Monday, October 10, 6:30 pm
Boswell hosts an evening with actor Linda Stephens for a conversation about her memoir,
There Is No Backstage, a chronicle of a life lived in the theatre. In conversation with Mike Fischer, former drama and book critic for the
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Masks required for this event.
Linda Stephens recounts her remarkable five decades in the theatre with her new memoir. Stephen’s book offers a journey of openness, humility and depth through her award-winning career until the book's poignant finale. Stephens weaves a narrative of family, love, aging, hard work and hard-earned life lessons to offer an open-hearted, honest look at what it means to dedicate a life to a profession that demands so much and can give back so little. Yet when it does give back, it can change lives forever.
Stephens offers the an unflinching look at her personal journey on the professional stage, from dinner theatre to regional theatre to Broadway, revealing the struggles, triumphs, losses, and above all, the ultimate grace found in a life in the theatre.
Linda Stephens has been acting on stages for fifty years and has been awarded for her work in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami and DC. She's appeared on Broadway and Off, in dozens of regional theatres across the country, and has worked with Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and Stephen Sondheim. Stephens lives in Milwaukee.
Tuesday, October 11, 2 pm
Readings from Oconomowaukee presents its October edition featuring Joanna Quinn, who joins us virtually from the UK for a conversation about The Whalebone Theatre. Her irresistible debut novel takes its heroine from the gargantuan cavity of a beached whale into undercover operations during World War II and tells a story of love, bravery, lost innocence, and self-transformation. The Whalebone Theatre is the current Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club selection.
One blustery night in 1928, a whale washes up on the shores of the English Channel. By law, it belongs to the King, but twelve-year-old orphan Cristabel Seagrave has other plans. She and the rest of the household - her sister Flossie, her brother Digby (the long-awaited heir to Chilcombe manor), kitchen maid Maudie Kitcat, and visiting artist Taras - build a theatre from the beast’s skeletal rib cage. Within the Whalebone Theatre, Cristabel can escape her feckless stepparents and brisk governesses, and her imagination comes to life. As Cristabel grows into a headstrong young woman and World War II rears its head, she and Digby become British secret agents in Nazi-occupied France - a more dangerous kind of playacting, it turns out, and one that threatens to tear the family apart.
Early praise from Sarah Winman, author of Still Life: "The Whalebone Theatre has all the makings of a classic. And Cristabel Seagrave is the most gratifying hero. The war scenes often left me breathless: they are as good as you will ever read. A wonderful debut. Actually, a tour de force." And from Rebecca Stott, author of Ghostwalk: "Magnificent. As capacious, surprising and magical as the whale that lends its bones to Cristabel’s theatre: a tale of intertwined lives and braided fates as deftly managed and heartbreaking as a Dickens novel."
Joanna Quinn was born in London and grew up in Dorset, in the southwest of England, where The Whalebone Theatre, is set. She has worked in journalism and the charity sector. Her writing has been published by The White Review and Comma Press, among others. She teaches creative writing.
Wednesday, October 12, 6:30 pm
Boswell hosts Nick Marx, Associate Professor at CSU, for an event featuring That’s Not Funny, the new book that he’s coauthored which focuses on the emergence of right-wing comedy and the political power of humor. Vulture calls it one of the Best Comedy Books of 2022.
Why is there no right-wing Jon Stewart? Questions like this launch a million tweets, a thousand op-eds, and more than a few scholarly analyses.
That's Not Funny argues that it is both an intellectual and politically strategic mistake to assume that comedy has a liberal bias. Right-wing comedy has been hiding in plain sight, finding its way into mainstream conservative media through figures ranging from Fox News's Greg Gutfeld to libertarian podcasters like Joe Rogan.
That's Not Funny taps interviews with conservative comedians and observations of them in action to guide readers through media history, text, and technique. You may find many of these comedians appalling, some very funny, and others just plain weird. They are all, however, culturally and politically relevant as the American right attempts to seize spaces of comedy and irony previously held firmly by the left. Like this brand of humor or not, you can't ignore it.
Nick Marx is Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies in the Department of Communication Studies at Colorado State University.
Thursday, October 13, 6:30 pm
Journalist and Wisconsin native Kathleen Hale visits Boswell for a presentation about her new book, Slenderman, the first full and authoritative account of the 2014 Slenderman stabbing in Waukesha. This true crime narrative offers a full picture of the tragic event and the influences of mental illness, the American judicial system, the trials of adolescence, and the power of the internet.
