What's Going on This Week at Boswell, April 22-28, 2012?

Tonight is World Book Night. We didn't schedule events because we figured that many of our good customers would be off placing books in the hands of reluctant readers.

About World Book Night, Sherman Alexie, author of the World Book Night U.S. 2012 pick The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, said: “This is a celebration of the individual book and the individual reader. I am honored to take part.” And, also a World Book Night U.S. author, for her book Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo added: “It makes perfect sense to me that World Book Night will take place in spring. Extending your hand to give someone a book, a story, is a gesture of hope and joy. It is a chance for all of us, givers and receivers, to break into blossom.” Michael Pink, artistic director of

Tuesday, April 24, 7 pm
Milwaukee Ballet, presents Dialogue for Dance: Peter Pan

Join us in a free talk with Michael Pink, artistic director of Milwaukee Ballet, about his most recently acclaimed work. Peter Pan took five years to create through the collaboration of a renowned production team, resulting in an adventure beyond our wildest dreams. In addition to Pink’s brilliant choreography on stage and in the air, this production includes Judanna Lynn’s illuminating costumes, David Grill’s magical lighting tricks, Philip Feeney’s lively score, and enchanting scenic design by Rick Graham from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Ballet's production of Peter Pan runs May 10-13.

Wednesday, April 25, 7 pm
Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, and author of The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them.

In America, we have more than 170 million dogs and cats in our homes, and there are 70 million wildlife watchers. Together these animal lovers spend more than $100 billion a year on pets and wildlife. The Bond looks at the the biological, social, and political underpinnings of the human–animal bond, and examines our newfound understanding of animals and their emotional and cognitive capacities.

Thursday, April 26, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Ethan Casey, author of Bearing the Bruise: A Life Graced by Haiti.

“In Bearing the Bruise, Ethan Casey offers up a heartfelt account of his travels in Haiti. As an eyewitness, Casey gives readers an informed perspective on many of the political and social complexities that vex those who seek to make common cause with Haiti, our oldest neighbor, as it seeks to emerge from decades of strife and one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent history.” —Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health.

Friday, April 27, 7:00 pm
Marie-Elizabeth Mali, author of Steady, My Gaze, and co-editor of the Everyman’s Library anthology, Villanelles, appearing with Paul Scot August, and Villanelles contributors Kate Sontag, Marilyn L. Taylor, and Lisa Vihos

Celebrate Poetry Month with a flock of poets from far and near as Marie-Elizabeth Mali and friends appear at Boswell to read from various collections.Mali is doing double duty here--Steady, My Gaze is a collection of her own work, while Villanelles is a new anthology from the Pocket Everyman's Library. It features a comprehensive collection of the best of the villanelle, a delightful poetic form whose popularity ranks only behind that of the sonnet and the haiku.

'Wholehearted' is an undervalued word; to my mind it means not blind enthusiasm or unthinking embrace but something more like the full consent of the self to experience, to be present in the glorious and wounding matrix of the here and now. I can't think of a better word for Marie-Elizabeth Mali's poems" —Mark Doty About Steady, My Gaze

Several of these books are not in the Ingram database. You can always email us if you want to get a copy signed. And my apologies for copying a lot of press material this week. The new version of Blogger is behaving in a very wonk-like fashion.