Events This Week: Bill Hillmann Tonight (at 5:30), Jeffrey Gingold Thursday, July 30, 7 pm, and Where's Waldo at 3 pm (activities), 4 pm (prize drawing)

While it's not October, we have a lot going on at a bookstore for late July. Here's our updated event info for Boswell.

Monday, July 27, 5:30 pm, at Boswell:

Bill Hillmann, author of Mozos: A Decade Running with the Bulls of Spain.

You may have met Bill Hillmann at Boswell for The Old Neighborhood, his novel based on growing up on the mean streets of Chicago. You may know that he is a Golden Glove championship. And if you know about the documentary Chasing Red, you may know that he found his place running with the bulls of Pamplona. While he is profiled in Chasing Red, he tells the story his way in the new memoir Mozos.  Publishers Weekly called Mozos "gritty" and "tough-talking."

In the Chicago Tribune, John Keilman reviewed Mozos along with Bulls Before Breakfast, by Peter Milligan. Keilman writes that "The book is crammed with two-fisted tales of boozing, brawling and the pursuit of literature, as Hillmann tries to get a Hemingway-inspired writing career off the ground. He travels to Pamplona in homage to the author, and soon falls in with a crew who regard running with the bulls as an art form in itself, with the highest esteem reserved for those who sprint right in front of the animal's horns."

Now you may remember that we originally billed this as a possibly talk followed by a screening of Chasing Red at the Oriental, but that was contingent on unlocking the agreement at Tugg by selling enough tickets. Alas, we were not able to make the minimum and the screening cancelled, and that was after Tugg also changed our screening time, pushing us to move back the talk from 4 to 5:30. In the end, that was an interesting experiment which, with the right partners, we'd try again.

Here is Bill Hillmann's soundtrack to Mozos, as recounted on the Large-Hearted Boy blog.

Thursday, July 30, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Jeffrey Gingold, author of Tunnel, Smuggle, Collect: A Holocaust Boy.

This event is cosponsored by the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Research Center.

Back in June, we had Jim Shepard for his novel about the Warsaw Ghetto called The Book of Aron. It was very well received, with some massively great reviews. Who, for example, can forget this review from Ron Charles in The Washington Post? Based on this it's a shoo-in for their top ten of 2015, right? But at least one reviewer complained about Holocaust novels in general, that the true stories were the only things we should chronicle.

Well it turns out that we have another story of the Warsaw ghetto on the schedule and this one is true. Jeffrey Gingold's Tunnel, Smuggle, Collect. Jeffrey's father, Sam Gingold helped his family survive by smuggling food and medicines, and as the war continues, labored under Nazi rule in the walled city within a city. The family eventually made a underground escape, but was then pursued by the Gestapo across the Polish countryside.

We're honored to welcome back Jeffrey Gingold to Boswell, an MS educator inducted into the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Hall of Fame for his Advocacy,  whose work includes Mental Sharpening Stones and Facing the Cognitive Challenges of Multiple Sclerosis. In addition to his writing, he's also been a practicing attorney. And now, this labor of love which took many years to come to fruition. Come celebrate with us at Boswell.

Friday, July 31, 3 pm (activities) and 4 pm (drawing), at Boswell:
Where's Waldo Celebration.

I hope you've had a great time looking for Waldo on the East Side, Shorewoood, Whitefish Bay, Glendale, Riverwest, The Third Ward/Walker's Point, and Wauwatosa. That's a lot of searching!

Well for those of you who found at least 15 Waldo's, it's time for you to come back to Boswell. Fill out your drawing ticket (no purchase required, though you must be 12 or under to win), have some refreshments, enjoy a little Waldo fun, and get $2 off on a Waldo book.  You do not have to be present for the party to win, but some prizes will require attendance.

Thanks to the following stores for participating in Waldo 2015: Beans and Barley, Board Game Barrister, Broadway Paper, Downer Hardware, Fischberger's Variety, Holey Moley Donuts, Hot Pop, Indulgence Chocolatiers, La Coppa Gelato, Little Monsters, The Little Red Book, Miss Cupcake bakery, Nehring's Sendiks, Outpost Natural Foods, Purple Door Ice Cream, Red Cap Luggage, Red Elephant Chocolate Cafe, Rocket Baby Bakery, Rushmor Records, Soaps and Scents, Studio Ric Rak, Tuesday's Child, Village Boutique, The Waxwing, Winkie's, and Yo Mama Frozen Yogurt