A packed week and then a Thanksgiving break: Bruce Iglauer and the blues Monday at Boswell, Eugenia Kim in conversation with Nan Kim at Boswell on Tuesday, Elizabeth Berg at Lynden Sculpture Garden on Wednesday, Panels Comics Club presents Liz Prince at Boswell on Thursday, Allen Eskens at Boswell Saturday afternoon.

Monday, November 12, 7:00 PM, at Boswell:
Bruce Iglauer, author of Bitten by the Blues: The Alligator Records Story

Legendary Chicago blues producer Bruce Iglauer shares his unvarnished memoir of a life immersed in blues music and the business of the blues. This event cosponsored by Paramount Music Association.

In 1970, Bruce Iglauer walked into Florence’s Lounge in the heart of South Side Chicago and was overwhelmed by the joyous, raw blues of Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers. A year later, Iglauer produced Hound Dog’s debut album and pressed a thousand copies. From that album grew Alligator Records, the largest independent blues record label in the world.

Iglauer takes us behind the scenes, offering unforgettable stories of charismatic musicians and classic sessions, and delivering a look at what it’s like to work with the greats of the blues. It’s a vivid portrait of the extraordinary musicians and larger-than-life personalities who brought America’s music to life in the clubs of Chicago’s South and West Sides.

Bruce Iglauer is president and founder of Alligator Records and a Grammy-winning producer inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1997. Iglauer was founder of National Association of Independent Record Distributors and cofounder of Living Blues magazine. He is also a founder of the Chicago Blues Festival and codirector of the Blues Community Foundation. He received the American Association for Independent Music (A2IM) Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.

Tuesday, November 13, 7:00 PM, at Boswell:
Eugenia Kim, author of The Kinship of Secrets, in conversation with UWM’s Nan Kim

Author of The Calligrapher’s Daughter, Kim appears at Boswell with her new novel, the riveting story of two sisters, one raised in the United States, the other in South Korea, and the family that bound them together even as the Korean War kept them apart. For this event, Kim will be in conversation with Nan Kim (no relation), author of the 2016’s Memory, Reconciliation, and Reunions in South Korea: Crossing the Divide.

In 1948 Najin and Calvin Cho, with their young daughter Miran, travel from South Korea to the United States in search of new opportunities. Wary of the challenges they know will face them, Najin and Calvin make the difficult decision to leave their infant daughter, Inja, behind with their extended family. But then war breaks out in Korea, and there is no end in sight to the separation. Miran grows up in prosperous American suburbia, under the shadow of the daughter left behind, as Inja grapples in her war-torn land with ties to a family she doesn’t remember.

Told through the alternating perspectives of the distanced sisters, and inspired by a true story, The Kinship of Secrets explores the cruelty of war, the power of hope, and what it means to be a sister. Eugenia Kim is author of The Calligrapher's Daughter, which won the 2009 Borders Original Voices Award, was shortlisted for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and was a critics' pick by The Washington Post. She teaches at Fairfield University's Creative Writing Program.

Nan Kim is an Associate Professor of History at UWM and Director of UWM’s Public History Specialization.

Wednesday, November 14, 7:00 PM reception, 7:30 PM talk, at Lynden Sculpture Garden:
A ticketed event with Elizabeth Berg, author of Night of Miracles

The bestselling author of the beloved novel The Story of Arthur Truluv appears for the Lynden’s Women’s Speaker Series with a delightful novel about surprising friendships, community, and the small acts of kindness that can change a life. Cosponsored by Milwaukee Reads and Boswell.

Tickets cost $30, $25 for Lynden members, and each includes an autographed copy of Night of Miracles, refreshments, and admission to the sculpture garden - come early to stroll the grounds! Register at lyndensculpturegarden.org/ElizabethBerg18 or by phone at (414) 446-8794.

Lucille is getting on in years, but she stays busy. Thanks to the inspiration of her dearly departed friend Arthur Truluv, she’s teaching baking classes, sharing the secrets to her delicious classic Southern yellow cake, the perfect pinwheel cookies, and other sweet essentials. Her classes have become so popular that she’s hired Iris, a new resident of Mason, Missouri, as an assistant. Iris doesn’t know how to bake but she needs to keep her mind off a big decision she sorely regrets.

When a new family moves in next door and tragedy strikes, Lucille begins to look out for their son. In these difficult times, the residents of Mason come together and find the true power of community, just when they need it the most. This is a heartwarming novel that reminds us that the people we come to love are often the ones we don’t expect.

Elizabeth Berg is the author of the novels Open House, an Oprah’s Book Club selection, The Dream Lover, and Tapestry of Fortunes. Durable Goods and Joy School were selected as ALA Best Books of the Year. The Lynden Sculpture Garden is located at 2145 W Brown Deer Rd, just west of I-43.

Thursday, November 15, 5:30 PM, at Boswell:
Liz Prince, author of Look Back and Laugh: Journal Comics 

Cosponsored by Panels Comic Book Club, Boswell presents the award-winning indie comics darling Liz Prince and her hilarious, awkward, touching, and occasionally heartbreaking strip-a-day journey through one of the most tumultuous years of her life.

Liz Prince invites you to spend a year walking in her (Converse) shoes! Look Back and Laugh collects the 365 comic strips she drew to document every day of her life in 2016. Follow Liz through such life-changing adventures as: buying a house, moving to a new state, getting married, crippling insomnia, and as always, lots of cats, cats, cats!

Influenced by autobiographical greats like Evan Dorkin, Ariel Schrag, James Kochalka, and Jeffrey Brown, Prince’s comics mix her real-life foibles with charming cartooning and comic timing. Full of humor, pathos, and insight, these comics reveal the ups and downs that make up the glamorous micro-celebrity life of a freelance cartoonist.

Since Liz Prince began regularly contributing to the Santa Fe zine Are We There Yet?, her comics have been featured in several anthologies, five gallery shows, and she has produced two mini-comics.

Saturday, November 17, 3:00 PM, at Boswell:
Allen Eskens, author of The Shadows We Hide

Edgar Award finalist Eskens visits Boswell with his latest, the sequel to the Barry Award-winning novel The Life We Bury, a mystery that makes its way from Minneapolis to small town southern Minnesota.

Joe Talbert, Jr. has never once met his namesake. But now, working as a cub reporter in Minneapolis, he stumbles across the murder of a man named Joseph Talbert in a small town in southern Minnesota. None of the town's residents have much to say about the dead man, other than his death was long overdue. Joe discovers the dead man was a lowlife who cheated his neighbors, threatened his daughter, and squandered his wife's inheritance after she passed away.

Mired in uncertainty and plagued by his own devastated relationship with his mother, who is seeking to get back into her son's life, Joe must put together the missing pieces of his family history before his quest for discovery threatens to put him in a grave of his own.

Allen Eskens is author of The Life We Bury, The Heavens May Fall, and The Deep Dark Descending. He is the recipient of the Rosebud Award, Minnesota Book Award, and the Silver Falchion Award, and has been a finalist for the Edgar Award, the Thriller Award, and the Anthony Award. Eskens lives in out-state Minnesota, where he was a criminal defense attorney for 25 years.

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