Presenting Your Boswell Events, Week of July 9-15, 2012...Sheila Kohler, Alexandra Fuller with MItch Teich, Patrick Somerville and Dean Bakopoulos.

Events are back after a short break. Since we've discussed all three in these pages already, I thought I'd put together a few links to further whet your appetite.

Monday, July 9, 2012, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Sheila Kohler, author of The Bay of Foxes, Becoming Jane Eyre, and Cracks.

--Christopher Benfey reviews Becoming Jane Eyre in The New York Times, imagining how exactly a fictional character gets imagined in an author's eye. Hey, that ties into some of the themes of the new novel!

--Ron Charles in the Washington Post, also on Becoming Jane Eyre: "If you know Jane Eyre and love it, don't deny yourself the pleasure of this intense little companion book."

--Kirkus on Cracks: "First-rate psychological suspense, in the tradition of The Children’s Hour, played out flawlessly and well by a real master of narrative?

--And Largehearted Boy gets a music playlist that ties into her last novel, Love Child.

--Too early for trade reviews on the new book. Shelf Awareness had an advance review, but it's more of a plot summary.

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Tuesday, July 10, 2012, at Boswell:
Alexandra Fuller, author of Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, and The Legend of Colton H. Bryant.

--Daneet Steffans in the Independent (a British paper) not only gives the new memoir a good write up, but notes that the last two books (including Scribbling the Cat) were terrific books of reportage.

Judy Bolton-Fasman reports in the Boston Globe that "Fuller brilliantly captures her mother" in the new memoir.

--The Toronto Globe and Mail's Rachel Pulfer praises the "vivid, fast-paced sketch of the twilight of Empire, animated by a cast of deeply compelling characters" though it must be said that she sometimes finds the book self-indulgent.

--And just to jump-start your memory, here's a taste of Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, with its A from Entertainment Weekly.

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Wednesday, July 11, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Patrick Somerville, author of This Bright River and Cradle
along with
Dean Bakopoulos, author of My American Unhappiness.

--Anthony Bukoski in the Star Tribune of Minneapolis: "For some readers, the novel may develop slowly as Somerville prepares us for the surprises in the book's second half. Readers shouldn't be discouraged. This is a fine book that will advance the author's already impressive career."

--Tobias Carroll in Time Out New York: "This Bright River is propulsive and thought-provoking, from its unorthodox family dynamics to the sometimes paradoxical messages it imparts." (Four out of five stars)

--And Joseph Peschel in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: This Bright River is a serious and beautiful book about rebuilding broken lives that Somerville has disguised as entertainment."

And for My American Unhappiness, now in paperback, a trip to 2011 in the wayback machine offers more links.

--An essay by Bakopoulos on why he teaches "Love Actually" in fiction courses, plus a book club guide.
--Margaret Wappler in the Los Angeles Times: " a fresh-spirited, timely satire crossed with '70s-style sexual comedy."

--Ted Gioia in the Dallas Morning News likes the romcom part of the book more than the unhappiness catalog, noting he "effectively mixes dark humor with a zany momentum that draws the reader deeper into the book. A subplot about Zeke’s decision to pursue four potential wives — a neighbor, a co-worker, a Starbucks barista and filmmaker Sofia Coppola — is very funny. During these interludes, you can imagine this book turning into a wry movie romantic comedy, perhaps directed by Coppola herself."

--And finally, Dean's author notes about the book, and why the book feels incomplete because Mark Gates never got to read it.