Monday Event Post--Chuck Klosterman, Tom Haudricourt, Greg Pearson, Dave Heller, Ashok Bedi, Lisa Lutz, Plus Jamie Swenson at the Cudahy Family Library.

Monday, July 15, 7 pm:
All Star Break Baseball Night featuring:
--Tom Haudricourt, author of 100 Things Brewers Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die,
--Greg Pearson, author of Fenway Fanatics:50 Boston Red Sox Fans Tell Their Stories,
--Dave Heller, author of Facing Ted Williams: Players from the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived.

Longtime Journal Sentinel Brewers reporter Haudricourt reveals the most critical moments and important facts about past and present players, coaches, and teams that are part of the storied history that is Brewers baseball in 100 Things Brewers Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die. Scattered throughout the pages, you’ll find pep talks, records, and Brewers lore to test your knowledge, including the origins of Bob Uecker’s famous homerun call, the roller-coaster ride that was “Team Streak” and the back story of the famous “Sweep Suits.” Whether you’re a die-hard fan from the days of Harvey Kuenn and Paul Molitor or a new supporter of Ron Roenicke and Ryan Braun, this book contains everything Brewers fans should know, see and do in their lifetime.

In Fenway Fanatics, Red Sox fans share their memories about family trips to Fenway, heartbreaking losses and the ultimate redemption. Journal Sentinel copy editor Greg Pearson tells the stories of more than 50 Red Sox fans, capturing their love and devotion for a team that has always made life interesting. Some of the contributors are well known: Jim Calhoun, retired basketball coach at the University of Connecticut; E.J. Dionne, columnist with The Washington Post and political commentator for NPR and MSNBC; and Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart. There’s even a chapter on the granddaughter of Babe Ruth. Others are just regular folk like the fellow who built a scale model of Fenway on his lawn, or the gal who had folks wear Red Sox gear to her wake. What they have in common, however, is pure passion and a good story.

Facing Ted Williams lets readers stand in the cleats of Williams’ rival players. This unusual biography from Fox Sports Wisconsin digital content manager Dave Heller showcases the devastating moments when players faced Williams—the 19-time All-Star, two-time MVP, winner of the Triple Crown, and inductee into the National Baseball Hall of Fame—from across the field. Testimonials are penned with wit, insight, and nostalgia for baseball’s golden age, and are accompanied by game-day stats that highlight each nerve-wracking match up. Whether you’re an admirer of Williams, a Red Sox fanatic, or just a casual baseball fan, contributors’ fresh, compelling look at the slugger is sure to be a home run for all.

Wednesday, July 17, 7 pm:
Ashak Bedi, author of Crossing the Healing Zone: From Illness to Wellness.

Ashok Bedi, M.D. is a Jungian psychoanalyst and a board-certified psychiatrist who is a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists of Great Britain, a diplomat in Psychological Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of England, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He is also Clinical Professor in Psychiatry at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, serves as president of the Carl G. Jung Institute of Chicago, and is in private practice in Milwaukee. He is the president of the USA India Jung Foundation and the liaison for the International Association for Analytical Psychology (IAAP) for developing Jungian training programs in India.

Crossing the Healing Zone advances new concepts of the emerging frontiers of integrative medicine, bringing together Eastern and Western healing traditions while merging body, mind, and spirit through a uniquely Jungian perspective. The healing journey as described by Dr. Bedi is guided by archetypes and myths, active imagination, dreams and synchronicities, and the neuroplastic mysteries of our complex physical reality. Dr. Bedi outlines how to work with psychological and soul processes in overcoming illness, and offers practical techniques for readers to access and engage their own Healing Zones as they journey toward personal wellness and radiant health.

Thursday, July 18, 6:30, at Cudahy Family Library, 3500 Library Drive, just south of Layton Avenue, 53110. Contact (414) 769-2244 for more information.
Jamie Swenson, author of Boom! Boom! Boom!

FLASH! CRASH! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

One rainy night, in the midst of a storm,

A brave little boy is cozy and warm.

He’s all snuggled up, safe in his room—

When “ARROOO” howls dog, “is there room?”

Of course there’s room—and all is well—

Until . . .

FLASH! CRASH! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

What happens when too many friends start to squish in?

That’s when the fun is sure to begin!

Even the youngest of readers are invited to count along as each of the family pets seeks refuge from the thunder and lightning in this lively and adorable picture book about bedtime, fears, and friendship. Wisconsins's own Jamie A. Swenson os a librarian who received her MFA in writing from Hamline University.

Thursday, July 18, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Chuck Klosterman, author of I Wear the Black Hat: Grapping with Villains (Real and Imagined).

The tour has begun for Klosterman, and last week I got a call from our friend Elizabeth who told me the first two dates on the tour ha sold out of books. We went back for some just-in-case copies. I should also note that for this tour, we're really the only stop between Boulder, Colorado, and Toronto, Ontario, so if you have friends in the Chicago or Madison area, just to name two fairly good sized metro areas near us, and they are Klosterman fans, tell them this is their only chance on this tour.