On May 31, 2014 in Waukesha, two twelve-year-old girls attempted to stab their classmate to death. Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier’s violence was extreme, but what seemed even more frightening was that they committed their crime under the influence of a figure born by the internet: the so-called 'Slenderman.' Yet the even more urgent aspect of the story, that the children involved suffered from undiagnosed mental illnesses, often went overlooked in coverage of the case. For the first time, Hale tells the full story for the first time in deeply researched detail, using court transcripts, police reports, individual reporting, and exclusive interviews.
Early praise from Boswellians has arrived. From Chris Lee: "Slenderman is a perfect example of true crime writing at its best. It’s a horrible incident, yes, but native Wisconsinite Hale, with a sensitive and fact-oriented eye, cuts through the slogans attached to the case (Internet Evil! Adult Crime, Adult Time!) to understand the ties between mental illness, Midwestern stoicism, violence, and reactionary impulses." And from Parker Jensen: "Because the true facts of the case were blurred, fumbled, and outright ignored, the idea of two 12-year-old girls committing such a violent crime all in the name of an internet boogeyman is confusing and downright disconcerting. But that was never the full story. Hale's telling is extremely comprehensive, well researched, and compellingly written. Told with facts and not sensationalism in mind, Slenderman is the best true crime book I've read in years."
Kathleen Hale is author of the essay collection Kathleen Hale Is a Crazy Stalker as well as two young adult novels. She has written for the Guardian, Hazlitt, and Vice, and is a writer and producer for Outer Banks on Netflix. She was born in Wisconsin and lives in Los Angeles.
Thursday, October 13, 7 pm
Boswell teams up with a number of independent bookstores in the country to present a Random House Studio Sessions event featuring bestselling author an Whole30 creator Melissa Urban, who will chat about her latest project, The Book of Boundaries, with Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project.
Tickets for this virtual event cost $29.54 plus ticket fee and include access to this virtual event plus a copy of
The Book of Boundaries, available for pickup at Boswell beginning Tuesday, October 11. You can also upgrade to have your book shipped to you via USPS Media Mail for $5 more to US addresses - this includes Alaska and Hawaii, but it could take forever.
Set the limits that will set you free. Urban’s latest work is a straightforward and compassionate guide to setting the boundaries that will revolutionize your relationships. How often do you tell yourself to just 'let it go' when you want to do anything but? Do you say "it’s fine' when it’s really anything but? Do you feel resentful, depleted, or overwhelmed? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need to establish some boundaries.
Lifestyle influencer praise is rolling in for this one! From Lori Gottlieb, author of
Maybe You Should Talk To Someone: "I always tell my therapy patients that boundaries create trust, comfort, and safety in a relationship, but many people struggle with how to effectively communicate what they need. In
The Book of Boundaries, Melissa Urban helps you identify your boundary needs, offers actionable scripts on what to say, and shares proven tips based on a decade of experience helping people live more freely by holding their limits with confidence." And from
The 5 Second Rule author Mel Robbins: "
The Book of Boundaries is funny, direct, and smart, bringing you actionable tools and science-backed strategies for setting boundaries using language that feels kind, natural, and empowering. Melissa’s straightforward scripts and practical tips makes it easy to identify your limits and communicate them with confidence, so you can start putting yourself first and create a life that feels bigger, freer, and more authentically YOU."
Melissa Urban is CEO of the Whole30, a New York Times bestselling author, and has been featured by Good Morning America, The New York Times, and CNBC.
Thursday, October 13, 7 pm
UWM’s Creative Writing Program Visiting Writers Series presents a program featuring Phong Nguyen, a UWM PhD graduate and author of Bronze Drum, a gripping historical adventure set in ancient Vietnam based on the true story of two warrior sisters who raised an army of women to overthrow the Han Chinese and rule as kings over a united people, for readers of Circe and The Night Tiger.
This event will also be broadcast virtually, and you can
register for that broadcast on the UWM website, too. Be sure to order a copy of
Bronze Drum, as well. Boswell will be on hand at the 7 pm event to sell copies.
Vivid, lyrical, and filled with adventure, Bronze Drum is a true story of standing up for one's people, culture, and country that has been passed down through generations of Vietnamese families through oral tradition. Phong Nguyen's breathtaking novel takes these real women out of legends and celebrates their loves, losses, and resilience in this inspirational story of women's strength and power even in the face of the greatest obstacles.
From Wisconsin author Christina Clancy: "Girl Power’ may have originated with the Trung sisters who fought for Vietnamese independence in 40 CE. Phong Nguyen enlivens this historical moment in Bronze Drum, a sweeping and imaginative account of their efforts to form an army of women to fight for and preserve their freedom. This fast-paced novel features palace intrigue, sex, deception, scholarship, bravery, love, honor, magic and power. Nguyen has the rare ability to render events that happened long ago in a way that fells contemporary and even timely. I'm in awe of his storytelling powers and was captivated from the first page to the last."
