sky . It's a moving story of four women facing difficult challenges who come together on a drought-stricken Georgia farm to find strength and insights with each other. As they share their stories and their troubles, they discover that their true strength comes not in independence but in interdependence. “[A] portrait of friendship, love, and Southern gumption,” declares Birmingham magazine.

Lisa Tracy
Objects of Our Affection
Wednesday, April 7th
7:15 pm at Decatur Library Auditorium

Why do Americans have so much "stuff," and why do we hang on to it forever and ever? asks Lisa Tracy, author of fascinating titles such as Muddy Waters: The Legacy of Katrina and Rita , and The Gradual Vegetarian . She reveals the delightful answers in her compelling and surprisingly tender new book, Objects of Our Affection: Uncovering My Family's Past, One Chair, Pistol, and Pickle Fork at a Time . It's all about those things we keep, the heirlooms, and how we form stories about our things and what that means for generations of our family yet to come. “Plush stories of love, war, life and death are lovingly tucked inside the drawers and chair springs of a remarkable family’s furnishings. Lisa Tracy brings them to life with tender humor and due respect,” hails Tanya Maria Barrientos. You'll thoroughly enjoy this presentation about a subject close to all of us.