From my rec: "One of the great things about Chuck Klosterman is that in one argument he can jump from quoting philosophers to recounting sports stats, from analyzing politics to rap lyrics. In I Wear the Black Hat, he puts all his knowledge base to work, looking at what exactly makes a villain villainous. Who was the biggest villain of the 2012 elections? We understand the hatred for serial killers and Hitler (way more than Stalin and Mao, who killed way more people) but why exactly have so many of us hated The Eagles and Kareem Abdu-Jabbar? Why will Andrew Dice Clay never have a shift to groundbreaking comedian the way of so many other polarizing comics? And why would Batman be perceived more as a villain than a hero if he were real? You can understand why Klosterman was picked to take over 'The Ethicist' column in The New York Times after reading this book. My head still spins from his insightful and entertaining combination of moral arguments, cultural awareness, and self-reflection."

Here's a fascinating interview with Dan Hyman in Rolling Stone, wandering through the pop culture landscape, with James Gandolfino's passing as a jumping-off point.

While I don't think of Chuck Klosterman fans being Project Runway watchers, I only learned last week that tonight was the debut of the new season, and that not one but two Milwaukeeans were among the contestants (and though one is now listing New York as her residence, you can see that Miranda Levy's contestant video was shot in Shorewood, across the street from the old Schwartz Bookshop. Timothy Westbrook's video, on the other hand, is partly shot across the street from the apartment where I lived for twenty years.) It strikes me that you'd think the producers would want t spread out the contestants geographically, to improve viewership. But don't ask me, I'm just a bookseller, albeit one who is happy for DVR technology.

Here's a link to last week's post on I Wear the Black Hat.

Friday, July 19, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Lisa Lutz, author of The Last Word.

Lisa Lutz is the author of The New York Times bestselling, Edgar Award- and Macavity Award-nominated, and Alex Award-winning Spellman series. She is also the coauthor of Heads You Lose, written with David Hayward. She lives and works in upstate New York.

Isabel “Izzy” Spellman, PI, is used to being followed, extorted, and questioned by her own family—all occupational hazards of working at Spellman Investigations, her family’s detective agency. It seemed that her fellow Spellmans’ vigilance would dissipate after Izzy was fired for breaching client confidentiality, but then Izzy avenged her dismissal by staging a hostile takeover of the company.

But, Izzy's troubles are just beginning. After her takeover of Spellman Investigations, her employees are the furthest thing from collegial . . . and Izzy finds herself struggling to pay the bills. When she is accused of embezzling from a ridiculously wealthy former client, the stakes become immense. If Izzy gets indicted, she could lose her PI license and the Spellman family's livelihood, not to mention her own freedom. Is this the end of Izzy Spellman, PI?

Ben Martin, in the Baton Rouge Advocate writes: "Six years ago, a quirky mystery novel, The Spellman Files, became a surprise bestseller. People magazine called its heroine, Isabel Spellman, 'the love child of Dirty Harry and Harriet the Spy'...In the end, good and quirky beats bad and twisted. For a sixth time, Lisa Lutz has made the finding out how so much marvelous fun."

Next week preview:
Monday, July 22, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Cathleen Schine, author of Fin and Lady (I have trouble getting the ampersand to write correctly on html code. Hope you don't mind me not using the stylistic convention of the novel here.)

Schine is the author of The New Yorkers and The Love Letter, among other novels. She has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, and The New York Times Book Review. Her previous novel, The Three Weissmanns of Westport, was a national bestseller and was embraced by both readers and reviewers.

At the heart of Cathleen Schine’s enchanting new novel, Fin and Lady, lies the search for a new kind of family. Around this story is wrapped New York in the 60’s, Greenwich Village in particular, which Schine re-imagines with a dash of The World of Henry Orient: Nehru jackets, drugs and happenings, sit-ins and marches against the Vietnam War, desegregation—changes, large and small—all searches for new ways to be free and happy.

As you know, I completely captivated by this book, and I'm also captivated by Schine, after Jason and I had dinner with her (last minute, as the publisher did not know she was in town yet) in Kansas City last February. Here's the first paragraph of Ellen Akins' review in the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune, which really captures the tone of Fin and Lady.

"This is a story of enchantment (and that’s long before we get to the dream-infested isle of Capri), and like many tales of enchantment, it begins with an orphan. You know how so many children’s books have orphans for heroes? (Adventures come easier unimpeded by parents.) In Fin and Lady, it’s a bit like one of those orphans has been transported, by way of a Series of Unfortunate Events, into a Henry James novel that happens to be taking place in the 1960s. The older half-sister, who inherits the care of the orphan (Fin) is even a Lady, though Lady is actually her name."

Here's proof that I can't stop talking about Fin and Lady. If you don't regularly read this blog, you might have missed my essay on Fin and Lady that came out last week, or perhaps our book club discussion regarding The Three Weissmanns of Westport. 

Hope to see you at an event this week!