Phong Nguyen is author of Roundabout: An Improvisational Fiction, The Adventures of Joe Harper, and Pages from the Textbook of Alternate History. He is the Miller Family Endowed Chair in Literature and Writing at the University of Missouri.
Friday, October 14, 6:30 pm
Boswell hosts an evening with photographer and documentarian Dennis Darmek for his new book, Crossing the DMZ, which attempts to use art to measure the immeasurable tragedy of the war in Vietnam, which affected the lives of millions of people both here in the US and throughout Southeast Asia.
In his new book,
Crossing the DMZ, Dennis Darmek focuses on a small group of US Marines, mostly teenagers, who volunteered to fight and ended up with their names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, DC. In a collaboration between past and present, Vietnamese who live where the battles were fought pose with photos of those Marines. Darmek’s work merges new photos with military archives, stories, and the emotional terrain of our Vietnam memories.
Photographer Larry Schwarm praises Darmek’s work thusly: "Crossing the DMZ falls in that interesting area between art and journalism - it’s both. It is beautiful and heartbreaking." And from artist Suzanne Rose: "Utterly poetic… a path past pain to beauty."
Dennis Darmek is a photographer, video artist, and documentarian, and his work has been featured on PBS and European television as well as in museums and galleries around the world, including the Milwaukee Art Museum, The Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, and the Museum of Wisconsin Art.
Boswell Book Company teams up again with Porchlight Book Company to present a virtual event featuring MIT Professor of Philosophy and author Kieran Setiya for a conversation about his philosophical new guide to facing life's inevitable hardships. In conversation with Sally Haldorson, Porchlight’s Managing Director.
There is no cure for the human condition: life is hard. But Kieran Setiya believes philosophy can help. He offers us a map for navigating rough terrain, from personal trauma to the injustice and absurdity of the world. Drawing on ancient and modern philosophy as well as fiction, history, memoir, film, comedy, social science, and stories from Setiya’s own experience, Life Is Hard is a book for this moment, a work of solace and compassion.
Setiya’s book is great for fans of Atomic Habits. Daniel H Pink, author of Drive, says: "Kieran Setiya has produced the ultimate handbook of hardship. He shows why adversity is inevitable - and why facing up to that reality, rather than insisting on simple-minded notions of happiness, offers the only path to living well." And from Louis Menand, author of The Metaphysical Club: "Finding wisdom in Aristotle, Wittgenstein, and Simone Weil, and also in Dostoevsky, Emily Dickinson, and Groundhog Day, this book offers guidance on how to make the most of the hand we have all been dealt."
Kieran Setiya is Professor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author Midlife: A Philosophical Guide. His writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, The New York Times, and The Yale Review.
Elm Grove Public Library hosts an evening of conversation with Milwaukee-area native Andrea Bartz, author of the Reese’s Book Club pick We Were Never Here, in which a backpacking trip leads to deadly consequences across three continents as the story traverses Cambodia, Chile, and Wisconsin. In conversation with Noah Weckwerth of Elm Grove Public Library and cosponsored by Boswell Book Company.
Emily is having the time of her life in the mountains of Chile with her best friend, Kristen, on their annual reunion trip. But on the last night of the trip, Emily enters their hotel suite to find blood and broken glass on the floor. Kristen says the cute backpacker she brought back to the room attacked her, and she had no choice but to kill him in self-defense. Even more shocking: The scene is horrifyingly similar to last year's trip, when another backpacker wound up dead. Emily can't believe it's happened again - can lightning really strike twice? Emily returns home to Wisconsin, dives head-first into a new relationship, and throws herself into work. But when Kristen shows up for a surprise visit, Emily is forced to confront their violent past.
From Sarah Weinman, writing for The New York Times Book Review: "A book that skillfully examines toxic friendship at its most extreme... When the reckoning arrives, it shows that sometimes, we should fear our friends a lot more than strangers." And from NPR: "Beneath the thrilling cliffhangers and impeccably paced plot lies a very sharp portrait of female friendship and how magical and intense it can be."
Andrea Bartz is the bestselling author of the thrillers The Lost Night and The Herd. Her writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, and Elle, and she has held editorial positions at Glamour, Psychology Today, and Self, among other publications.
Photo credits
Joanna Quinn by Nancy Turner
Kathleen Hale by Melissa Schaefers
Melissa Urban by Brandon Talbot
Gretchen Rubin by Elena Seibert
Kieran Setiya by Caspar Hare
Andrea Bartz by Bill Wadman
