Monday, November 13, 2017

Event alert: Michael Perry, Alexander McCall Smith (almost sold out), Vida Cross

Event alert! Here's what's happening at Boswell this week (from Daniel and Kelli)

Tuesday, November 14, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Michael Perry, author of Montaigne in Barn Boots: An Amateur Ambles Through Philosophy.

The beloved memoirist and bestselling author of Population: 485 reflects on the lessons he's learned from his unlikely alter ego, French Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne. Written in a spirit of exploration rather than declaration, Montaigne in Barn Boots is a down-to-earth (how do you pronounce that last name?) look into the ideas of a philosopher "ensconced in a castle tower overlooking his vineyard," channeled by a Midwestern American writing "in a room above the garage overlooking a disused pig pen." Perry champions academics and aesthetics in a book that ultimately emerges as a sincere, unflinching look at the vital need to be a better person and citizen.

Jim Higgins, of the Journal Sentinel wrote of Perry, "Of the recent books extolling and commending French essayist Michel de Montaigne, Michael Perry's new one might be the Montaignest. Like Montaigne - the 16th-century writer and philosopher generally considered the Babe Ruth of personal essayists - Perry knows both the acute agony of passing a kidney stone and the chronic anxiety of living in a time of conflict. And if you're willing to stretch a definition, both might be considered gentlemen farmers (though Montaigne never had to sing for his supper on public radio)." Full article here.

Wisconsin native Michael Perry is a humorist, radio host, songwriter, and the bestselling author of several nonfiction books, including Visiting Tom and Coop, as well as a novel, The Jesus Cow. This event if free but will be very popular. Come early for a good seat!

Thursday, November 16, 7:00 pm, at Boswell:
Ticketed Event: Fill the Shelves with Alexander McCall Smith, author of The House of Unexpected Sisters

Boswell and the Friends of the Milwaukee Public Library announce a very special event with Alexander McCall Smith, author of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency and other titles featuring Precious Ramotswe, the Isabel Dalhousie novels, 44 Scotland Street, and many other beloved titles. It's your last chance to see Alexander McCall Smith before we sell out. This is his first visit to Milwaukee since 2004!

Tickets are $29, including admission to the event, all taxes and fees, and a copy of The House of Unexpected Sisters. $5 from each ticket to this event will be donated back to the Milwaukee Public Library Foundation. This event is the launch of the Friends of the Milwaukee Public Library Fill the Shelves program. Fill the Shelves is a wonderful way to donate a book into library circulation, complete with a bookplate indicating you as the donor. Purchase one of the selected titles at Boswell, featured from November 16 through the end of 2017, and we’ll handle the details. You’ll even get a donation acknowledgement from the Friends.

Kirkus Reviews describes Smith's new book as "A deceptively slow opening movement ushers in one of the most complicated dockets ever for the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency." Read the full review here.

Saturday, November 18, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Vida Cross, author of Bronzeville at Night: 1949 

Bronzeville at Night:1949 is a debut poetry collection by Vida Cross referencing her ancestry as a third generation Chicagoan and Bronzeville resident, as well as the artwork of Archibald J. Motley Jr., and the poetic research of Langston Hughes. Ian Bodkin raves “Cross pulls from Archibald Motley Jr.’s brushstrokes to conjure a music that plays behind the commotion of the street.” Visit here for more information.

Vida Cross was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. From 2009 to 2013, Cross was a Cave Canem Fellow. Her work has appeared in The Literary Review, The Reverie Journal, and The Journal of Film and Video. Vida splits her time between Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She teaches English Literature at Milwaukee Area Technical College.

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