Monday, April 9, 2012

A Whole Lot is Shaking at Boswell This Week, Plus I Can't Stop Singing the Skiddley Whiffers Song

We've got a whole mess of events this week!

Tonight, Monday, April 9, 7 pm, we're hosting Michelle Dammon Loyalka for her book about Chinese peasants, Eating Bitterness: Stories from the Front Lines of China's Great Urban Migration. Congrats to Loyalka, who has a print story in today's San Francisco Chronicle. It looks like it will appear online sometime tomorrow. And here's her interview with The China Beat.

On Tuesday, April 10, we're actually involved in two events. At Boswell at 7 pm, Jeffrey Gusfield, author of Deadly Valentines: The Story of Capone's Henchman "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn and Louise Rolfe, His Blonde Alibi will be speaking at Boswell.  The book was the Book Preview pick of the Shepherd Express this week. We've had several folks buy the book with an interest in Al Capone, and at least one who was obsessed with Jack McGurn. Who knew?

At the same time, (Tuesday, April 10, 7 pm), we're selling books for the Urban Ecology Center, where birdwatcher Steve Betchkal will speak about his book, Make Birds, Not War. More on his website. The Urban Ecology Center is located at 1500 E. Park Place. The event is free for members, and $5 for nonmembers. They also like folks to call to register--the number is (414) 964-8505.

Sacré Bleu, could it already be almost time for Christopher Moore? In fact, he is coming on Wednesday, April 11, 7 pm for Sacré Bleu, his new book set in 19th century France that I have already gone on quite a bit about.  If you don't live in Milwaukee, Moore's traveling around quite a bit. Here's the rest of his tour stops. Note that some are ticketed, but ours is not. Come early, however, for a good seat.

4/9/2012 San Diego
7:00 PM Mysterious Galaxy
7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92111

4/10/2012 Dallas
7:30 PM Dallas Museum of Art [tickets]
1717 N. Harwood Street, Dallas, TX 75214

4/11/2012 Milwaukee
7:00 PM Boswell Books (hey, that's us)
2559 Downer Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53211

4/12/2012 Brookline
6:00 PM Brookline Booksmith @Coolidge Theater
290 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA 02446

4/14/2012 Toronto
2:00 pm,  Chapters
142 John Street, Toronto, ON, M5V 2E9

4/15/2012 Chicago
2:00 pm, Anderson's Bookshop Naperville
123 W. Jefferson Ave., Naperville, IL 60540

4/16/2012 Washington
7:00 pm, Politics & Prose
5015 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20008

4/17/2012 West Chester
7:00 pm, Chester County Book Company
975 Paoli Pike, West Chester, PA 19380

4/18/2012 New York
7:00 pm, Barnes & Noble Union Square
33 East 17th Street, New York, NY 10003

4/20/2012 Petaluma
7:00 pm, Copperfield´s Books
140 Kentucky Street, Petaluma, CA 94952

4/24/2012 Menlo Park
7:00 pm,  Kepler´s Books
1010 El Camino Real , Menlo Park, CA 94025

4/25 South Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
7:00 pm,  Indigo South Edmonton
1837 99th Street NW, Edmonton, AB T6N 1K8

4/28/2012 Pasadena
5:00 pm,  Vroman´s Bookstore
695 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91101

4/29/2012 Huntington Beach
3:00 pm,  Barnes & Noble
7881 Edinger Ave, Huntington Beach, CA 92647

And here's a great interview from Catherine Ryan Hyde. Take a look at some of the rejected covers!

Back to Milwaukee. On Thursday, April 12, it's time for Trenton Lee Stewart, author of The Mysterious Benedict Society and his new book, The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict. He'll be at Boswell at 7 pm, and we have buttons and other treats for attendees.

The Mysterious Benedict Society is the featured pick of NPR's Backseat Book Club. If you can't come to our event, you can send your questions to NPR for Stewart to answer. But honestly, wouldn't it be a lot easier for you to just come to our event and ask him directly?

After a very pleasant Easter day working at Boswell (with visits from not one, but two different Rebeccas), I spent Sunday evening reading Alison Hagy's Boleto, an upcoming novel that Stacie has been championing (and yes, we have an event with the author, in June). More on that later. But than I got distracted, by becoming obsessed with yet another Phineas and Ferb song, this one a jingle for the game Skiddley Whiffers.



Skiddley Whiffers is a delightful game that reminds me much of Ideal's Mouse Trap. The company that makes it, Whiff-o!, is obviously a play on Wham-o. But the song, which utilizes to of the all-time greatest emotionally compelling sounds (hand clapping and bell ringing), seemed like a direct play on a jingle from my childhood. And it had to be from Milton Bradley. I started watching several of their old ads. I hoped beyond hope that I'd find the Easy Money song, and here it is, in a medey with Racko.



That's enough fun for me. Hope to see you at one of this week's events.

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